The earthly life of Joseph Allamano begins at Castel-nuovo d'Asti (now Castelnuovo Don Bosco) on January 21, 1851. Castelnuovo, where Sts. Joseph Cafasso and Don Bosco had been born earlier, is a large farming village situated about twenty miles from Turin. Bornthe fourth of five children, little Joseph lost his father before he was three. Two women exercised great influence upon him: the first being his mother, Anna Maria Cafasso, sister to Fr. Joseph Cafasso whom the people of Turin would one day see as a saint, and the second being his kindergarten teacher, Benedetta Savio, a woman of fascinating spirituality and great compassion for the needy.