Iris Belli

War bride, 1946 · A.T. Algonquin · b. 1 December 1923 · d. 9 February 1989

Iris Belli was a daughter of Rome, born on the first of December, 1923, in a city of fountains and marble and gathering Fascism. The war brought an American soldier to her door, and Iris became a war bride — among the very first Italian women to sail for America once the guns fell silent, crossing to New York in 1946 aboard the army transport Algonquin.

She traded the Tiber for the Mississippi, took the oath of citizenship, and in the years that followed sailed back more than once to her Roman kin. She lies at Fort Snelling as Iris Belli Gondorchin — the Italian name kept, always, beside the Rusyn one.

Family

Father Amedeo Belli Iris’s father · class of 1896 Mother Palmira Giarrocchi Iris’s mother Spouse Peter Gondorchin U.S. Army · World War II Child James Lee Gondorchin Lynn’s father Child Kathryn Frances Gondorchin Lynn’s aunt Child Janice Lynn Gondorchin Lynn’s aunt

Documents & sources

Iris Belli Gondorchin — U.S. Social Security NUMIDENT

FamilySearch

b. 1 Dec 1923, Rome; parents Palmira Giarrocchi & Amedeo Belli.

Reference

Iris Belli / Gondorchin — 1946 arrival, New York, U.S. Army transport Algonquin

FamilySearch · Ellis Island / passenger index

Crossed already married; one of the first Italian war‑bride ships out of Naples.

Reference

Gondorchin memorials — St. Anthony Cemetery & Fort Snelling National Cemetery

Find A Grave

Burials and dates for George, Mary, Peter, Iris and others.

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