Giovanni (Giuseppe Salvatore) Ruffinu

16. Giuseppe Salvatore Ruffinu [558], son of Unknown, died before 1 Jul 1883.

General Notes: According to the family legend, his ancestors fled Bourbon France during the Revolution. If this is true, it is obvious that the name’s spelling had to have been changed at some point. I had always assumed that it had been Ruffini or Ruffino before the change, but, unprompted, Barbara said that it had been Ruffin, and that it had been changed to avoid being caught. Luigi could not confirm or deny this, but did say that his mother had repeated the story of French origin at later points.

Giuseppe Salvatore is named as Giovanni Maria’s father in the publication of the latter’s marriage to Pietruccia Lai. The presence of other Ruffinu in Ozieri with a connection to Luigi Ruffinu the muratore (born in Nule, 1789) leads us to expect a connection between Giuseppe Salvatore and Luigi. Luigi could be this man’s uncle or father: Luigi’s two children from his first marriage, who would be Giuseppe’s contemporaries, also end up in Ozieri.

I cannot find Giuseppe Salvatore in the Ozieri death indices, which indicates that he died before 1866, or did not die in Ozieri. Indeed, I see no adult male Ruffinu dying here at all, only children. Could he have died in Nughedu? I did not find him in the cemetery there.

I am including in this genealogy records of a son named Antonio Francesco that this man possibly had, but I cannot confirm the link. Everything descending from this proposed link should be considered unproven.

Antonio Francesco Ruffinu is listed as the son of Mattia Culeddu and Giovanni Ruffinu: is Giuseppe Salvatore another name for Giovanni, or did his wife marry another Ruffinu after his death? For some of the complications in the evidence, see the entry on Mattia Culeddu.

Antonio Francesco had at least six children, Giovanna, Matteo, Pietro, Caterina, Pietro and Pietruccia. The latter’s daughter married Achille Deledda, whom we met in Ozieri in March, 2007. Achille’s children may therefore be ancestors of our ancestors, but this cannot be firmly established until the Giuseppe Salvatore / Giovanni Ruffinu and Mattia Culeddu confusion is clarified.

Giuseppe married Mattia Culeddu [498] [MRIN: 222].

Children from this marriage were:

8	i.	Giovanni Maria (Giomaria) Ruffinu [378]
	ii.	Antonio Francesco Ruffinu [805] was born circa 1855 in Ozieri.