A STORY OF TRENTINI IN THE WORLD
EDI MATTUELLA DEBENETTI FROM MEZZOLOMBARDO TO BRAZIL

We asked some descendants of Trentino emigrants to tell their stories in the first person, emphasising how their origin has directed and influenced them in life. This would not have been possible without the active and friendly cooperation of the Trentini nel Mondo Association, founded in 1957 with the aim of social solidarity and as a tool of aggregation and assistance for Trentino migrants and their descendants. The character we present in this issue is Edi Mattuella Debenetti, born in Brazil and originally from the Trentino region.

A story like so many others, but one that tells of a world that is both distant and close at the same time, the present time and also the past, and how all this put together creates a bond with the homeland of our ancestors.

My name is Edi Mattuella Debenetti, I was born and live in Garibaldi in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. I grew up in the countryside and at the age of ten I went to study 'outside'. I must say that I never left the countryside for good because the whole family was there: the world of the countryside has always been part of my life, and it is still so today.

My father, Dovilio Mattuella, whose family came from Mezzolombardo in Trentino, and my mother Norma Brigolini, whose family were from Veneto (Padua), always wanted us, their seven children, three brothers and four sisters, to study: an indispensable path to a better future.

I graduated in Social Work at the University of Caxias do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul). And then I worked for the state, where I had opportunities to do many things in the world of social work. In 1983, I married Nestor José Debenetti, also of Venetian origin (Padua and Venice): we have three children, Bruno, Marina and Pedro.

In the 1990s, my brother Edmar Mattuella started researching the origins of our family. He also took a trip to Italy with his father and mother. When they returned, they began encouraging all of us to get to know the Bel Paese our great-grandparents had left behind. So I too joined the Trentino Garibaldi Circle, founded in 1993 and of which my brother Edmar was the first president. At first I got to know it, then I began studying there and helping out.

After a few years during which we studied some Italian and the history of our family and our people, we understood that the Trentino Circle, of which I later became president for many years, not only had to organise gatherings for the Trentino-origin community of Garibaldi, but also think about and implement projects that would keep alive the history and culture of our ancestors.

This sparked the idea of recording the architectural-religious memory of the "Colônia Conde D'Eu," one of the areas where Trentino emigrants settled towards the end of the 1800s, and on which the city of Garibaldi later arose. The goal was to document and preserve the signs of faith left by the immigrants. The project resulted in a book, entitled Perto das estrelas (Near the Stars), edited by the Trentino Garibaldi Circle.

Over four hundred pages encompass descriptions and photos of the churches, chapels, capitals and caves found in the municipalities of Garibaldi, Carlos Barbosa, Imigrante, Boa Vista do Sul, Coronel Pilar and Santa Tereza. They were built in the period between 1875, when the first Trentino immigrants arrived together with Father Bartholomeu Tiecher (originally from Caldonazzo), and 1959.

As the Trentino Circle of Garibaldi, with this work, photographing and cataloguing those structures, we wanted to enhance them because, in some way, they show the evolutionary and natural sequence of our history. Prayers and devotions for which those structures were built have almost been lost over time, but churches, chapels and capitals remain precious testimonies to the spiritual strength of our ancestors, who, in their great poverty, were willing and able to show that they loved beauty.

For us, the value of the book goes far beyond that of the albeit important cataloguing of devotional places, built by emigrants of Italian origin, because along with the wealth of information that is the result of painstaking research on documents and oral sources, the book highlights the profound religiosity that inspired and sustained the emigrants who arrived here. For us, that found in the book is the most beautiful legacy they left us, which we must pass on to future generations. This is also why the Associazione Trentini nel mondo has produced a video presenting the book and its creators, through images and interviews filmed in Garibaldi. The video can be viewed at this link.

In the book, which commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the colonisation of this part of Brazil, we read that on 21 March 1876, improvising an altar with crates and trunks, in the middle of the street, Don Bartholomeu Tiecher celebrated the first mass in Colônia Conde D'Eu. Faith was an element that gave strength to our forefathers, and the chapel they built became the central meeting point for families, the place where people gathered and exchanged ideas which led to the development of the city.

We have learnt that by knowing our past, we can build a future that preserves our identity. Unwavering faith and work from dawn to dusk were fundamental elements that sustained and promoted the progress we can experience today.

We must respect the values they left us and keep our history alive.

Edi Debenetti in the pulpit of the Church of Garibaldi, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The cover of the book Perto das estrelas (Close to the stars), edited by the Trentino Garibaldi Circle

Edi Debenetti's family of origin