Biography
Born in Recoaro Terme (Vicenza), Italy, in 1952 from parents of farming background, Gerardo Ongaro is the second of three children. He was still in his mother’s womb when his father emigrated to Australia. In his childhood, he lived for a brief period of time in Melbourne, where his family were temporarily reunited. The first part of his life was characterized by poverty; he mainly did manual work, often precarious. He left Italy because of an innate exploration desire, the wish to see other worlds, to know other cultures and talk to people, instead of only reading about them in books and newspapers. With the same spirit, he chose the subjects of his studying. Combining it with work, he obtained an Honours Degree in Modern European Languages (Spanish and Russian) at Edinburgh University, and a post graduate Master Degree in IT Multimedia Technology at Edinburgh Napier University. He writes prose and poetry.