#58 Via Giuseppe Whitaker is the last address of my great great Grandfather Benedetto de Francisci, (1842-1919) he died here in 1919 when my Grandmother was just 3. It was his son Nicolo that left Palermo for New York in 1903.

Via Giuseppe Whitaker might not sound like a very likely name for a street in Palermo but Joseph “Giuseppe” Whitaker was an important aristocrat in Palermo and northwestern Sicily in general for he was instrumental in kickstarting the Marsala wine industry, introducing it to the UK and thus the wider world. He’s kind of a big deal around here.