My name is Al Stefanelli. I am a retired author, writer, journalist and publisher. I am a citizen of both the United States (by birth), and Italy (via ruling of the Corte Suprema di Cassazione – Sezione prima – sentenza 13 maggio – 28 luglio 2009, n. 17548 – Jus Sanguinis). I am also a descendant of the Filangeri (Filangieri) Royal Family through maternal line.
This entire website is a tribute to my family, their history, ancestry, triumphs, tribulations and how they shaped Sicily. It is a labor of love. The information contained herein has been gathered from the Internet, family histories, personal images and collections of writing that I’ve been collecting over the years.
Below, you will find a couple of galleries in the form of slideshows and thumbnails. These galleries represent only some of the images on this website, and comprise images of the Filangeri Palaces, Villas and Castles, as well as other images of various ancestors and other related images. There are also pictures along both side of this article.
Couple Things First
This is a work in progress, and it is expansive. While there is a lot of information about my ancestors, as well as many pictures, I still have many documents and pictures to scan and will be adding to this site regularly. Also, other family members send me things that need to be formatted, etc. Also, a lot of the information I receive is in Italian and has to be translated.
The information on this page is an amalgamation of some of the more interesting points in the family history. For details, visit the pages under the “Lineage” link on the menu bar. It is much more detailed, as are all the individual pages here.
Since this is not an income-generating website, and my Italian is horrific, I have to use translation software then attempt to correct the grammar. So, sometimes the grammar is a bit iffy.
A special shout-out to my cousin, Dennis Filangeri, who has spent considerable time on another Filangeri Website, “The Filangeri Project.”
A page has also been set up for another special member of the family, Beatrice Feo Filangeri. Check the menu above under “Lineages”
Galleries
The Filangeris had palaces, castles and villas all over Sicily. For a time, the family owned almost a third of the entire island. The most famous is the Palazzo Filangeri-Cuto. There is also the Castle Avellino, the Palazzo Mirto, the Palazzo Filangeri in Monreale, and structures the cities of Villafrati, San Marco D’Alunzio and the Castlemarra.
Here are couple galleries of the Palazzo Filangeri-Cuto, and a couple pics of other places.
For more images, click the menu links above.
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For more images, please feel free to click around a bit. This site is updated periodically.
Al…I think you are doing a fabulous job! Don’t give up! Keep doing research ! We need a historian in our family! Laraine
Thanks, Laraine! It is a labor of love.
Hi Al, did you have an email address where I could share a story with you? Joe
I have found this extremely interesting.
this is truly wonderful- thanks, Al—
http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/... http://www.flickr.com/groups/1048608@N22…
Great Job Al. This is much more than I hoped to do on my genealogy project.
Thank you, Dennis, for the work you have done, as well. Your work has contributed to this site, too!
Al-
Thanks for putting this together, really interesting.
My pleasure, Zach. We’ve got an incredibly interesting family
Pretty cool, Al. Great job!
Thanks, Steve!
Absolutely beautiful site!
Grazie, Christine!
Hi Al don’t know if I’m related to any of you, I know my father had relatives in Italy but don’t know where, or who, but love reading all the info
Thank you Cuz for posting our royalty! You sure have done your homework. I wish your parents and my grandmother and Aunt Candy, and Kristin were alive. They would be loving this immensely! I am proud to be your cousin!
Al , & all my other cousins who have helped put such a breathtaking biography together , THANK YOU , GRAZIE , & MERCI your all angels, my grandmother was a CANDIDA from Aldoino Filanigeri di Candida .Im very proud to be attached with you all & can only imagine that you are all very special people , I hope one day to meet you … Linda . XO
This website is a testament of the incredible passion you have for your ancestry. I feel how much love you put in your work and it must be overwhelming for you in both work and satisfaction you experience.
You proudly and joyfully feel the need to exhibit the history of your lineage and there is nothing wrong with it.
Good luck on your endeavor to improve and updating your website regularly.
I, regrettably noticed a very small almost insignificant typographical error on one of your webpage, which it is http://filangerifamily.com/palazzo-filangeri-cuto-bagheria/
In one of your top, second sentence the word (beloned) was used and I, almost feeling ashamed to even mention it, feel to inform you about that the word should be belonged.
Hi Al and All! We learned recently that we are Filangieri descendants on my fathers side(we come from the Vetro and Palladino families but we are all Hungarian citizens since about 4 generations). It is funny because I always had this aching-but-homey feeling when in south Italy, so voila, now we know. Happy to learn about the family, about you guys, thank you for the work, for the passion put into it!
http://www.buckeyesedge.com/adolphus-washington-jersey
Hello Al, I think we may be cousins – my grandmother is Joanna – her mother was Anna Filangeri who I am named after. This website is an amazing wealth of family knowledge — things that I only knew small pieces of through stories that had been passed down. Thank you very much for creating this. I will be sharing the site with all of my family.
hey anna!!! we’re all missing on this tree!!!!
great job…. I am provideza difrancescas great grandson so guess makes us related…hi from nyc
Hi my name is Laura Filangeri. My late grandfather was Peter Filangeri
Awesome article …….
Good article…….
Great job.
i never read this kind of article excellent…
good job excellent article.http://www.slokainternational.com/
I am Josephine (JoAnne) Caltagirone Busse. My grandmother was Josephine Schillaci Caltagirone. Her mother was a Filangeri. I am very interested in learning more about the Filangeri Family.
Thank you for your informtion.
Hi Al, I hope you can help me. I have been told by members of my family that we are descendants of Filangeri. However, I can find no record of it. In your investigating have you come across the name Schillaci? My grandmother was Josephine Schillaci Caltagirone. It is believed that her mother was a Filangeri. I had my DNA tested, but there is no record past my grandmother who emigrated here in 1922.
Nice article.
Really cool you can trace your family back. Quite often when you do it, its never as interesting as you had hoped.
Hi, I’m Richard Panio, grandson of Providenza Filangeri- DeFrancesca
She always told us she was descended from royalty , but we never believed her. LOL Sorry Grams
Our tree
Providenza
Bernadetta
Marie(Marcy)– — Danielle, James
Michael—- Cristina, Salvatore
Richard —-Richard, Anthony
Laura—- Christopher, Nicolas, Julia
Hi Richrd. This is Laura Filangeri from Florida. Do you remember me? Aunt Prov was my grandpa Pete’s sister. I have .so many good memories of your family in NY. Miss you all.
Hi Laura,
Yes, of coarse I remember!
Many good memories with all of the cousins.
Good to hear from you. Hope all is well.
.
well done…
Nice work AI, you have done a fabulous job….keep going
wonderful work AI….
THIS IS SUCH AN AMAZING WEBSITE. THANKS FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL WEBSITE.
GREAT SITE.
Nice post.
good content keep it up
Great job with this website!
My Grandmother Giuseppina Filangeri was from Montelepre, Sicily. She always said that we were from “royalty”. She claimed we had a duke in the family a long time ago. I have done quite a bit of geneaology research on our family and this is wonderful to understand where the family came from. I guess that’s where we all got our light skin and green eyes from, the Norman influence.