From Italy to America: Maria Bartiromo opens up on heritage, first job
'First thing [my grandfather] did when he arrived with $12 in his pocket was go to Europe and fight for the allies in World War I'
FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo is proud of her Italian-American heritage.
During an “Ask Maria” segment Friday on “Mornings with Maria,” a viewer inquired where in Italy her ancestors were from. Bartiromo said her mother’s family was from Agrigento, Sicily and arrived in the U.S. in 1898.
Her grandfather, Carmine Bartiromo, arrived in New York from Nocera in Naples in 1933 and served in the U.S. armed forces.
“First thing Carmine did when he arrived with $12 in his pocket was go to Europe and fight for the allies in World War I,” she said.
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Bartiromo said when her grandfather returned, he settled in Brooklyn, New York and built a restaurant using his own hands.
“He was a bricklayer in Italy before that,” she said. “He named it the Rex Manor.”
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The restaurant was named after the Rex, a popular Italian ocean liner that was used to transport Italians to America in the 1930s.
The Italian liner "Rex," about 800 miles east of New York City. (U.S. Air Force photo)
The Rex Manor was also Bartiromo’s first job as a teenager.
“I was the coat check girl at Rex Manor,” she said.
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Bartiromo was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award by the National Italian American Foundation for her accomplishments.