How An Italian Who Emigrated to the East Thirty Years Ago Learned of the Publication of Book About His Ancestor, Eduino, Builder and Architect
Navigating the Internet
by Roberto Gerola
PERGINE. It is possible to imagine how, out of curiosity, one might enter one’s own name into the Internet, and wait to see what might happen. That is how Andrea Giovanni Maoro, aged 74, and living in Singapore, rediscovered Pergine, and how he learned of the existence of a publication based on the life of his own grandfather. He even discovered that works were being carried out on the old family home. It is a story of the inevitable tugging of the heart, a bit of nostalgia, and a yearning to “make contact” with the country of one’s forefathers.
Thus began a tale woven by e-mails filled with a fierce desire both to know, as well as to be known. The protagonist of this virtual homecoming to his origins is Andrea Giovanni, a grandson of Eduino Maoro, the builder and architect who died in 1950 leaving behind innumerable testaments to his work. The grandson, who has been living in Singapore for over thirty years, is himself engaged in the construction field, with a particular entrepreneurial success.
Andrea Giovanni is the son of the civil engineer Tullio Maoro, who is one of five sons of Eduino, and the brother of Signora Daria, who passed away recently. The entrepreneurial “streak/ seam/ vein” has passed from Giovanni (who founded a construction company in 1881), through to the son, Eduino (an architect), to the grandson, Tullio (an civil engineer), and down to the great-grandson in Singapore, Andrea Giovanni, who is still in the “flooring” business today, and who -- as a matter of fact—has paved streets and squares in many cities of the world (in Europe, Australia, Saudi Arabia, New York) and in the Far East, including China, with every kind of stone (comprised porphyry form the ancestor place) stone and marble.
Via e-mail, he tells of how he arrived in Singapore to work in 1972, and settled there permanently in 1974 whilst retaining his Italian passport, establishing up the company “La Mar Diamant (Sea) Pte Ltd”, of which he remains the owner, a business based on granite, marble, and cubes, paving stones, the stone being imported from China, Brazil, and Europe.
“Stone and marble flooring,” explains Andrea, “is much prized in the Far East.” He has held – and continues to hold -- positions in various professional associations for the sector, including the Marble Institute (USA), of which he is a member. Of particular interest is his Internet site (LAMARSTONE ®).
Born in Milan in 1930, he lived in Pergine until 1937, and for some years during the war. He was educated in Merano, Venice, and Bolzano, before becoming a “telegraph signalman in the merchant navy; it was in 1951, in Bolzano. that he began working in the stone trade. Andrea’s business interests brought him to every part of Europe, and very soon to every corner of the world as well. Married in 1960 (the father of three children), he moved to Singapore in 1974.
Today, and for several years now, his company, “La Mar Diamant” is a leader in its sector, in the Far East. Andrea makes no secret of having been “nato con la camicia; (born with the shirt) Andrea says, I am truly a very fortunate man. I have my own philosophy of life, and “non me do mai per vinto” (I never give myself for defeat )I have always been able to succeed in everything that I’ve ever set out to do.” He steers his company in his capacity as its managing director, regularly exchanging this role for another one on the golf course. ”
He feels strong ties to Pergine, and is seeking further relevant information after having discovered the “essay”/ piece written about his grandfather over twenty years ago (in 1981), and published by the Municipal Press of Pergine. He asked for a copy of this and this wish has been fulfilled.
Captions: 1.Andrea Giovanni Maoro, a man of Pergine in Singapore. 2.Casa Maoro, the ancestral home of the family.
Navigating the Internet
To Meet His Grandfather
The virtual homecoming, from Singapore, of Andrea Giovanni Maoro
by Roberto Gerola
PERGINE. It is possible to imagine how, out of curiosity, one might enter one’s own name into the Internet, and wait to see what might happen. That is how Andrea Giovanni Maoro, aged 74, and living in Singapore, rediscovered Pergine, and how he learned of the existence of a publication based on the life of his own grandfather. He even discovered that works were being carried out on the old family home. It is a story of the inevitable tugging of the heart, a bit of nostalgia, and a yearning to “make contact” with the country of one’s forefathers.
Thus began a tale woven by e-mails filled with a fierce desire both to know, as well as to be known. The protagonist of this virtual homecoming to his origins is Andrea Giovanni, a grandson of Eduino Maoro, the builder and architect who died in 1950 leaving behind innumerable testaments to his work. The grandson, who has been living in Singapore for over thirty years, is himself engaged in the construction field, with a particular entrepreneurial success.
Andrea Giovanni is the son of the civil engineer Tullio Maoro, who is one of five sons of Eduino, and the brother of Signora Daria, who passed away recently. The entrepreneurial “streak/ seam/ vein” has passed from Giovanni (who founded a construction company in 1881), through to the son, Eduino (an architect), to the grandson, Tullio (an civil engineer), and down to the great-grandson in Singapore, Andrea Giovanni, who is still in the “flooring” business today, and who -- as a matter of fact—has paved streets and squares in many cities of the world (in Europe, Australia, Saudi Arabia, New York) and in the Far East, including China, with every kind of stone (comprised porphyry form the ancestor place) stone and marble.
Via e-mail, he tells of how he arrived in Singapore to work in 1972, and settled there permanently in 1974 whilst retaining his Italian passport, establishing up the company “La Mar Diamant (Sea) Pte Ltd”, of which he remains the owner, a business based on granite, marble, and cubes, paving stones, the stone being imported from China, Brazil, and Europe.
“Stone and marble flooring,” explains Andrea, “is much prized in the Far East.” He has held – and continues to hold -- positions in various professional associations for the sector, including the Marble Institute (USA), of which he is a member. Of particular interest is his Internet site (LAMARSTONE ®).
Born in Milan in 1930, he lived in Pergine until 1937, and for some years during the war. He was educated in Merano, Venice, and Bolzano, before becoming a “telegraph signalman in the merchant navy; it was in 1951, in Bolzano. that he began working in the stone trade. Andrea’s business interests brought him to every part of Europe, and very soon to every corner of the world as well. Married in 1960 (the father of three children), he moved to Singapore in 1974.
Today, and for several years now, his company, “La Mar Diamant” is a leader in its sector, in the Far East. Andrea makes no secret of having been “nato con la camicia; (born with the shirt) Andrea says, I am truly a very fortunate man. I have my own philosophy of life, and “non me do mai per vinto” (I never give myself for defeat )I have always been able to succeed in everything that I’ve ever set out to do.” He steers his company in his capacity as its managing director, regularly exchanging this role for another one on the golf course. ”
He feels strong ties to Pergine, and is seeking further relevant information after having discovered the “essay”/ piece written about his grandfather over twenty years ago (in 1981), and published by the Municipal Press of Pergine. He asked for a copy of this and this wish has been fulfilled.
Captions: 1.Andrea Giovanni Maoro, a man of Pergine in Singapore. 2.Casa Maoro, the ancestral home of the family.