Italian South Africans ( it, Italo-sudafricani) are South Africans who have full or partial

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

ancestry. They are primarily descended from Italians who emigrated to South Africa during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Language and religion

Most Italian South Africans, like other South Africans, are

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. The majority of them are

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

although there is a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

minority. All the remaining first-generation Italian South Africans speak

and also

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

or other South African languages as second language. The Italian South Africans of the new generations are assimilated into South African society, and most of them speak mainly English as first language with a handful that speak

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

and Zulu but still secondarily Italian (and sometimes French).

Notable Italian South Africans

Sport

* Oscar Pistorius, South African sprint runner and convicted murderer *

Carlo Del Fava Carlo Antonio Del Fava (born 1 July 1981) is a South African-born Italian former rugby union player. His preferred position was Lock. After hanging his boots up he then decided to take up coaching. Del Fava was born in Mthatha, South Africa to ...

, South African-born Italian former rugby union player * Lorenzo Masselli, South African-born Italian former rugby union player *

Giulio Giuricich Giulio Giuricich (born 5 February 1990 in Johannesburg, Gauteng) is a South African footballer, who last played as a left-back for Moroka Swallows in the Premier Soccer League. Career Giuricich left his native South Africa at the age of 18 ...

, South African footballer * Alessio Angelucci, South African baseball player * Davide Somma, South African footballer *

Dino Quattrocecere Dino Edgardo Quattrocecere (born 13 February 1973 in Virginia, Free State) is a South African figure skater. He competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17 ...

, South African figure skater *

Ramon di Clemente Ramon di Clemente (born 2 May 1975) is a South African rower and Olympic medalist. He competes in the coxless pair event with his boat partner of the past few years, Donovan Cech. They won the bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics ...

, South African rower and Olympic medalist *

Dylan Frittelli Dylan Ashley Frittelli (born 5 June 1990) is a South African professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour where he won the John Deere Classic in 2019. He previously played on the European Tour where he won twice in 2017, the Lyones ...

, South African golfer *

Rory Sabbatini Rory Mario Trevor Sabbatini (born 2 April 1976) is a South African-Slovak professional golfer. Sabbatini won six times on the PGA Tour between 2000 and 2011 and was runner-up in the 2007 Masters. He spent 21 weeks in the world top-10 in late-2 ...

, South African golfer *

Hugh Baiocchi Hugh John Baiocchi (born 17 August 1946) is a South African professional golfer who has won more than 20 professional tournaments around the world. Professional career Baiocchi was born in Johannesburg. He turned professional in 1971 and spen ...

, South African golfer * Orazio Cremona, South African shot-putter *

Giulio Zorzi Giulio Zorzi (born 3 January 1989 in Johannesburg) is a South African swimmer who specializes in breaststroke events. At the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, Zorzi handed the entire medal haul for the South Africans with a ...

, South African swimmer * Andrew Northcote, South African-born Italian cricketer (born to an Italian South African mother) * Angelo Gigli, South African-born Italian basketball player *

Dario Chistolini Dario Chistolini (born 14 September 1988 in Kempton Park, South Africa) is a South African-born Italian rugby union player. He currently plays for Petrarca Padova in the Italian domestic league Top10. He plays as a prop. Dario joined Glouces ...

, South African-born Italian rugby union player * Damian Crowley, South African-born Italian cricketer (born to an Italian South African mother) *

Eddie Firmani Edwin Ronald "Eddie" Firmani (; born 7 August 1933) is a former professional football player and manager. A former forward, he spent most of his career in Italy and England. Born in South Africa, he represented the Italy national team internat ...

, South African-born Italian former footballer * Marcello Fiasconaro, South African-Italian former athlete and one-time men's

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

world record holder *

Jade Dernbach Jade Winston Dernbach (born 3 March 1986) is a former professional cricketer. He represented Surrey (2003–2021), England (2011–2014) and Italy (2021). He made his first-class debut in 2003 and won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2004 and ...

, South African-born English Cricketer (born to an Italian mother and South African father) * Craig Bianchi, South African former footballer * JJ Gagiano, South African-born American rugby union player * Vince Pennazza, South African-born Italian cricketer *

Mike Bernardo Michael Shawn Bernardo (28 July 1969 – 14 February 2012) was a South African kickboxer and boxer from Cape Town. Bernardo was known as Beru-chan in Japan, where he has taken part in K-1 World GPs since 1994. He holds notable wins ove ...

