| The "Charcoal King of California" aka Giambatista DeMartini in his San Francisco office. He was born in the small town of Lorsica which is located in the Ligurian province of northern Italy. Perched on the westerly side of a mountain, they used to boast only a donkey path led up to Lorsica. After immigrating to the U.S. long before the turn of the century, he came to San Francisco where like most immigrants, he also migrated where he had relatives. |
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The primary reason for his departure from Italy was the then ideology that every other son was inducted into the Army for service. Defection to the new world become a way of life for many like him. In order to accomplish this uprooting, G.B. , as he became known, borrowed lire from a rich relative at usurious rates. Since he was the eldest of several children, there was always wonder about the future of his family in Italy. As for America, we are now six generations of San Franciscans, the youngest being 9 month old, Mia Kathleen DeMartini. |
