Italian 'grandad' finds a family

A widowed Italian pensioner who offered his services as a grandfather has been "adopted" by an Italian family.

The advert placed by retired teacher Giorgio Angelozzi, 80, tugged at heart strings across the world - prompting replies from Italy to Colombia.

But Mr Angelozzi, whose wife died in 1992, chose a family closer to home - an Italian couple with two teenage children in Bergamo, northern Italy.

Mr Angelozzi said he would give it three months to see if it worked out.

As part of his quest for a new family, he had offered to pay 500 euros (£337) a month towards household expenses. But people were moved by his story of losing his wife and finding the loneliness unbearable after a lifetime in the classroom.

Smiles

His new "family", Elio and Marlena Riva, and their children Mateush, 18, and Dagmara, 16, have endured their own family bereavements and were touched by Mr Angelozzi's advert.

Mr Riva lost his parents and a brother and Mrs Riva's parents live in Poland.

I knew right away that I had found my new home Giorgio Angelozzi

She told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that "this grandad has need of help and we have need of him. After many struggles, we want to see smiles again in the house".

Mr Angelozzi, who is leaving his seven cats with a friend for the trial period, told the paper: "Marlena's voice reminded me so much of my wife Lucia's. I knew right away that I had found my new home."

His only daughter is 53, has no children and spends much of her time working outside Italy.

Mr Angelozzi, a former classics teacher, says he is looking forward to "talking about Kant and Montesquieu" with young people again.

The youngsters, meanwhile, have promised to be good and listen to their music through headphones so they would not disturb their new grandfather.

But Dagmara told the paper: "I just want to have a grandad. The rest is not important."

Italy has seen an increase in older people living alone in recent years.

Despite the traditional importance of the family in Italy, changing family structures mean more elderly relatives are left on their own.

The record heat of the summer 2003 saw 7,660 more deaths than usual, mostly among older people who lived alone.