Brief history of the surname PASSAMANI in Tenna, with homage to the late art historian Bruno Passamani. By genealogist Lynn Serafinn.
My ‘Christmas Surname Countdown’
As you may already know, this month I am on a mission to publish a new surname study every day between December 15th and December 24th (Christmas Eve). To keep it a surprise, I’m not going to announce which surnames I’ll be posting on which days.
This PUGNETTI article is number 4 of 10 in this series. If you enjoy it, and you want to keep it to print out or share with family, you can purchase it as a 8-page PDF for $1.50 USD, using the form below.
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Where the Surname Passamani is Found
Variants: Basamàn (antiquated); Passaman; Passamana; Passamano; Passamann
A fairly uncommon surname, Passamani is found almost exclusively in the province of Trento (i.e., Trentino), with its apparent origins in the village of Tenna. Situated on a hill (Colle di Tenna), Tenna is surrounded to the west by Lago di Caldonazzo, and to the east by Lago di Levico in the southeastern part of the province:[1]
Because of its unusual location, Tenna is sometimes categorised as being part of the area that includes Caldonazzo and Levico Terme, shown in this map by author Giulia Mastrelli Anzilotti:[2]
However, if you zoom out and look at it within the context of all the valleys of Trentino, you can see that Tenna (the area sticking out at the top of area ‘6’, which I have highlighted in green) juts out into the area of Pergine Valsugana (highlighted in yellow):[3]
This is important to know when doing genealogical research, because despite the geographic labelling shown by Anzilotti, Tenna has almost always been part of the judicial district of Pergine. The only exception was during the short-lived Regno d’Italia (Kingdom of Italy) in the Napoleonic era between 1805-1814, when it was briefly under the jurisdiction of Levico.[4] Sadly, the communal archives of Tenna (and possibly those of the parish) suffered some damage due to military occupation during the Second World War.[5]
The parish of Tenna did not start recording its own baptisms until 1716, and deaths until the early 1702s; its marriage records do not begin until 1877[6] (I am unsure if this is due to damage or if they didn’t record them until that date). Prior to these dates, the records for Tenna will be found in the parish of PERGINE VALSUGANA, where the records go back to the 1500s.[7]
Theories of its Linguistic Origins
There are at least two theories on the linguistic origins of the surname ‘Passamani’, both of which indicate it was derived from a soprannome, but with two radically different meanings.
The first is offered by 19th-century historian Father Tommaso Vigilio Bottea. Father Bottea points out that the original (now antiquated) from of the surname was ‘Basamàn’[8] (with the accent on the last syllable), which refers to the custom of kissing the hand of the tax collector in order to gain his favours.[9] Thus, as a soprannome, this seems to have a somewhat sarcastic (if not slightly derogatory) meaning.
Linguistic historian Aldo Bertoluzza, however, points out that the word ‘passaman’ (again with the accent on the last syllable) is the Trentino dialect word for the covering of the banister of a staircase, i.e., a handrail.[10] Thus, he suggests the surname was derived from a soprannome for a craftsman who constructed handrails.[11]
The Early Passamani in Tenna
The earliest patriarch bearing this surname identified by Father Bottea was a Pietro Basamàn of Tenna, likely born in the latter decades of the 1400s, whose son Andrea appears in a document dated 1520.[12]
He also tells us that, around the year 1700, Baldassare Passamani (married to Barbara Tomasi) adopted the surname ‘Rosanelli’, taken from the name of his sister, Rosana.[13]
Several volumes of the parish registers for Pergine are indexed by surname, which enables us to find the Passamani relatively easily. Also, as the parish of Pergine is so large, most of the priests have written the names of the villages (frazioni) in the left margins of the register, which makes them very easy to scan. Example below:
TENNA [says ‘Thena’], 19 AUGUST 1692. Baptismal record for Valentina, daughter of Andrea, son of Baldassare Passamani of Tenna, and his wife Domenica, daughter of Leonardo Agostini [says de Augustini] of Montesei.[14]
Bruno Passamani, Art Historian
One person of special note is the late art historian and author Bruno Passamani of Tenna, who died in Brescia in 2010, at the age of 80.[15] Throughout his long life, he was devoted to the study and preservation of art, especially the art of Trentino-Alto Adige.
Among his many titles and accolades, he became the director of the Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento in 1976, where he coordinated important conservation projects, and organised many large exhibitions.
A prolific writer, over three hundred of his publications were dedicated to the great Renaissance masters of Brescia, but he was also the author of numerous monographs of artists from Trentino, including Gli affreschi del Romanino al Buonconsiglio di Trento (The Frescos of Romanino at the Castello di Buonconsiglio of Trento), and a monograph on Trentino painter Gasparantonio Baroni Cavalcabò. He also wrote a book on the art of the city of Trento entitled Guida di Trento: città d’arte e di soggiorno (Guide to Trento: City of Art and Sojourn).
