S. Giovannino [Saint Little John]. New York: [n.p.], 1946.

S. Giovannino [Saint Little John]. New York: [n.p.], 1946.

Born in Palermo, Pietro Varvaro (active 1910-1950s) lived in New York in relative obscurity for the latter part of his life, visited often by Italian friends from what remained of the Sicilian nobility, such as the Prince of Niscemi. He was also friends with Italian singers, musicians and conductors, such as the Metropolitan Opera’s Giulio Gatti-Casazza.

Varvaro was far better known in Italy, according to Francesco Durante (personal communication), where he was more often published, q.v. Anima Rerum here, and revered as a “poeta modernissimo” (a very modern poet). This three-page poem is dedicated to Piero Tozzi, the Italian artist who discovered Michelangelo’s lost marble work, “San Giovannino.”

I treasure this copy as it, like my copy of Anima Rerum, was a gift to me from the author’s daughter, Aurora Varvaro Gareiss, a renowned environmentalist in the Douglaston area of Queens, in New York City. I knew her in my professional capacity as an environmental lawyer - she was known as "Our Lady of the Wetlands" to many of us.  Aurora, who provided much of the biographical information, above, remained a friend for several decades until her death in 2000.

Pietro G. Varvaro

[n.p.]

1946

23.5 x 15.5cm

Italian