Born in the town of Grammichele (province of Catania) in 1884, Agrippino Manteo was orphaned at the age of four. Although he and his sister subsequently lived with their grandmother, Agrippino often ran away due to her harsh measures and the incessant farm chores. The puppeteer Giuseppe (Peppino Crimi), son of the famed puppeteer Gaetano Crimi, took the boy under his wing, setting the stage for a life devoted to Sicilian opera dei pupi (puppet theater) across three continents.

At the age of twenty-one Agrippino immigrated to Mendoza, Argentina, with his wife, Caterina, and their first child, Ida (neé Agata, also known as Aida). He worked as a baker while constructing marionettes, and, when he had amassed a …

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Citation: Cavallo, Jo Ann. "Agrippino Manteo". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 March 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13090, accessed 28 March 2024.]

13090 Agrippino Manteo 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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