Pope Leo XIV

Birth Name: Robert Francis Prevost

Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Date of Birth: September 14, 1955

Ethnicity:
*paternal grandfather – Italian [including Sicilian]
*paternal grandmother – French
*mother – Louisiana Creole [French, African, Spanish], Cuban, possibly Maltese and other

Pope Leo XIV is the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City. His Papacy began on May 8, 2025. He was previously Prior Provincial of Our Mother of Good Counsel, from 1998 to 2001, Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, from 2001 to 2013, Titular Bishop of Sufar, and Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo, both, from 2014 to 2015; Bishop of Chiclayo, from 2015 to 2023; Apostolic Administrator of Callao, from 2020 to 2021; Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and Cardinal Deacon of Santa Monica, all, from 2023 to 2025; and Cardinal Bishop of Albano, in 2025. He is the first U.S.-born Pope, the first Pope from the Order of Saint Augustine, and the first Pope with significant sub-Saharan African ancestry.

Pope Leo is the son of Mildred Agnes “Millie” (Martínez) and Louis Lanti Omarius Prévost, or Louis Manius Prévost, a school superintendent. His father was born in Chicago, Illinois, to an Italian father and a French mother. Pope Leo’s mother was also born in Chicago, to a Haiti-born father and a Louisiana-born mother. His father’s family was originally named Riggitano, but his grandfather changed the name to Prévost, the surname of his own mother-in-law, the Pope’s great-grandmother.

Pope Leo’s paternal grandfather was Giovanni Salvatore Gaetano/John Riggitano, or Jean Lanti Prévost (the son of Santi/Santo Riggitano and Maria Alioto). Giovanni was born in Milazzo, Messina, Sicily, Italy. Santi was born in Milazzo, Messina, the son of Giuseppe Riggitano and Concetta Buccafusca. Maria was the daughter of Francesco Alioto and Vittoria Trusiano.

Pope Leo’s paternal grandmother was Suzanne/Susanne Louise Marie Fabre/Fontaine (the daughter of Ernest Auguste Fontaine and Jeanne Eugénie Prévost). Suzanne was born in Le Havre, Normandy, France. Ernest was born in Calvados, Normandy, the son of Pierre Gustave Fontaine and Louise Adrienne Aubin. Jeanne was born in Paris, the daughter of Romain Pascal Prévost and Jeanne Chauvin.

Pope Leo’s maternal grandfather was Joseph Norval/Norvale Martinez (the son of Jacques Martinez and Marie Rosa/Rose Panteleon Ramos). Joseph was born on Santo Domingo, Hispaniola, to American parents, from New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana. Pope Leo’s great-grandfather Jacques was the son of Jacques Martino/Martinez/Martin and Marguerite Cadenette/Cadeneth. Pope Leo’s great-grandmother Marie Rosa was from a Louisiana Creole family, with Spanish, French, French-Canadian, and African roots, and was the daughter of George Panteleon/Pantaleon “Azenor”/Agenor Ramos and Julien/Julienne Jacquet Montreuil. George Ramos’s father, Pope Leo’s great-great-great-grandfather Vicente/Vicent/Vincent Ignacio/Ignace Santiago Ramos, was born in New Orleans, the son of a Cuban father, Manuel José Ramos, from La Habana, and of a New Orleans woman, Marie Cathalina/Catherine Guesnon. Manuel was the son of Vicente Ignacio de Ramos and María Nicolasa de los Dolores Bastos Tadino.

The ancestry of Pope Leo’s great-grandfather Jacques Martinez is not entirely clear. On most census records, he is listed as mixed-race and as Louisiana-born. His father, Pope Leo’s great-great-grandfather Jacques, is usually said to have been born in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy. On the 1910 U.S. Census, Pope Leo’s grandfather Joseph’s own father is listed as “Maltese;” his own mother is listed as “Spanish” on the same census. Pope Leo’s great-grandfather Jacques’s death record lists both his own parents as Cuban-born. Most census records lists Pope Leo’s great-great-grandmother Marguerite Cadeneth’s birthplace as Louisiana.

Pope Leo’s maternal grandmother was Louise Baquié/Baquiet (the daughter of Ferdinand David Baquié and Eugénie Grambois). Louise was born in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana. Ferdinand was born in New Orleans, the son of Joseph Aristide Fleury Baquié, who was born on Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, to French parents, with roots in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Marseille, and Monaco; and of Célèste Lemelle, who was a Louisiana Creole, from Opelousas, St. Landry. Célèste’s maternal grandfather, Charles Louis Boucher de Grandpré, had French-Canadian roots, in Québec, including in Trois-Rivières. Célèste’s maternal grandmother, Pope Leo’s great-great-great-great-grandmother Jeanne Antoinette Glapion, was a slave, who was manumitted in 1780.

Pope Leo’s great-grandmother Eugenie Grambois was born in Louisiana, the daughter of Paul Eugène Joseph Grambois, who was French; and of Odile Copele, who was a Louisiana Creole.

Each of Pope Leo XIV’s grandparents was born in a different country, something that is fairly rare. Actors Remy Auberjonois, Hart Bochner, Raymond Cham, Jr., Noah Emmerich, Lily James, Adam Korson, Stephen Lang, Jessica Lange, Logan Lerman, Robert Morley, Brett Pierce, Ben Rosenfield, Andy Samberg, and Wallace Shawn, filmmaker John G. Avildsen, musicians Tom Cochrane, Paula Cole, Alex Pall, and Jeff Stinco, professional baseball player Bob Feller, politicians Nick Clegg and Ricardo Maduro, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, are others whose grandparents were born in four individual countries.

Sources: Genealogies of Pople Leo XIV – https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com
https://famouskin.com

Genealogies of Pople Leo’s parents – https://www.findagrave.com

Article about Pope Leo’s ancestry – https://www.elmundo.es