Does contadino imply illiterate unable to read & write

[GeneTree]

All the Atti di Nascita of the children of my wife's paternal great grandfather, Camillo Di Liso, end in a phrase "non saper scriva" or "unable to write." That last paragraph seems to say the declarant and his two witnesses for the births cannot write and are unable to sign their names so the Mayor signs for all those who cannot write. Since I have found no other signatures am I correct in assuming they cannot sign their names?

I am surprised it doesn't say "non saper leggere e scriva" meaning "unable to read and write." In my research I have found that most Southern Italians were illiterate and could not read or write. They farmed from sunrise to sunset and they had no time for schooling. My wife's paternal grandfather, Giuseppe Di Liso, Camillo's son was a contadino and unable to read or write according to his "Lista di Leva," his "conscription record." Because of this I have thought that "contadino" implied illiterate as well as "peasant farm laborer" who farmed someone else's land and not his own. Google Translate usually translates the English of "contadino" as "farmer" or "peasant." Giuseppe's son, my father-in-law said his father told him he was a "share-cropper." Have I read too much into the word "contadino" or implied too much into "peasant?"

[GeneTree]

I have been thinking about part of my question as to why the Atti di Nascita says "unable to write" and does not say "unable to read and write." The last written paragraph starting with "Letto il presente alto" seems to say that the mayor has read the "Atto" to everyone present. That may be the reason he does not say, "unable to read and write" because he just read the document to everyone so it doesn't matter whether they can read or not. It only matters if they can't write (perhaps implying they cannot sign their names).

That brings up another problem I found. Of the seven Atti di Nascita for the children of my wife's great grandfather, Camillo Di Liso, he clearly signs his name above the Mayor's signature on two of the "Atti." Camillo's signature is a different style of writing from the rest of the "Atti" and a different style from the mayor's signature. Why didn't Camillo sign his name on all seven of the "Atti?" I don't know the answer to that but it leaves me with the question. Is everyone in a hurry because the baby is present with the group? But being a legal document I would think it important to get signatures from those who could sign their names.

In evaluating the different "Atti" of the children, the mayor's name is not the same name on each, probably meaning new mayor's were elected during those years of the seven children. In one case it's not the mayor but the "assessori" (assessor or councilor) of the mayor.

Thanks for listening. I would appreciate any comments...

[donnabeeh@gmail.com]

I have the same situation for my grandfather's birth record except that at the bottom, the secretary does write "dichiarante e testimoni asserito di essere illetterati". I've tried to translate it and I think it says "declarant and witnesses alleged to be illiterate". Both of my great-grandparents were listed as contadino and contadina.

[intermezzo]

Contadino/Contadina to me implies farmer or agriculture worker.
My ancestors records have contadino/contadina as well and they were farmers or laborers

[Italysearcher]

Many contadini(and others) learned to write their name, and only that. Sometimes the 'signature' looks more like a kindergarten effort.
Clerks often assumed(falsely) that the persons declaring the birth could not write and often did not ask them to sign the act.