Migration, Memory & Wine — an intimate evening with Robert Rossi.
Each evening blends storytelling with archive photographs, short readings from Italian Blood, British Heart, and conversation. You'll learn why nearly every Scottish chip shop has Tuscan grandparents. You'll meet the nineteen-year-old fusilier from County Durham who became the youngest Victoria Cross recipient of the Second World War. And you'll raise a glass of wine grown in the very valley where the saga begins.
About forty-five minutes of talk, a generous Q&A, a book signing, and Italian warmth throughout.
Doors and aperitivo · Welcome from the venue · Robert's talk with archive imagery · Two short readings · Q&A and conversation · Book signing and drinks
Run-time: 90 minutes (typical)
A homecoming. Glasgow built much of its modern character on the families who left Barga in the 1880s, and Robert was born here. An evening of stories, archive photography and Tuscan wine.
For the North-East: the story of Italian families in County Durham — and of Fusilier Dennis Donnini VC from Easington Colliery, the youngest soldier of the entire Second World War to receive the Victoria Cross.
With both 2026 evenings sold out, Robert is in conversation with larger venues for an autumn tour. Mailing-list subscribers will receive early access before tickets go on general release.
Are you a venue, festival, society or club interested in hosting Robert? Enquire here.
Robert has spent thirty years building a genealogical archive of more than 50,000 Barga-diaspora relatives. If your family came to Britain from anywhere near Barga, there is a real chance you are already in it. Bring a surname on the night — or, even better, send your family details ahead of time and Robert will arrive already knowing where you fit.
Find your family →When Barga's silk industry collapsed at the end of the nineteenth century, thousands of young Tuscans walked north, and an unusual number of them ended up on Scotland's west coast. They opened ice-cream parlours in tenement closes. They learned to fry fish. They taught Glasgow how to make a proper coffee.
By the inter-war years, Glasgow hosted the United Kingdom's third-largest Italian community. About sixty per cent of present-day Barga residents claim Scottish family — and Barga is formally twinned with East Lothian. Walk through Barga in summer and you may hear a Glaswegian accent in a café.
From the mid-1800s, Italian migrants arrived in the North-East from the mountainous parishes of Lucca province (which contains Barga) and other Apennine villages. They worked as street traders and chestnut sellers, then opened ice-cream parlours and cafés along the coalfield towns of Durham and Northumberland.
One such parlour belonged to Alfred Donnini in Easington Colliery. His son Dennis, born in 1925, would die at nineteen on a snowy German road on 18 January 1945 — and become the youngest soldier of the war to be awarded the Victoria Cross. He is the heart of Italian Blood, British Heart.
Robert is taking enquiries for autumn 2026 and 2027. Suitable settings include literary festivals, cultural societies, Italian clubs and consulates, libraries, museums, cafés, restaurants, Burns suppers, Italian-British twinning associations and corporate cultural evenings.
Each event can be tailored to your audience — a Scottish version, a North-East version, or a more general "Italian-British migration" version. Wine and antipasto pairings can be arranged.
Yes — copies of Italian Blood, British Heart and Jewish Blood, Italian Heart will be available, and Robert will sign and dedicate them after the talk.
At most venues, a glass on arrival is included in the ticket. Where the venue allows, a curated tasting of Tuscan wines from the Serchio valley can be arranged for an additional fee.
Not at all. The evening is designed to be welcoming to anyone — whether you've never thought about Italian migration before, or your grandmother was born in Barga.
Yes — please do. The Q&A is the highlight of the evening at every venue. Audience stories often open up parts of the history Robert hadn't heard before.
Accessibility varies by venue. Please contact us in advance and we'll put you in touch with the venue's access team.
Yes — join the mailing list and you'll be told first when cancellations open up, and when new dates are released.
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