Armungia, 1907: mother and daughter killed by bandits. Almost 120 years later the descendants gather to remember them

They gathered together, relatives of four different generations, to remember in Armungia two of their ancestors who were stabbed to death in their home in via Mazzini on 7 November 1907.

On that fateful date, two coal burners arrived in the town for a robbery, entered through a small window in an inn and killed Raimonda Campurru, 38 years old, and her daughter Marietta, only 8 years old. A sad story that seemed forgotten.

Instead, around forty descendants of the two victims gathered in Emilio Lussu's town: they arrived from Bolzano, from other parts of Italy and from Sardinia. Many had never met before.

And so it was also an opportunity to remember and get to know each other. Pensioners, professionals, doctors, a mayor and even some young people who came to bring back memories of a story from times gone by. A story that has come to light also thanks to a novel written by a fourth generation great-granddaughter of Raimonda Campurru, Valeria Usala, 30 years old. A volume, published by Garzanti in 2021, whose English translation will be released by Text Publishing on April 30th and which was also presented last February at the Italian Cultural Institute in San Francisco.

On the occasion of the family reunion Don Danilio celebrated a mass in the parish of Armungia, then everyone visited the cemetery where a commemorative plaque was discovered to pay homage to Raimonda and Marietta, surprised 117 years old by two murderous thieves in their shop, where hot meals were prepared especially for those who worked in the Gerrei mines. After the crime the bandits fled with their blood-soaked loot. The woman and the girl were instead buried in the Armungia cemetery.