Il mio nome a memoria

the long version

Author Giorgio van Straten used his real family history as a springboard for this epic story. The story begins in Rotterdam in 1811, when Hartog son of Alexander ? father, cucumber salesman, and Dutch Jew ? is forced by Napoleonic edict to choose a last name. He picks Straaten, the Dutch word for street. The name presages a journey through history that takes Hartog?s descendants as far afield as San Francisco, London, Odessa, Sao Paolo, and Tibilisi. Along with the characters, readers witness the Gold Rush, the Russian Revolution, the Stalinist purges, and finally, the Holocaust in this moving testament to the human spirit. My Name, A Living Memory is the winner of the U.S.-based Zerilli-Marimo Prize for Italian Literature, and the Viareggio Prize in Italy.