documented read in a primary source · very likely several sources agree, no single document · hypothesis fits the data, not proven · open no data to decide yet.
01 / Casaletto Spartano, 1890–1897
The family
Gennaro Cardillo, a shoemaker, was born in Buonabitacolo on 11 February 1867, the son of Luigi Cardillo, a farm labourer, and Maria Linauro. He married Rosantonia (Rosa) Marsicano, daughter of Federico Marsicano and Maria De Luca, in Casaletto Spartano on 27 November 1890. Neither of them could write. documented
They had three sons, all born in Battaglia: Luigi (15 September 1892), Federico (21 April 1894) and Giuseppe Biase Rocco (29 January 1897). The first two were named after their grandfathers, paternal and maternal, as was the custom in southern Italy. documented
Where and when Rosa was born is unclear: her marriage record says Vibonati, aged 22 in 1890; her 1904 passport says Casaletto Spartano, 15 January 1866. open
02 / One generation up
Luigi's grandparents
- Luigi Cardillo and Maria Linauro, in BuonabitacoloHe was born on 26 December 1816 and died on 17 November 1899, a farm labourer in every record that gives his trade, son of Gennaro Cardillo and Anna dell'Orto. She died on 1 June 1878; the records also spell her name Limauro and Rinaldi. Seven children are documented, among them Gennaro (1867). documented
- Federico Marsicano and Maria De LucaHe was the son of Nicola Marsicano and died in Battaglia on 11 August 1902, aged 70. In 1864 and 1865 the family lived in Vibonati, where he signed the birth records of two sons in his own hand. His death record says he was born in San Mauro Cilento, but that was declared by neighbours and we have not found his birth. She was born around 1830, place unknown, and died between 1897 and 1902. Six children are documented, Rosa among them. documented
03 / From Buonabitacolo to Padula
Back to 1749
Grandfather Luigi's 1816 birth record names his own grandparents: «Biase Cardillo and Dorotea Magno, of Padula», both already dead. His father, Gennaro (born about 1774), was a shoemaker who lived between Padula and Buonabitacolo. documented
Biase Cardillo married Dorotea Mugnolo in the parish of San Michele Arcangelo, Padula, on 29 November 1760, and died on 19 September 1802. The marriage record names both sets of parents, and they match, name for name, two households in Padula's Catasto Onciario of 1749, a tax survey of the Kingdom of Naples: the master saddler Gennaro Cardiello, with his wife Costanza and their son Biase, aged 13, «at school»; and the master tailor Antonio Mugnolo, with his wife Verdeoliva and their daughter Dorotea, aged 7. documented
The two parish records are not digitised; Michele Cartusciello, of the Museo del Cognome in Padula, kindly sent us photographs. Who Gennaro Cardiello's parents were, and whether he came from Abriola, we do not know. open
04 / Patrocínio do Muriaé, Minas Gerais
In Brazil
Family memory, recorded by Ronaldo van Putten de Vasconcelos in his book Genealogia e História da Família Cardillo ↗ (2015), says Gennaro went first, with his eldest son Luigi, around 1903, and that Rosa followed with Federico and Giuseppe on a passport issued in September 1904. hypothesis When and where they landed we do not know: they are not on the lists of the ships from Italy that reached Rio de Janeiro between November 1904 and February 1905. open
The family settled in Patrocínio do Muriaé. Gennaro, called Januario in Brazil, had died by June 1944; Rosa died there on 7 June 1944. In 1922 Luigi, by then Luiz Cardillo, declared to the Brazilian registry that he was born in «Italy, province of Salerno, Batalha». He died in Patrocínio do Muriaé on 20 March 1958, a widower and a shoemaker, leaving five children. documented Federico died in 1993; Giuseppe in Tombos, Minas Gerais, in 1972 or 1979.
05 / Open questions
What we don't know
When and how the family reached Brazil; when and where Gennaro died; where Rosa was born; where Maria De Luca came from; when Luigi and Maria Linauro married (probably between 1847 and 1856; of those years, only 1851 is online); and when Dorotea Mugnolo died, between 1802 and 1816. open
06 / Sources and contact
Sources
Civil records of Casaletto Spartano, Buonabitacolo, Padula and Vibonati: Archivio di Stato di Salerno, on the Portale Antenati ↗, and the Sala Consilina court copies on FamilySearch ↗; full copies from the Comune di Casaletto Spartano. The 1749 Catasto Onciario of Padula: the town's own copy, on FamilySearch. Military draft lists: Archivio di Stato di Salerno database ↗. The Brazilian records are certificates from the civil registry of Patrocínio do Muriaé. For the Brazilian generations and the photograph of Rosa's passport: Ronaldo van Putten de Vasconcelos, Genealogia e História da Família Cardillo ↗ (2015, updated in 2026). The full list, with a link to each record, is on the Portuguese page. We do not publish images of the records; the links lead to the official portals.
For relatives
Do you descend from the Cardillo or Marsicano families?
Of Battaglia, Buonabitacolo or Padula, in Italy, Brazil or anywhere else: I would love to hear from you, especially if your family remembers when Gennaro and Rosa left for Brazil.
Write to rsorage@gmail.com.