Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Giuseppe Blais

1891–1983

Born
11 Jun 1891, Subiaco
Country of birth
Kingdom of Italy, today Italy
Died
1 Apr 1983, Verona
facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth11 Jun 1891, SubiacoProbable1 source
  • Death1 Apr 1983, VeronaProbable1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Subiaco

    Birth, Subiaco

  2. Died · Verona

    Death, Verona

What was it like?

The world around Subiaco, 1891: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

When Giuseppe was born in 1891, Subiaco belonged to the Kingdom of Italy, ruled by Otto I the Great.

Who ruled

  • Otto I the Great

    Monarch of Italy, 951 · Kingdom of Italy

  • Adelaide of Italy

    Monarch of Italy, 947 · Kingdom of Italy

  • Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

    Monarch of Italy, 1900–1946 · Kingdom of Italy

Born the same year

  • Antonio Gramsci

    Italian Marxist philosopher, writer, and politician (1891–1937)

  • Antonio Segni

    4th President of Italy (1891-1972)

  • Sergei Prokofiev

    Russian and Soviet pianist, composer and conductor (1891–1953)

  • Zora Neale Hurston

    African American folklorist, novelist, short story writer, and Civic Rights advocate (1891–1960)

  • Cole Porter

    American composer and songwriter (1891–1964)

  • Rubens Sales

    Brazilian association football player (1891-1934)

Fashion

Grumento festive female attire

Women in Grumento wore a typical dress on special occasions consisting of a light brown skirt with a large pleated section, a matching corsage with gold embroidery, and a traditional apron. They accessorized with a gold jewelry set featuring pendant earrings and gold pendants on velvet straps.

Holy Day respect in clean clothing

On feast days, laboring men and women carefully preserved special clothes to wear, as wearing a clean, pure white shirt or jacket was considered a necessary sign of respect toward God.

Music

Street musicians for two grani

In Sicily, street musicians playing instruments like the fiddle, mandolin, or flute could be hired for two grani to play popular dance music such as the tarantella or fasola.

Tarantella instruments and triccheballacche

The tarantella was commonly accompanied by instruments such as tambourines, castanets, and the triccheballacche, which is a device made of wooden hammers joined together to mark the dance's rhythm.

Getting around

Railway challenges and social class differences

Train schedules were unreliable and inconsistent between cities, sometimes varying by over 10 minutes due to different local time standards. Trains also had distinct social classes, with third-class passengers often enduring crowded, basic, and sometimes unroofed carriages.

Stagecoach travel was slow and exhausting

Before widespread rail, stagecoaches were primary for intercity travel, with a journey from Bologna to Florence taking up to 15 hours. Travel was slow, often requiring numerous stops at post stations to change horses.

Daily life

Compulsory schooling and common truancy challenges

Schooling was compulsory for children aged 6 to 9, but truancy was common because parents often prioritized farm labor. In 1885, a teacher might struggle to manage a class, and when school facilities were rented, they often lacked basic furniture or toilets.

Lack of public water and sewage infrastructure

Public water pipes were rare; by the late 19th century, over half of municipalities lacked them, forcing people to draw water from wells or public fountains. Sewage systems were also non-existent in over 77 percent of municipalities, often leading to contaminated water.

Food
Around 1878–1884

Chestnuts as a main meal

Neapolitan families with only one soldo might buy nine boiled chestnuts to eat as a main course, often using the reddish boiling water to soak their bread.

Around 1878–1884

Pizza as an affordable daily meal

Poor Neapolitans could purchase a slice of pizza for one soldo, a common price for a simple meal including items like fried fish or boiled corn.

Prices and wages
Around 1897–1898

Bread price spikes in Milan

The price of prime-quality bread in Milan rose from 30 centesimi per libra in April 1897 to 38 centesimi by January 1898.

Around 1878–1884

Domestic servant wages in Naples

In Naples, a domestic servant could earn as little as 8 lire per month, while a housemaid might earn 30 lire.

Work

Harsh daily wages and work hours

Industrial workers typically endured 12 to 15-hour workdays, and agricultural laborers in Sicily often earned an average daily wage of 3 tarì (L. 1.27) in 1876.

Agricultural dominance in late 19th-century Italy

In the late 19th century, approximately three-quarters of the Italian working population were engaged in agriculture, often working long hours for subsistence.

During their lifetime

  1. 1898

    The Bread Riots of 1898

    Widespread bread riots broke out across Italy in 1898 due to rising wheat prices, leading to mass repression, including the Bava Beccaris massacre in Milan where up to 400 people were killed.

  2. 1905

    Nationalization of Italian Railways, 1905

    In 1905, the Italian state nationalized the railway network, forming the State Railways (FS) to modernize transport and boost heavy industry.

  3. 1906

    Simplon Tunnel opens, 1906

    In 1906, the Simplon Tunnel, at 19.7 km the world's longest at the time, opened, connecting Italy and Switzerland by rail.

  4. 1913

    Peak of Italian migration, 1913

    In 1913, Italian migration hit a record peak, with 870,000 people leaving the country in a single year.

  5. 1918

    Spanish flu pandemic, 1918

    During the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918–1919, 600,000 Italians lost their lives.

  6. 1927

    Economic crisis, 1927-1935

    Following the Great Depression, the poorer classes in Italy suffered a fall in nominal wages of up to 70 percent between 1927 and 1935.

Family

Spouses