Club Atlético Boca Juniors

The birth of the Boca Juniors football team is representative of the life of Italian emigrants in the de la Boca neighbourhood, made up of associationism, a sense of belonging and a desire to create activities and social occasions that would improve the life of their community. The club was officially born on the 3^rd of April 1905, but the decision to found it was made on the 1^st of April: it took three days of meetings, both in the private homes of some of the founders and in the square in Solis, and about 30 people were involved, demonstrating the participative and democratic spirit of the community of Italian emigrants in the neighbourhood.

The actual founders, however, were five and all were sons of Italian emigrants: Farenga Juan Antonio, Scarpati Alfredo, Baglietto Esteban Miguel Luis, Sana Santiago Pedro and Farenga Teodoro Esteban.

By paternal and maternal descent, 60% were of Ligurian origin and 40% from Basilicata and Campania. So, although the Genoese origin of Boca Juniors, whose supporters are still called Xeneizes (from “zenéixi”, meaning, “Genoese” in Ligurian dialect) is well known, in actual fact, emigrants from other parts of Italy also participated in the birth of the club, proving how a cohesion had already been created between all the Italians in the area, regardless of their region of origin.

This cohesion was also confirmed by the choice of the team's name. The first names proposed were: Hijos de Italia (Sons of Italy) and Estrella de Italia (Star of Italy) without any reference to Genoa or Liguria but only to Italy in general. In the end, at Farenga's suggestion, the name “Jóvenes dela Boca” prevailed, which Sana, who spoke English, suggested translating into “Boca Junior's”. The apostrophe was eventually dropped, resulting in the current name of Boca Juniors.

Story compiled thanks to Romina Deprati and Andrea Pedemonte in collaboration with Club Atlético Boca Juniors.