~ Trans-Atlantic Family Life ~
A number of men who had arrived in Patagonia in hopes of building a profit left their families and girlfriends behind. Sometimes, they would never return to their parent country or see their wives or children again. Reuninons did occur, however, men would return to their families or send for them to join them in Comodoro Rivadavia. Some struggled to maintain ties with their wife and children despite distance and communication barriers through infrequent letters and postcards. Many remained separate for years at a time before reuniting again.
One example of this Trans-Alantic family life is Abilio Abreu who migrated to Comodoro Rivadavia from Portugal, leaving behind his pregnant wife and three children. Shown below are images of the correspondence between Portugal and Argentina. Most of the images shown here are from Abilio to his family for important holidays and birthdays.
 Click on photo for larger image and translation |
|
|
More Abreu Family Correspondence
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Immigration to Comodoro Rivadavia, especially during the early years was generally only men. Many of these men were single, others left loved ones and families behind. The oil companies originally promoted this practice, giving preference to single men and thus avoiding building family housing. This was often a financial necessity for the men as well. Many of them could not support their families because of a lack of work or low wages in the parent country. Likewise, they could not afford passage money for their entire family to immigrate. Workers who left loved ones and family members at home often worked many years to save money. Often, they would have to save money to repay debts includingtheir own passage to Argentina. They also sent money home and were able to support their families over long distances. Some men came to the oil fields of Patagonia to earn money without any intention of staying, and they returned to their families after a few years.
|
Others returned to their parent country and their families and brought their wives and children to Argentina with them the second time. Others, went to Comodoro Rivadavia in order to earn enough to return home and get married, sometimes remaining there, other times returning to Argentina. Another typical scenario was for the men to send for their families. Sometimes this involved a letter of calling which would need to be shown as proof of the existance of a husband in Argentina in order for the families to immigrate. Other family members who were left behind never heard from their husband or father again who often remained in Comodoro Rivadavia. This was often the result of financial strain |
María del Carmen Sánchez (de Torres), Ramón
Sánchez, María Cortés (de Simón),
Diego Simón |
|
María Cortés (de Simón) and Diego Simón |
María del Carmen Sánchez de Torres |
The vast majority of workers who migrated to Patagonia to work in the oil fields were single men. Many of them had been forced to leave their families behind in Europe. One such example is Juan Ivanoff's parents. His father followed his uncle to Patagonia in 1931, leaving behind his wife and four year old son in Bulgaria. He saved money for six years before he was able to pay back the loan for his passage to Argentina and raise enough to send for his families. Ivanoff described how communication was very limited. "My mother would write letters very infrequently because there was no phone, nothing. And, I believe that, at that time letters were sent by boat, so it took40 to 50 days or a couple of months to get to Europe. So, communication was very slow and it took a long time."
|
Many of the families who were left behind when the men left to work in the oild fields of Comodoro Rivadavia were dependent on financial assistance from the husband or father and from their extended families as well. Juan Ivanoff's mother land brother lived with their extended families in Bulgaria while waiting for word from his father. Ivanoff's brother who was four at a time went to school and cared for sheep while his mother and the rest of the family worked the land. Ivanoff describes his mother's experience saying, "She waited that her husband that was in Argentina one day would call her so she could go there to be with him." Ivanoff said that he believed the reunion of his family was "very emotional because after six years of not seeing each other, meeting once again even though it was foreign country, but they reunited and started to make their life together." |
An interview with Ivo Slobodareveals another limitation to family life imposed by distance. His parents were married in Argentina, but only after a long wait while his father worked in the oil fields around Comodoro Rivadavia while his mother waited in Czechoslovakia.
|
Catarina Charneca Borralho de Sousa discusses how she met her husband in Portugal. (He was her neighbor) and how he went to work in the oil fields of Patagonia and returned to Portugal to marry her before they both moved to Argentinga. The video clip also includes a picture of her and her husband when they were first married. |
Catarina Charneca Borralho de Sousa |
After being separated for numerous years, the reunion between a father and his family was often emotional. Ivanka Petkova de Stancheff experienced fear and confusion mixed with happiness and relief throughout her travel to the company towns from Bulgaria. She was disoriented when she disembarked the boat from Bulgaria in search of her father. "...they made us dissembark and my poor mother didn't know how to read or write and she was asking if your father's going to come or not. I said, he's going to come, don't worry. Well, my brother was crying that Dad didn't come to wait for us." After a short train ride into town, Petkova was reunited with her father.
Patagonia Mosaic Home |