Hearn, Cavallini, Cassimatis

Cassimatis (Kassimatis)
Cavallini
This is about Rosa Antonia Tessima Cerg Kassimatis (Cassimatis) of Kythira Island and her three children from her first marriage:  to Irish Surgeon Charles Hearn; and her four children from her second marriage: to Giovanni Cavallini of Kythira.

1823: Rosa  Antonia Kassimatis Tessima Cerg was born on Cerigo (Kythira) Island. She was christened in the Greek Orthodox Church. (Tessima is  the maiden name of  Rosa's Mother.)
1824: Giovanni Cavallini was born  on Cerigo (Kythira) Island. He was  christened in the Greek Orthodox Church.
August 12, 1853 Thirty-year-old Rosa Kassimatis Hearn gave birth to her third child, Charles Kassimatis Hearn on  Kefalonia  (Cefalonia) Island.
[Help requested!  How does one find where a Kefalonia birth record could exist of Rosa's third baby, Charles Kassimatis Hearn?]
Please send suggestions or  send information to:  David at .
 Notes:
Rosa's first of 3 Hearn sons, Robert Kassimati Hearn, was born on Lefkas Island.  He died  August, 1850, when he was one-year-old.
Rosa Kassimati Hearn's second child, was born on Lefkas Island, June 27, 1850: Patricio Lefcadio Hearn. He became a famous  investigative journalist in Cincinnati, Ohio, and, later,  a literary editor for New Orleans, Louisiana, newspaper. Later he became a world renowned author and an educator in Japan. He died from a heart attack in September, 1904, in Tokyo, Japan, where he is buried.
1856: Before marrying Greek-Italian Giovanni Cavallini  of Cerigo Island, 
Rosa Kassimatis sent her three-year-old  son, Charles Kassimati Hearn, - with a wet nurse - from her home in Cerigo   to the Hearn family in Dublin, Ireland.  The Dublin Hearn family changed the three-year-old boy's name from Charles Kassimatis Hearn to James Daniel Hearn. The Hearns sent James immediately to a boarding school in Scotland. James died in Michigan, USA, at the age of 80 in 1933.
1857: Rosa Kassimatis and Giovanni Cavallini, both from Cerigo families of the same social class, married.
Rosa is reported to have been "dark with a beautiful face and  large brown eyes like a wild deer's."
Giovanni Cavallini, a Kithira Islander of Italian descent,  was a man of some standing.  He was  Ionian Islands' Vice Consul for Austria-Hungary. Prior to that he was a Governor of Cerigotto during the British Protectorate.  His hobby was collecting antiquities.

Four Children were born to this couple  on Cerigo Island:
 Ziza Cavallini, Catherine Cavallini, Angelo Cavallini (who died in 1947) and George Cavallini  
March 25, 1872:
Rosa's  highly strong nature, stress, and the lingering unhappiness of her failed first marriage eventually led to a complete breakdown.
Rosa Kassimatis Cavallini, 49 years old,  was committed to the National Mental Asylum  on Corfu Island.
Giovanni Cavallini and his four children lived on to old age. 
Giovanni Cavallini was an amateur archeologist.  He had a large collection of ancient Greek "objets d'art," such as vases, graven stones, arrows and lamps.
He also had  ancient coins which he unearthed on Cerigo Island and Cerigotto Island.
1878: The French archeologist, Othon Riemann, met Giovanni at Cerigo   and examined Giovanni's collection. - {Reference: Riemann, "Recherche archeologiques sur les Illes Ionesses" (Paris: Ernest Thorin, 1880) III, 32-4}
December 12, 1882: After ten years in the Corfu National  Mental Asylum, Rosa Kassimati Cavallini  died at the age of 59.
 {The above asylum dates were   attested to by Spyro Steph, Recorder, National Mental Asylum at Corfu, in a certificate sent to  James' grand-daughter, Mrs. Bebow, St. Louis, Michigan, dated July 13, 1953.}
1905: Rosa's husband and Father of their four children, Giovanni Cavallini, died at the age of 81

1941-45: During World War II, Rosa's son, Angelo, his wife and his unmarried sister, Ziza, moved to Pitsiniaka, a tiny village on Cerigo with a population of about    90 people.  While thousands of city people in Greece were dying of starvation, Angelo, his wife and his sister  in Pitsiniaka had food to eat from their garden (artichokes, broad beans, oranges, olives, lemons, and figs), eggs from their chickens and milk from their goats.
During those days, Angelo's and Zazi's relatives, Katerina ("Katina") Kassimatis and her daughter, Anna Kassimatis also  lived in Pitsiniaka. They  often visited Angelo and Zazi.
Today, in 2004, Anna Kassimatis is Mrs. Anna Kassimatis Lambrou.  She and her sons live in Sydney, Australia., near her  95 year-old Father,  Theadore Kassimatis.
Anna Kassimatis Lambrou is the grand-daughter of Nicolas Kassimatis
Nicolas Kassimatis had 2 brothers, George and Panaioti Kassimatis.  Panaioti's grandson, Dr. Emmanuel Helidonis (Manolis), lives in Athens, Greece.
Therefore, Anna's and Manolis' grandfathers were brothers.
Anna Kassimatis Lambrou of Sydney  and Manolis of Athens enjoy being in touch with each other.
March, 2004: Thanks to Anna Kassimatis Lambrou for detailed information in this report concerning  Rosa Kassimatis and her descendants.
If anyone has further information or corrections concerning any of the above individuals, please inform me at   Thank you.

Brad
URL: www.lafcadiohearn.org
Osaka, Japan,  March 2004.