Astor Piazzolla’s Italian Roots: From Trani to Tuscany

Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (1921–1992), the composer who reinvented the tango, was Argentine by birth — but his roots run back to two very different corners of Italy: the Adriatic port of Trani, in Puglia, and a mountain village in Tuscany.

The Piazzolla line of Trani

Astor’s father, Vicente Piazzolla, was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on 12 November 1893. Vicente’s own parents were both from Trani, in the province of Bari: Pantaleone Piazzolla, born there in 1855, son of Ruggero Piazzolla and Lucrezia Covelli; and Rosa Centofanti, also born in Trani, on 8 July 1855, daughter of Vincenzo Centofanti. They married in Trani on 27 May 1880 and emigrated to Mar del Plata, where Pantaleone worked as a sailor, fisherman and beach lifeguard.

The Manetti line of Tuscany

On his mother’s side the origins lie far to the north. Astor’s mother, Assunta Manetti, was the daughter of two Italian immigrants, Luigi Manetti and Clelia Bertolami, from Massa Sassorosso, a hamlet in the Garfagnana above Lucca, in Tuscany. Between Trani and the Tuscan Apennines, the whole map of Italy meets in a single Argentine family.

Two Italian regions in one Argentine family. Where do yours begin?

Behind Astor Piazzolla lie Trani in Puglia and Massa Sassorosso in Tuscany — each documented in the local registers. Your family’s trail is waiting in an Italian archive too. Tell me a little about your family, and I will give you an honest assessment of what is possible.