Saul Steinberg: A Biography

by Deirdre Bair

  One of his most successful creations: See, for example, S:I, p. 26, fig. 12.

  It marked the beginning: AB, cited in Pellicciari, Critic Without Words, p. 84, n. 13. AB repeated the anecdote to me (interview, June 19, 2007), insisting that it was “very important for any understanding of Saul.”

  Flush with success: ST to AB, July 6, 1991.

  “satirize attitudes and political mentalities”: Mangini and Pallottino, Bertoldo e i suoi illustratori, p. 178, n. 1. English translation by MTL.

  Publications that specialized in humor: MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” particularly pp. 320–22.

  “carried errors, bad taste, venial and mortal sins”: Oreste del Buono, Bertoldo 1936 (Milan: Rizzoli, 1993), introduction; also quoted in MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” pp. 321–22, n. 31.

  “a terrible idea, blackmail”: Angelini, “L’attivita italiana di Saul Steinberg,” discusses this throughout; ST to AB, March 28, 1983.

  He was able to evade: AB appended the following note to ST’s letter of April 19, 1985: “Once he established himself in New York and at The New Yorker, the flaws and limitations of Bertoldo became clear to him: even its prose struck him as elementary, although it had charmed those readers whom Steinberg, recalling his schooldays, referred to as matricole, freshmen. He asked me to delete the occasional Bertoldian reminiscences scattered throughout his letters.” However, AB retained a number of them and they are all negative, such as that of March 28, 1983, in which ST sympathizes with the recent suicide of a friend of AB’s, saying he has an “identical weakness” which he calls “the Bertoldo in me.”

  When the publisher Alberto Mondadori: For a capsule history of Settebello (after 1939, Ecco-Settebello), see MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” pp. 320–21, n. 29.

  “accomplish anything extraordinary”: Rosa Steinberg to Sali Marcovici, originally dated October 20, 1941, later changed by Iain Topliss to October 20, 1933, in Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  CHAPTER SIX: THE BETRAYAL

  “I didn’t want to accept”: ST to AB, June 26, 1995.

  “sovereign contempt”: Until late 1937, Mussolini mocked the German idea, Denis Mack Smith, Mussolini: A Biography (New York: Vintage, 1983), p. 221. Some of the other publications I have consulted to write about the racial laws are R. J. B. Bosworth, Mussolini’s Italy: Life under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915–1945 (New York: Penguin, 2006); Ethan J. Hollander, Italian Fascism and the Jews (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003); Giorgio Pisano, Mussolini e gli Ebrei (Milan: Edizioni FPE, 1967); MTL, “Descent from Paradise”; Joshua D. Zimmerman, ed., Jews in Italy under Fascist and Nazi Rule, 1922–1945 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).

  new laws came thundering down: The number of Jews varies depending on the source. Hollander, Italian Fascism and the Jews, gives 46,000; Smith, Mussolini, p. 221, gives as many as 70,000; MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 327, cites the official 1938 Italian census figure of 37,000 while relying on Michele Sarfatti’s Gli ebrei nell’Italia fascista, whose figures are given on p. 327, n. 45, as 46,656 “actual” Jews, 37,241 of whom were Italian and 9,415 of whom were foreigners.

  “the usual: delaying”: Ada to ST, Milano, November 18, 1941, YCAL, Box 12, “Wartime Letters from Ada.”

  he had exactly one year: This is based on ST’s student file at the Politecnico, corroborated by MTL, “Descent from Paradise, p. 329.

  he was almost entirely dependent: ST’s letters to his parents are not extant before 1940, but those that survive attest to both: “I’m fine and in good health and work a lot. At first opportunity I’ll send some paintings of mine”; March 15, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12. Also AB, interview, June 19, 2007.

  One project that survives: ST to AB, October 31, 1997. Pellicciari, Critic Without Words, found the drawings among the archives at Studio Boggieri and reproduces them on pp.123–25. She also points out the likeness to an unsigned drawing in Bertoldo in her fig. 69. The “Dynamin” clipping is in a collection of drawings titled “Vecchi disegni SS” at YCAL, Box 39, which contains other drawings that might have been commissioned at this time.

  unsigned drawings and cartoons: MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 333, notes that at least 54 unsigned drawings in Bertoldo are listed in Guareschi, Milano 1936–43, while those ST made for Settebello and other papers are not documented as of 2011. See also Pellicciari, Critic Without Words, p. 84, n. 1.

  “could never become an architect”: Hughes, Nothing If Not Critical, p. 261.

  the last possible moment: In 1938 he took the exams that had been postponed; from the middle to the end of February 1940, he took those for his current courses; on March 1–5 he took those relating to his thesis.

  he barely passed: MTL prepared the document “Registri carriera scholastica” for SFF, which I have consulted and incorporated into my own Politecnico research for the discussion here.

  a special project that had to be designed: ST to M & R Steinberg, March 6, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12: “I had to take a four-day final exam for which I wrote a diploma project, locked in the school.”

