Antonio Giannoni

Who was Antonio Giannoni?

Antonio Giannoni was the first Italian to settle in South Australia. He arrived in Port Adelaide on 19 September 1839.

His bust, recreated from a rare photograph discovered by Professor Desmond O'Connor of Flinders University, stands in Norwood, South Australia.

Giannoni's full story and the extensive history of early Italian settlers in South Australia can be found in O'Connor's book No Need to Be Afraid. There is also a statue of Antonio Gannoni in Adelaide.

His surname became spelt as Gannoni after a misspelling occurred, however the pronunciation remains the same as Giannoni.