Photograph of Berta Boccini and her grandson Roger Boccini-Nincheri, Venice, 1949 - en anglais seulement

Photograph of Berta Boccini and her grandson Roger Boccini-Nincheri, Venice, 1949. Roger is immigrating to Montreal, QC, to rejoin his mother and brother. He will be the only passenger onboard the freighter Mount Rolland. They would not see eachother again.

The Boccinis and their youngest son emigrated to Canada in 1937, leaving Roger behind with his grandparents. In Canada, the Boccinis settled in Vancouver, where Alberto became a leading member of the local Italian-Canadian community. He was arrested and interned as a threat to the Canadian state in 1940. Boccini contracted tuberculosis while interned at Camp Petawawa and was released as a result in March 1942. He died within two years of his diagnosis in December 1944. His wife moved to Montreal where she eventually married Gabriele Nincheri, the son of artist and former internee Guido Nincheri. She was reunited with her son Roger, when he immigrated to Canada in 1949.