Walter Temelini was born July 8, 1939, in a small village
called Tavernelle, in the province of Pesaro, Italy. His grandfather
was a farmer, a sharecropper. Temelini’s father, Antonio, was
a carpenter and his mother was a housewife. Antonio and Anna had four
children, three boys and a girl, named Oscar, Walter (Valter), Fedora
and Marcello.
The after war times were very hard for the Temelini family. The zone
by the Metauro River was considered “zona depresa” (depressed
zone), which made Antonio realize that he had to leave Italy. He immigrated
to Canada in 1950, leaving the carpentry shop and his family in Tavernelle.
Antonio arrived in Gatchell, a subdivision of Sudbury, Ontario, where
he joined his cousin who had immigrated earlier. Walter, along with
his mother, Anna, the brother, Marcello, and sister, Fedora, immigrated
to Canada on October 24 or 25, 1952. They travelled from Fano to Genova
(Genoa) by bus and then got on an old boat named “Homeland”.
Once arrived at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, they travelled to Montreal
and later to Gatchell, Sudbury, Ontario.
Later Walter Temelini studied at the University of Toronto, Ontario.
He taught at the University of Guelph for three years. During that
time he met his late wife Luise Capriotti (Temelini) in Hamilton. In
July 1970, the University of Windsor was offering a position to start
the Italian Studies. Walter accepted that offer, moved to Windsor and
taught at this university for 35 years. |