, South African kickboxer and boxer * Zane Weir, South African-born Italian shot putter

Business

* Desmond Sacco, Chairman and Managing Director of Assore Limited * Tamara Francesconi, Businesswoman and model

Radio & TV

Amor Vittone Amor Vittone (born 16 March 1972 as Amor Ines Vittone) is a South African singer. Biography Amor Vittone was born March 16, 1972, in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. She was head girl at her high school, where she excelled both in ...

, Afrikaans singer and TV presenter (Italian father). *

Debora Patta Debora Patta (born 1 September 1964) is a South African broadcast journalist and television producer investigative journalist. She was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and has origins from Calabria, Italy. Patta is the Africa correspond ...

, broadcast journalist and television producer. *

Tullio Moneta Tullio Moneta (9 May 1937 – 31 March 2022) was an Italian actor and mercenary. He acted in 15 films between 1970 and 1990, starring in the feature film ''The Lion's Share''. He also played a role in the Afrikaans language film '' Aanslag op Kari ...

, Actor. *

Vittorio Leonardi Vittorio Leonardi (born 2 January 1977) is a South African comedian and actor. As a comedian, he has performed as a member of Joe Parker's Comedy Express, as well as performing improvisational theatre with Joe Parker's Improv Express, and has ...

,South African stand-up comedian and actor. *

Karin Giannone Karin Giannone (born 1974) is a South African-born British news presenter working in the United Kingdom. She is a London-based main presenter on BBC World News. Career Giannone edited the student magazine ''Varsity'' magazine at Cambridge, whic ...

, South African-born BBC English television newsreader.

Politics

* Belinda Bozzoli *

Mario Oriani-Ambrosini Mario Gaspare R. Oriani-Ambrosini (26 October 1960 – 16 August 2014) was an Italian constitutional lawyer and politician who was a Member of Parliament in South Africa with the Inkatha Freedom Party. Early life Oriani-Ambrosini was born in Rom ...

, constitutional lawyer and politician of the Inkatha Freedom Party. *

Natasha Mazzone Natasha Wendy Anita Mazzone (born 9 May 1979) is a South African politician who served as the Chief Whip of the Official Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from October 2019 until August 2022. She has been a Member of the Nat ...

, South African politician and Chief Whip of the Official Opposition (since 2019) *

Elizabeth Maria Molteno Elizabeth Maria Molteno (24 September 1852 – 25 August 1927), was an early South African British activist for civil and women's rights in South Africa. Early life Elizabeth was born into an influential Cape family of Italian origin. She was ...

John Charles Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

John Charles Molteno, Jr. John Charles Molteno Jr. (4 March 1860 – 23 March 1924) M.L.A., was a South African exporter and Member of Parliament. He was a prominent anti-imperialist of the Cape Colony, and a denouncer of British policies which led to the Anglo-Boer Wa ...

James Tennant Molteno Sir James Molteno (5 January 1865 – 16 September 1936), was an influential barrister and parliamentarian of South Africa. Rising to prominence as an unconventional anti-imperialist, he was briefly opposition leader, before becoming parliame ...

Other

* Carlo Gagiano, former Chief of the South African Air Force. *

Don Mattera Donato Francisco Mattera (29 December 1935 – 18 July 2022), better known as Don Mattera, was a South African poet and author. Overview Born in 1935 in Western Native Township (now Westbury), Johannesburg, Union of South Africa, Mattera g ...

, anti-apartheid activist, poet and author. * Edoardo Villa, South African sculptor. *

David Ferraris __NOTOC__ David E. Ferraris (born 18 August 1963, in South Africa) is a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer in Hong Kong. Born into a racing family, his father, Ormond Ferraris, was a champion trainer in South African racing. He won the South Afric ...

, racehorse trainer.

References

External links

South African Chamber of Commerce

Italian embassy in Pretoria

Italian consulate in Cape Town

* ttp://www.sudafrica.it/ South African embassy in Rome {{authority control White South African people Ethnic groups in South Africa

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics Sout ...