  When his examiners asked why: MTL cites the testimony of Vittorio Metz, an artist at Bertoldo, in Domenico Frassineti, “Steinberg,” thesis, Facolta di Lettere e Filosfia, Università di Roma, 1966–67, p. 333 and n. 65.

  “I did well”: ST to R & M Steinberg, March 6, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  “a diploma of discrimination and prejudice”: ST made this remark in 1985 in notes made for Primo Levi when they exchanged “worthless” diplomas. YCAL, Box 38, Folder “Correspondence, 1985–87.” In ST to AB, August 12, 1985, he called it “diploma di Ebreo—diploma of Jewishness.”

  “symmetrical to yours”: Primo Levi to ST, Torino, July 18, 1985, YCAL, Box 38, Folder “Correspondence 1985–87.” Levi also wrote that reading Bertoldo “was the event of the week. We all tried to imitate the drawings; we could do so more or less with Mosca’s … but not with yours and this is an indubitable sign of nobility, as was later demonstrated.”

  “Only Saul remains, son of Moritz”: In an interview with Robert Hughes, Time, April 17, 1978, ST used much the same language as he later wrote to Levi, concluding with “I am no architect. The only thing that remains is razza Ebraica!”

  “Dad writes that I’m avoiding”: ST to R & M Steinberg, February 19, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  “to sleep and eat a lot”: ST to R & M Steinberg, March 6, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  “pretty painful to have to part with 2,000 lire”: ST to R & M Steinberg, February 9, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  Several weeks passed: ST to R & M Steinberg, March 15, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  He kept a partial list: ST listed this in a diary/journal he kept during his incarceration at the Tortoreto detention center. YCAL, Box 89, Folders “Tortoreto 1940–42,” and “Miscellaneous 1940–42.”

  “other newspapers and magazines”: YCAL, Box 89, Folder “Tortoreto,” December 30, 1940. Bertoldo continued to publish until September 8, 1943. On May 7, 1941, ST wrote that he worked for Bertoldo until the “last issue, April 16,” meaning the “last” before he left Milan.

  “a nice drawing”: MTL, “A Tragic Part of Life,” n. 61. MTL posits that a pencil drawing containing bottles, flowers, and clocks, now in the possession of Margareta Latis, may have been a study for the Chiesa work. Pietro Chiesa was the artistic director of the interior design firm Fontane Arte, which is still in operation today.

  His friend Vito Latis: Latis graduated from the Politecnico in 1935 and was an active member of a group of other graduates who advocated the modernist style. See also Maria Vittoria Capitanucci, Vito e Gustavo Latis: Frammenti di città (Milan: Skira, 2007).

  The commission Latis gave him: ST, YCAL, Box 89, Folder “Tortoreto,” May 7, 1941. MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 332, n. 60, writes that Bruno Coen Sacerdotti, son of the original owner, has the painting in his possession. ST later asked AB
twice about the painting, on January 26, 1946, and May 29, 1947. In the latter, he thought the villa might have been in Viareggio rather than Rapallo.

  He never imagined: Information about ST’s passport(s) and travel visas are in YCAL, Box 89, folder “Tortoreto.”

  Antonescu allied the country firmly: Jelavich, History of the Balkans, pp. 226–27.

  “a year, two ago”: ST to R & M Steinberg, August 12, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  there is no record that he ever tried: ST to R & M Steinberg, April 23 and August 12, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  “in terrible times”: Julian Bach to ST, March 4, 1971, YCAL, Box 103. Bach reminisced about their first meeting in a letter welcoming ST as a new client brought to his agency by Wendy Weil. Bach is probably referring to “Life in the ‘Guatavir’ Line,” Life, May 27, 1940, pp. 14–15.

  ST’s luck was better: ST, diary, YCAL Box 20, Folders “Tortoreto 1940–42” and “Miscellaneous 1940–42,” entry for December 18, 1940. The Town & Country article was entitled “The Shot Heard Round the Country.” Besides the Life drawing in n. 33, Civita placed drawings in Harper’s Bazaar, March 15, 1940.

  This was very good news: ST to R & M Steinberg, December 20, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12. Some of his drawings listed in S:I, p. 29 and p. 237, n. 37, were sent to the Argentine publication Cascabel but may not have been published; others were published there on February 11 and June 3, 1942. Some were featured in the Brazilian journal Sombra, December 1940–January 1941. See also S:I, p. 27, n. 34, p. 237, and pp. 269–70. Also ST’s correspondence with Gertrude Einstein (the Civita’s administrative assistant in New York), YCAL, Box 1, Folder “1942 Correspondence” contains other references to South American publication.

  Harry, on behalf of his extended family: Ada to ST, “lunedi September 22” (internal evidence suggests 1941–early 1942), YCAL, Box 12. Ada asks, “are you bringing your parents over?” the implication being to New York. Harry Steinberg to Moritz and Rosa Steinberg, July 5, 1941, YCAL, Box 12, writes, “Naturally his desire is to bring you over as well. May God help him to carry out this plan.”

  Vagabonding with Vanderbilt: Lawrence Danson (son of Henrietta and Harold), “An Heroic Decision,” