Britalian is a term that functions as a catchy alternative to the more formal term Anglo-Italian or
British Italian. Britalian capitalises on the duplication of the 'it' syllable in both
British and Italian to form a cohesive blend of the two
words. Britalians are
British citizens or residents of Italian ethnic or national origin. Italians have resided in
Britain since the times of Emperor Claudius' invasion in AD 43, in modern times however most British residents of Italian origin emigrated or their decendants emirgrated post-WW2 due to the extremly poor economic conditions in
Italy. Britalians have long since contributed in every avenue of British culture, yet there is still an underlying xenophobic feeling directed t the Italian community in
Britain. The sinking of the steamship SS Arandora Star on 2 July 1940 resulted in the loss of over 700 lives—including 446 British-Italians being deported as undesirable. There are of course several ethnic slurs specific to Italians which will not be listed here, but despite the Anti-Italianism mostly over the last century Italian culture and the Italian sense of identity for all the Italians the world over is still strong.
List of famous Britalians include: British Prime minister in the name of Benjamin Disraeli, the great linguist and lexicographer John Florio. Dante
Gabriel Rossetti The poet, painter and translator. . Dame Anita Roddick, DBE founder of The Body Shop, Peter Bonetti 729 appearances for
Chelsea, Lanfranco "
Frankie" Dettori, MBE the very successful horse racing jockey. Lawrence Dallaglio OBE is a retired English rugby union
player World Cup winner in 2003. Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a former professional boxer. . Musicians like Chris Rea, Paolo Nutini, Brian Johnson lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. Anthony Minghella Academy Award winner for Best Director.
Armando Iannucci Scottish-Italian comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer who's work includes; I'm Alan Partridge, The Thick Of It,
Time Trumpet and the Academy Award nominated In The Loop for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2010. The list of famous British Italians goes on.
Britain is an ecclectic mix of different ethnicities, cultures, languages and communities the Italian community in Britain has a strong sense of pride and will continue further itself in culture as well as contribute to British culture.
