Our Facebook group

I was looking today at our group in Facebook and I was amazed that we already passed the 50 members mark. It seems that our family, wherever we are, is really interested in its origins. All the Foinquinos contacted in South America, are aware that their ancestors came from Tanger. For most of them, Tanger is still a place shrouded in mystery as very few went back to visit. Lately, all the new members in the group live in Peru.


What is striking, is that all the members found in Peru and in Brazil seem to come from the same couple that started their adventurous life together in Brazil, Rafael Foinquinos and Sara Attias and their children Fortunato. They were one of the rare couple to travel and live together the bresilian adventure at the end of the 1800's. Most of the time, due to the wilderness, remotness and dangers that we can witness even now in the Amazone, the men left by themselves, returning to Tanger with money for the family left behind or going back and forth.


We find the name Rafael Foinquinos in Peru, as well as David. In Brazil, we also found some David and a lot of Aaro (Aron) and Leaho (Leon). Simita recently established contact with David from Belem, who told her about the family history, communauty and tombs in Belem, and also a book written at the turn of the century about our family. There are pictures and old documents in that book that he promised to send soon to Simita. We are awaiting this book with much anticipation.

The Foinquinos from Belem, Brazil and Iquitos, Peru

It seems that a lot of Foinquinos live or are burried in Belem, Brazil. Simita was telling me that a lot of our ancestors ended up there when they went to exploit the rubber plant in the Amazonian forest. I recently got the confirmation thru Gileno Foinquinos who told me his family is orignally from Belem, although he lives in Sao Paulo. He is a well known musician, in brazilian/jazz music, and I found him thru Google and myspace.com. His site is http://www.myspace.com/gilenofoinquinos. All the other musicians of the family are on my space too.



Another place of importance to our family, is Iquitos in Peru, where the Amazon ends up. Abraham Manuel Foinquinos, from the peruvian branch, told me that his family continues to live there and the ancestors are burried there too.