From the Formal Lounge Room: In Conversation with my Grandfather
Interviewed and written by Felicity Zadro
“From a small Italian village to the heart of Western Sydney, this is the story of a life lived with resilience, service, and love.”
I understood he felt he was nearing his time, when he asked me to help him collect his memories and write a biography of his life…
Cav. Felice Zadro, eldest of five, was born in Italy in 1913 and lived his youth while WW1 raged. With no prospects of making a living after returning from the trenches in northern Italy, Felice’s father Guiseppe, made his way across the world to start a new life in Australia. Felice followed at the age of 15, and set to create a life filled with community, volunteering, family, faith and service. He used his migrant life, marked by hardship, racism, and exclusion to fuel his fire, determined to prove his worth, help shape and support Western Sydney, and carve out a legacy for multicultural Australia.
This is his story, told through a conversation over many months he shared with his 11th grandchild Felicity Zadro. Together they talk about leaving Italy, making a home, building community, raising families, his faith and politics.
This fly-on-the-wall account of Felice’s life, memories, beliefs and life lessons, told in his words, will captivate you and with story of the life of an inspired man.
Felice Zadro circa 1938
Purchase From the Formal Lounge Room
All proceeds of the sale of the first 80 books will be donated to Camden Men’s Shed Inc.
A note from the Author
“We traversed his life through his eyes, with me as his willing bystander.”
At time of publication, it’s been twenty-five years since I sat down with Nonno in the formal living room in Bossley Park, and yet when I read through these pages, it brings his voice back to my mind in a heartbeat. He had a thick Italian accent; I never even noticed it until I listened back to the tape recordings. It was just him.
During the months of conversation we had together, we traversed his life through his eyes, with me as his willing bystander. I would prod him to be more emotional and reveal inner thoughts while his preference was to stick to facts.
I wanted to understand what he felt, what his fears were and what it was to wear the badge of a non-English speaking new migrant. What it did to his staunch pride to be called derogatory names when people didn’t understand him or where he came from, or what he had to contribute, or who he really was.
At times, Nonno was reluctant to go there, so we went where he allowed. This is his story.
I tried to keep him on track most times, but one memory would spark another; and he enjoyed where his mind took him. So, we talked about a bushranger in the middle of telling the tale of courting Rina, my grandmother, and we talked of Italy in the same breath as Smithfield, where he made a home in NSW—often losing himself in the memories of his youth.
The stories Nonno told me in our times together stuck like glue to my heart. I couldn’t shake them from my daily thoughts. They ultimately became a powerful influence that has shaped my view of the world and of him, and of all migrants and families who have moved countries for economic, political, or personal reasons. Knowing, so intimately, his life stories have inspired me in many ways.
I hope that those who read his story, whether they knew him or not, get a glimpse into the mind and heart of one determined and inspired man.
Felicity Zadro, 2024
Founder and President of Club Marconi
Felice Zadro was a founder of Club Marconi and was a President twice. His membership badge number is #8. Today there are more than 52,000 members. As a Life Member, his membership card expires in the year 3000. There is a photo of Felice in the reception area of Club Marconi alongside the other members of the initial committee.
Transcribing months of interviews
Nearly 25 years ago, Felicity sat down with Felice in the formal lounge room of his home in Bossley Park, NSW, Australia. In an era before smartphones, they relied on cassette recording devices. Together, they visited the local store to buy this machine with mini tapes. Felicity later transcribed their conversations using a transcription machine with a foot pedal and stored the text on floppy discs.
The edited work now stands at 60,000 words, but the initial drafts were much longer. Between life and university commitments, Felicity devoted the better part of a year to completing the transcriptions.