Melzi
Francesco Melzi: Boltraffo.
I write these blogs week after week, year after year but often wonder if anyone reads them.
However, this week I received a welcome email from someone who does.
Hello
My name is Youcef Melzi.
I came across your post about Francesco Melzi and I was very interested.
I would love to learn more about him — perhaps details about his background or family tree — and whether you have any information on how the Melzi family name might have made its way to Algeria, where I am from.
This is right up my street / My cup of Tea (British slang).
Get the shovel out and start digging.
There were Arabs (Saracens) in Italy but they settled in Sicily.
Francesco Melzi was an Italian aristocrat. His family took the name from their home town, Melzo near Milan (Francesco has a street named after him).
Leonardo da Vinci stayed with Francesco and his family in their Villa Vaprio d' Adda. They made him very welcome.
Francesco's son inherited Leonardo's notebooks and drawings. With no idea of their importance he gave or sold them to anyone who showed interest.
The Italian nobility, including that of the Melzi family, was abolished in 1922.
But I digress...
Youcef's family name, Melzi, might be a transliteration* of an Arabic word, place or tribal name.
However, when France occupied Algeria (1830-1962) it attracted Europeans.
Many came from Italy. They formed communities and worked in the farming, fishing and mining industries. Did perhaps a few impoverished aristocrats, Melzi descendants, migrate there?
Following Algeria's independence in 1962 Italians went home.
It may be that a few families of Italian descent remained and became Algerian citizens.
The answer to Youcef's question on how his family acquired its name, Melzi, lies in Algeria.
I wish him happy hunting.
* Transliteration represents characters or symbols of one writing system using characters of another system. e.g. Arabic كتاب / Kitab / Book
Post by Pamela (BA History of Art). Photography by Mark Playle.
Leonardo da Vinci
The Amboise Connection
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