The Passamani in Later Centuries
Nearly 700 Passamani births (and its variants) between 1815-1923 are recorded on the Nati in Trentino website.[16] About half (333) of these births took place in the comune of Tenna, with nearly as many (283) recorded in the neighbouring comune of Levico Terme. Later, we find it appearing further away in places like Vigo di Ton, and the cities of Rovereto and Trento.
Present-day estimates indicate there are about 95 individuals with the surname Passamani currently living in the province of Trento, with the largest number (about 45) still in their native comune of Tenna.[17]
There is even a street named Via Passamani in the village of Tenna, a testament to their enduring presence there.[18]
Lynn Serafinn, genealogist
18 December 2024
COMING UP TOMORROW…
This was article 4 in my special 10-part ‘Christmas Surname Countdown’.
If you liked this article and want to keep it to print or share with family, you can purchase it as a PDF for only $1.50 USD here:
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| Buy A4-size PDF: | |
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Tomorrow will be a brand new surname history. If you want to receive an announcement each time one of my ‘Christmas Surname Countdown’ articles/eBooks is published, be sure to subscribe to this blog in the subscription box below.
If you have any questions, comments or insights to add, please do not hesitate to post them here on the blog, or to write to me via https://trentinogenealogy.com/contact.
Until next time!
Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
18 December 2024
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NOTES
[1]TRENTINO.COM. ‘Tenna’. Map accessed 10 December 2024 from https://www.trentino.com/en/trentino/valsugana-lagorai/tenna/.
[2] ANZILOTTI, Giulia Mastrelli. 2003. Toponomastica Trentina: i nomi delle località abitate. Trento: Provincia autonomia di Trento, Servizio Benni librari e archistici, page 143. I have highlighted Tenna in green.
[3] ANZILOTTI, Giulia Mastrelli. 2003. Toponomastica Trentina: i nomi delle località abitate. Trento: Provincia autonomia di Trento, Servizio Benni librari e archistici, page 10. I have highlighted area 6 in green and 10 in yellow.
[4] CASETTI, Albino (dottore). 1951. Guida Storico – Archivistica del Trento. Trento: Tipografia Editrice Temi (S.R.L.), page 768.
[5] CASETTI, Albino (dottore). 1951. Guida Storico – Archivistica del Trento. Trento: Tipografia Editrice Temi (S.R.L.), page 768.
[6] CASETTI, Albino (dottore). 1951. Guida Storico – Archivistica del Trento. Trento: Tipografia Editrice Temi (S.R.L.), page 769.
[7] The baptismal records date back to 1566, marriages to 1584, and deaths to 1628.
[8] In modern Italian, ‘baciare la mano’ means ‘to kiss the hand’.
[9] BEBER, Lino; ZAMPEDRI, Marzio. 2010. Le Genealogie Perginesi Rivisitate. Storia delle famiglie e documentazione fotografica. Pergine (TN): Parrocchia di Pergine Valsugana, Archivio decanale, page 626.
[10] In modern Italian, passare = to pass; mani = hands.
[11] BERTOLUZZA, Aldo. 1998. Guida ai Cognomi del Trentino. Trento: Società Iniziative Editoriali (S.R.L.), page 254.
[12] BEBER, Lino; ZAMPEDRI, Marzio. 2010. Le Genealogie Perginesi Rivisitate. Storia delle famiglie e documentazione fotografica. Pergine (TN): Parrocchia di Pergine Valsugana, Archivio decanale. The Passamani tree made by Father Bottea are on pages 143-144, and the authors’ text is on page 626.
[13] BEBER, Lino; ZAMPEDRI, Marzio. 2010. Le Genealogie Perginesi Rivisitate. Storia delle famiglie e documentazione fotografica. Pergine (TN): Parrocchia di Pergine Valsugana, Archivio decanale. Pages 144 and 627.
[14] Pergine Valsugana parish records, baptisms, volume 7, page 6-7.
[15] Biographical information taken from his obituary at GIORNALE TRENTINO. 2010 (10 August). ‘Il mondo dell’arte trentina piangela scomparsa di Bruno Passamani’ (The world of Trentino art mourns the passing of Bruno Passamani). https://www.giornaletrentino.it/cronaca/trento/il-mondo-dell-arte-trentina-piangela-scomparsa-di-bruno-passamani-1.1110165.
[16] Statistics drawn from NATI IN TRENTINO. Provincia autonomia di Trento. Database of baptisms registered within the parishes of the Archdiocese of Trento between the years 1815-1923. https://www.natitrentino.mondotrentino.net/ .
[17] COGNOMI IN TRENTINO-ALTO ADIGE. ‘Passamani’ https://italia.indettaglio.it/ita/cognomi/cognomi_trentinoaltoadige.html. Data accurate as of 18 December 2024.
[18] GOOGLE STREET MAPS. Via Passamani, Tenna. Accessed 18 December 2024 from https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ts1hjuvTUmw5PPtx5