Pietro Di Donato
Pietro Di Donato (1911-1992) was a prominent Italian American author known for his vivid portrayals of immigrant life and the Italian American experience. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, he faced significant challenges from a young age, becoming the breadwinner after his father's tragic death. Di Donato's literary career began with his impactful short story "Christ in Concrete," which was later expanded into a novel that gained considerable recognition for its social themes and modernist style. The novel resonated with readers and was adapted into a film, establishing Di Donato as a significant voice in American literature.
His subsequent works continued to explore themes of identity, tradition, and the complexities of family life, particularly in his second novel, "This Woman," which reflects the struggles of second-generation Italian Americans. His third novel, "Three Circles of Light," delves into the spirituality and cultural myths within the Italian community. In addition to novels, he wrote biographies of notable Italian American saints. Di Donato's literary contributions have cemented his place as a key figure representing the working-class Italian American experience in the early twentieth century, offering insights into the challenges and aspirations of immigrant communities.
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Subject Terms
Pietro Di Donato
Writer
- Born: April 13, 1911
- Birthplace: West Hoboken, New Jersey
- Died: January 19, 1992
- Place of death: Stony Brook, New York
Biography
Pietro Di Donato was born in 1911 of Italian parents in the tenement quarter of Hoboken, New Jersey. His father, Domenic Di Donato, was a bricklayer from the Abruzzi district of Italy; his mother, Annunziata, was the mother of eight children, Pietro being the eldest. His father died in a building accident when Di Donato was only twelve years old, and the boy immediately assumed the role of breadwinner by becoming a mason. His mother died when he was fifteen and Di Donato finished with formal schooling, though he attended night classes in engineering. Di Donato lost his job in the Depression, but he saw this as a blessing in disguise, as it gave him time to read and reflect.
Di Donato’s first written work was a short story entitled “Christ in Concrete.” It was about his father’s death and was immediately accepted by Esquire magazine in September, 1937. It was then selected by editor Edward O’Brien for his Best Short Stories of 1938. Encouraged by this, Di Donato used the short story as the first chapter of a novel with the same title, in which he explored the experiences of the Italian American immigrant community. It was published in 1939, and at once made a great impression. Its social concerns chimed in well with other major writers, such as John Steinbeck, and its style, a sort of Italian English, and technique, a stream-of- consciousness narrative, suited the stylistic experiments of modernist literature. The novel made Di Donato instantly well known and remained by far his most popular work; it was later made into a motion picture directed by Edward Dmytryk.
During World War II, Di Donato was a conscientious objector and spent time in Cooperstown, New York. While there he met Helen Dean, a widow and former showgirl, and he married her in 1943. The couple had two children and after the war and settled in Long Island, New York, where Di Donato continued to write. However, he did not publish his second novel, This Woman, until 1959. The second book is autobiographical, based upon the conflicts created by his marriage; Di Donato saw his marriage as symbolic of the dilemma facing second generation Italian Americans—whether to uphold their old traditions or marry into the glamor of the American Dream. Di Donato seems to suggest that even if the dream is false, one has to be self-reliant and move on, even though the price is high. The novel was praised for its portrayal of obsessive behavior on the part of the protagonist.
His third novel, Three Circles of Light (1960), explored the Italian community’s spirituality, especially in its debased superstitious form. It also explored the Italian myth that the woman of the family has to bear with a faithless husband. His subsequent writing projects were biographies of Italian American saints: Immigrant Saint: The Life of Mother Cabrini (1960), and The Penitent (1962) about Maria Goretti, sanctified in 1952. In 1970 he published his collected works, Naked Author. Without doubt, Di Donato will be remembered as the definitive author of the Italian American working class communities of the first part of the twentieth century.