By JESSE GRAHAM
A BOOK outlining the Italian history of the Yarra Valley and surrounds will be launched this weekend in Silvan.
La Terra Promessa: Italians in the Yarra Valley Before 1945 is a detailed history of the three waves of Italian migration to the Yarra Valley from the 1880s through to the late 1930s.
Author, journalist and historian, Tony de Bolfo, will launch the book with its author and local historian, Anthony McAleer, at the Silvan Public Hall on Silvan-Monbulk Road from 2pm on Sunday, 4 October with a number of guest speakers.
Yarra Ranges Mayor Maria McCarthy and Monbulk MP and Deputy Premier James Merlino, both members of the Italian community, will be two of the speakers at the event.
Mr McAleer interviewed numerous members of the Italian community about migration into the area in three waves.
He said that in the 1880-1900 period, Italians were brought out to Australia to work on local wineries, while in the 1920s many others came to the area to work on the Silvan Dam and O’Shannassy Weir, settling on farms in Silvan and Wandin.
From the 1920s-1930s, those who already lived in the valley encouraged and sponsored family and friends to come to the valley as well.
The book also details the 1940s period, where Australia was at war with Italy, and asks the question of how local Italians reacted to their adopted home being at conflict with their home country.
The title of the book, La Terra Promessa, means “the chosen (or promised) land” in Italian.
