Asmundo family

Adamo Asmundo, doctor in civil law at the University of Padua, was rationum magister (master of finances) at the Court of Royal Property and luogotenente generale.

His achievements include characterizing the canzuna as a major poetic form as distinct from the sonnet, and promoting Sicilian as a sublime language of poetry.

[7] Following the 1693 Sicily earthquake that devastated Catania and the Val di Noto, Giuseppe Asmundo was a leader in the urban and cultural rebirth in the affected areas.

In Catania, among other works, he rebuilt the orphan girls' school Conservatorio delle Verginelle,[8] and contributed, through the prior Bartolomeo Asmundo, to the construction of the church of the Immacolata Concezione ai Minoritelli.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Giuseppe Zappalà Asmundo and his wife Anna Grimaldi Francica Nava were among the promoters of the Sicilian Belle Époque.

In 1910, they created the Teatro Minimo in the halls of their palazzo, a rare example of a private theater where shows by Catanian authors are produced, some directed by Giovanni Verga.

In 1934, they donated to the Museo Civico at Castello Ursino a collection of paintings, archaeological finds, porcelains, majolicas, antique arms, coins, and decorative arts, among which are Amati and Goffriller violins.

Marianna Asmundo, mother of the writer Federico de Roberto, with her strong and possessive personality, exercised great influence over her son's life and artistic work.

[15] The families that the Asmundos have been directly connected with are, among others: di Castro, Filangeri, Gioeni, Gravina, Grimaldi, Landolina, Platamone, Rizzari, Rosso, Sammartino Pardo, Spatafora, Speciale, Stagno d'Alcontres, and Tedeschi.