Foundling Santa Venerdi

Santa Venerdi

Born/given up: 15 April 1881~Girgenti, Girgenti, Sicilia
Survived

Meaning of Venerdi [vehn-ehr-DEE]: Friday

From Girgenti [Agrigento] Registri Stato Civile Film No. 1795098, 1881 Births, No. 246, Santa Venerdi

Atti Di Nascita

   L’anno milleottocento uno, addi sedicidi Aprile,
a ore ante meridiane dieci e minuti quaranta, nella Casa comunale.
    Avanti di me Cavaliere Messina Ernesto Assessore Anziano Fun-zionante da Sindaco per mancanza del Titolare,
Uffiziale dello Stato Civile del Comune di Girgenti lo pari Provincia
è comparsa Danile Girolama, di anni cinquantaquattro *industrioza
domiciliatia in Girgenti, la quale mi ha dichiarato che alle ore po me-
ridiane otto e minuti trenta, del di quindici del corrente mese,
nella casa posta in via Orazio al numero quattordici, da una donna
che non consente essere nominata ~

è nato un bambino di sesso femminino che essa mi presenta e a cui da il
nome di Santa e il cognome di Venerdi ~.
   A quanto sopra e a questo atto sono presenti quali testimoni di Lorenzo
Salvatore di anni sessantatre, *fornaio, e Grisafi Sal-
vatore, di anni quarantasei *muratore entrambi residenti in questo Comune.
Detta bambina viene da me inviata all' Ospizio dei
trovatelli per mezzo della dichiarante - -
- - una copia del presenta atto per -
- consegni alla Superiore di detto Ospizio de' trovatelli -
- alla bambina e con gli oggetti tenate presso la me-
desima che consistono di una cmicietta di enatapella, un
piccolo pannolino, una pazza bianca per fascione e fa-
scia ed un fazzoletto alla testa, il tutto vecchio.
Letto il presente atto agl' intervenuti si e da me solamente
sottoscritte, per avere questi dichiarato non sapere sottoscrivere.
                                     E. Messina

Numero 246
Venerdi Santa Proietta

.

* S'indiche la professione o la condizione.

Records of Birth

     Year one thousand eight hundred eighty one, day sixteen of April
at the hour ten forty AM in the Town Hall.
     Before me, Knight Ernesto Messina, Senior Councilman func-tionarry of the Mayor because of the absence of the
Official of Civil Records of the Town of Girgenti [Agrigento] same Province,
has appeared Girolama Danile, age age fifty-seven, *civil employee
living in Girgent who has declared to me that at hour
eight thirty PM on day fifteeen of the current month
in the house located at Via Orazio number fourteen, by a lady
who does not consent to be named
was born a baby of the feminine sex who she presented to me and to whom she gave the name of
Santa and the surname of Venerdi.

     To the above statement and this registration are present witnesses Salvatore
di Lorenzo, age seventy-three, *a baker, and Sal-
vatore Grisafi, age forty-six, *a stonemason, both residents of this Town
Said infant was sent by me to the Hospice
for Foundlings by means of the declarant, along
with a copy of this registration for con-
signment, to the Mother Superior of said Hospice for Foundlings, of
the baby, together with the items found close to
the same baby, which consist of a blouse of lambskin, a
small diaper, a white waistband and
sash, and a kerchief on her head, all items old.
This record was read to those assembled but is by me alone
signed, the others having said they don't know how to write.
                        [Signed] E. Messina

Number 246
Santa Venerdi Foundling

* Indicates the occupation or condition..

     The surname given to this infant, 'Venerdi', was typical of the made-up names imposed on foundlings. In Sicilian, 'Venerdi' means 'Friday'. But there is more to this: the first name she was given was 'Santa', which means 'Holy'. A check of the days of the week in the year 1881 shows that the day on which this child was born, 15 April, was a Friday. Not only that, but Easter in 1881 fell on Sunday, 17 April. In Sicily, what we call 'Good Friday' is called 'Holy Friday', which in Sicilian is 'Santa Venerdi'. So this foundling carried as her name the exact day on which she was born: Good Friday!

   Note that Santa was not actually left on a doorstep, the street or in a wheel, but was delivered by Girolama Danile from "una donna che non consente essere nominata" - "a woman who does not consent to be named", and neither was a father named. Even though Girolama obviously knew the identity of the woman giving birth, the infant's mother was officially unknown, as was the father. The child was then given the concocted name Santa Venerdi, castoff, and consigned to a foundling home.

     Santa Venerdi survived the vicissitudes of the foundling home, emigrated to America, married Lorenzo Scaglilla and raised a family.

Click HERE for more about foundlings.

The Lady of the Wheel is a fictional account of events in the life of one foundling. Click on the book's cover below for more about the book.