THE FEDE-NICOLETTI CASE

The Fede-Nicoletti case began about 25 years ago, when my paternal grandmother, Filippa Fede, had already passed away a few years earlier (in 1996). I often found myself talking with her sister, Aunt Irene, who was a living encyclopedia and knew all the family stories inside out.

It all started when, as a teenager, I was taking my first steps into genealogy. Since the surname “Fede” was quite well-known in Italy due to the Sicilian journalist from the Mediaset TV network, Emilio Fede, I began researching the name. I remembered Aunt Irene once telling me that her father, Paolo, had met Emilio Fede on a train, and during their conversation, they concluded that they were somehow related. That detail intrigued me greatly, and I bombarded Aunt Irene with questions about it.

Some time later, however, a surprising revelation came to light: Paolo Fede’s father – the man listed in official documents as the father of my grandmother Filippa and Aunt Irene – was not actually his biological father. Antonino Fede, who appeared in all the records, was not Paolo’s real father.

Aunt Irene then told us that she was a cousin of a certain Rosario Nicoletti, who was well-known in his hometown of Pietraperzia for his historical research and passion for archaeology. That’s how we discovered the truth: Paolo Fede was, in fact, a Nicoletti by blood, not a Fede.

Aunt Irene often recalled a moment from her childhood: her biological grandfather, Giuseppe Nicoletti, would ask her to reach into the pockets of his jacket to find candies he had placed there for her. They both knew about their blood connection—grandfather and granddaughter—so this relationship wasn’t a secret, but rather an accepted, though unofficial, reality.

In one of her most detailed stories, Aunt Irene explained that Antonino Fede and Filippa Triolo—the official parents of Paolo Fede—got married on October 4, 1874, a date I confirmed through their marriage certificate. According to the document, Antonino was originally from Caltanissetta but had grown up in Pietraperzia, Filippa's hometown. He was the son of unknown parents and married Filippa, but—according to Irene—he never consummated the marriage, at least not at a time that matched the conception of Paolo.

Indeed, Antonino allegedly accused Filippa of infidelity, insisting he could not be Paolo’s father since they hadn’t been intimate during the crucial period. Following this, he packed his things and left her. Three years later, on October 19, Paolo was born. According to Aunt Irene, Giuseppe Nicoletti, who was already married to a woman named Ideo, was Paolo’s true biological father, though he never legally recognized him.

Irene also said the entire Nicoletti family knew about this and that whenever she met with lawyer Rosario Nicoletti—Giuseppe’s grandson—they greeted each other warmly, acknowledging each other as cousins. Rosario once even expressed a desire to marry Giuseppa (known as Peppina), Irene’s older sister and my paternal grandmother, but was strongly advised against it due to their close kinship.

This story died with Aunt Irene, yet it lives on in my memory—a fragile but resilient thread weaving together family truths, buried identities, and silences passed down through generations.