VARISCO, BIAGIO (1902-1970). Biagio (Brazos) Varisco, Brazos County agriculturalist and developer, the son of Antonio and Dorotea (Tritico) Varisco, was born in Poggioreale, Trapani, Italy, on October 12, 1902. He and his mother joined his father in Bryan, Texas, in 1907. Varisco eventually acquired 3,100 acres of land, of which 2,300 acres was devoted to cotton raising. Together with his father and a brother named Giuseppe, he purchased a cotton gin capable of processing 2,000 bales of cotton a year. He also bought five airplanes for agricultural spraying. With the wealth he gained from his farms in the Brazos bottomlands, Varisco aided the growth of downtown Bryan. He erected the Varisco Building and over the years became owner of many other downtown structures. He served as director of the Bryan Chamber of Commerce and was active in civic affairs and charitable movements. He married Lucille Scardino in 1924, and the couple had two daughters. Varisco became an American citizen in 1929. He and his wife were Democrats and devout Catholics. Varisco died in Bryan on July 25, 1970. Varisco, Texas, a rural community in west Brazos County, is named in his honor.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Valentine J. Belfiglio, The Italian Experience in Texas (Austin: Eakin Press, 1983). Mary E. Dorsey, Those Were the Days: Bryan, Brazos County, 1821-1921 (Bryan, Texas: Bryan Independent School District, 1976). Giovanni Schiavo, Italian-American Who's Who (New York: Vigo, 1943).

Valentine J. Belfiglio