Master Pizza Maker ????

[ray1955]

a friend of mine mentioned in further review that the "nickname" of my grandfather shows up on a lot of documents but he was a Sieve Maker. It may be possible that the nick name
Mastro Pidduzzu is master pizza maker……..does anyone else know this?

Its not uncommon from what I can tell in small towns people develop nicknames. This one is apparently my grandfathers.

thanks,

Ray

[ray1955]

I can't believe no one has posted to this. No one knows what this means?

[AngelaGrace56]

I’ve looked up the word Pidduzzu in several dictionaries but can’t find it anywhere or anything like it. Somebody else will know this. I guess you’ve checked the spelling.

Definitely in the town I grew up in my dad always used nicknames for his friends and they usually related to their occupations e.g. Giovanni o pittore (painter), Francesco o pescatore (fisherman), Giuseppe o Sarto. (I think it should actually be “lo sarto” etc but in our dialect we seemed to drop the “l”.

Angela

[PippoM]

I'm not Sicilian, but I think Piddu/Pidduzzu are Sicilian nicknames for Giuseppe, like Peppe/Peppino in Naples.
Was this your GF's name?
"Mastro" is actually used for someone who is a Master in his work (usually, an artisan).

[ray1955]

I tried to upload the actual document which is a jpg but it won't load.

[ray1955]

Here is an extract from an email You and your family belong to the Fortunato's branch. After two generations appears the “american branch”: Giuseppe Spoto (nick-name “Mastru piddruzzu” - sieve maker)

I thought a Crivelatore was the sieve maker.

[PippoM]

I don't think he "made" sieves...For what I found in Internet, a "crivellatore" used a sieve as a tool in a mine or construction site.
As you can see, his name matches my supposition.

[jennabet]

Pidduzzu won't be found in a dictionary. It's a nickname or slang dialect term. The "u" on the end means small or little.

[erudita74]

I don't think he "made" sieves...For what I found in Internet, a "crivellatore" used a sieve as a tool in a mine or construction site.
As you can see, his name matches my supposition.

Actually, the crivellatore or crivellaio used a sieve or strainer in various industries, not just in mining or at construction sites. They worked in agriculture, in the wine industry, as well as with threads. So we have crivellatori di grano, di cereali, di industria vinicola, di cave (mine), di ghiaia (gravel pits). In the thread industry, they used sieves or strainers to divide threads of the cocoons since those could vary in thickness. Synonyms for the word crivellatori (plural) are garbellatori and settacciatori. If you search the word crivello in wikipedia, you will even see a photo of a young girl with this sieve-like instrument.

In one Italian dictionary I found online though, the word crivellatore does refer to the maker of such sieves or strainers.

Erudita

[AngelaGrace56]

Pidduzzu won't be found in a dictionary. It's a nickname or slang dialect term. The "u" on the end means small or little.

Thank you. So I guess, like Pippo, you are saying that it is a nickname for Giuseppe? This makes sense.

While I was thinking about it yesterday I was wondering whether it might be a "term of endearment" relating back to an old Southern folktale? But maybe not.

Angela