Cirrus@Austlit

'Biography of Francesco Borgia 6 August 1907-20 August 1964. To Set the Record Straight tells the story of my father, Francesco Borgia, who migrated to Australia in 1925 from San Procopio, a small town in southern Italy in search of a better life. He was only eighteen years old. In 1937, he returned to visit his family who wanted him to stay, but Francesco had a dream. He had already decided his destiny lay in his adopted country, and his goal was to establish his own business and set up a factory to make pasta. With a loan of 50 pounds ($100), he ordered machinery in Massena (Sicily) and arranged for its shipment to Australia. The pioneer pasta factory began operating on May 24th 1938 in an old dairy at 74 Ward Street, North Adelaide, South Australia. Disaster struck, when on June 11th 1940, Australia was drawn into WWII and Italians were considered a threat to National Security and classed as enemy aliens. This led to Francesco been placed under arrest, his factory closed down, and he spent the next 3 years in internment camps at Tatura, Hay and Loveday. It became a battle against the odds for him to remain positive and resist the immense pressure to sign away the rights of this business and shatter his dream. Francisco's life was one constantly fulfilled with obstacles and challenges which he tackled tenaciously and with the stubbornness to never give up, typifying the spirit of the true Aussie Battler, although he was Italian by birth. Many migrants will relate to his story, recalling their struggles to settle in a new country, trying to learn a new language and the difficulties in assimilating to a way of life and culture foreign to their own. Francesco Borgia's contribution as a pioneer in the manufacture of pasta in South Australia, deserves recognition as an important part of the state's history.' --Provided by publisher. Read at