Il diario di un emigrato. New York: Tipografia dell'Araldo Italiano, 1904.
Title
Il diario di un emigrato. New York: Tipografia dell'Araldo Italiano, 1904.
Description
Camillo Cianfarra was one of the best Italian-language journalists in the U.S. A copy of this autobiography is extremely rare.
Published in 1904, this autobiography was written starting on "28 Aprile 189..," as the work begins, at a point in the author's life when he lived in a "tranquil and industrious" New Jersey city, perhaps Paterson, see below. This is a rich, reflective, textured and well-written description of the dilemmas of Italian immigrants to New York of the late 19th century. It includes lengthy descriptions of those painful first days of privation, including sleeping in a park nearby, with no money in the pocket, to first sleeping lodges and frustrating initial attempts to gain employment before he had command of more than a few English words.
The work includes a number of short colonial sketches like that of the editor who discusses the present, sorry condition of Italians in New York and the future of Italians, and of the singer who talks about himself, how at 8 pm he goes to sing light Neapolitan songs in a French cafe, and of an anarchist named Gigi (like Gigi Damiani perhaps?), among others.
There's a romantic intrigue, moreover, with Maria, whom he had met on the boat from Italy that brought them to New York. She marries Cianfarra's rival for her affections.
The diary picks up the story on the first anniversary of the arrival of the narrator in America. Exhausted by work, feeling exploited, he decides to leave New York. Returning, he works in a bank and is then unemployed for three months, after which he becomes a colonial journalist, including as of 1898, the managing editor of the biweekly Il Proletario in Paterson, New Jersey.
A full description of the work is contained in Durante. Moreover, Cianfarra figures prominently in Mario De Ciampis's article, "Storia del movimento socialista rivoluzionario italiano" in the special anniversary issue of La Parola del Popolo that is in the Collection, q.v.: La parola del popolo: rivista bimestrale: Cinquantesimo (50) Anniversario 1908-1958 [The Word of the People: bimonthly review: 50th Anniversary 1908-1958].Chicago: La Parola del Popolo Publishing Assoc., 1958.
Published in 1904, this autobiography was written starting on "28 Aprile 189..," as the work begins, at a point in the author's life when he lived in a "tranquil and industrious" New Jersey city, perhaps Paterson, see below. This is a rich, reflective, textured and well-written description of the dilemmas of Italian immigrants to New York of the late 19th century. It includes lengthy descriptions of those painful first days of privation, including sleeping in a park nearby, with no money in the pocket, to first sleeping lodges and frustrating initial attempts to gain employment before he had command of more than a few English words.
The work includes a number of short colonial sketches like that of the editor who discusses the present, sorry condition of Italians in New York and the future of Italians, and of the singer who talks about himself, how at 8 pm he goes to sing light Neapolitan songs in a French cafe, and of an anarchist named Gigi (like Gigi Damiani perhaps?), among others.
There's a romantic intrigue, moreover, with Maria, whom he had met on the boat from Italy that brought them to New York. She marries Cianfarra's rival for her affections.
The diary picks up the story on the first anniversary of the arrival of the narrator in America. Exhausted by work, feeling exploited, he decides to leave New York. Returning, he works in a bank and is then unemployed for three months, after which he becomes a colonial journalist, including as of 1898, the managing editor of the biweekly Il Proletario in Paterson, New Jersey.
A full description of the work is contained in Durante. Moreover, Cianfarra figures prominently in Mario De Ciampis's article, "Storia del movimento socialista rivoluzionario italiano" in the special anniversary issue of La Parola del Popolo that is in the Collection, q.v.: La parola del popolo: rivista bimestrale: Cinquantesimo (50) Anniversario 1908-1958 [The Word of the People: bimonthly review: 50th Anniversary 1908-1958].Chicago: La Parola del Popolo Publishing Assoc., 1958.
Creator
Camillo Cianfarra
Format
18x12cm; 175 p.
Citation
Camillo Cianfarra, “Il diario di un emigrato. New York: Tipografia dell'Araldo Italiano, 1904.,” Italian-Language American Imprints: The Periconi Collection, accessed March 6, 2026, https://italianamericanimprints.omeka.net/items/show/582.
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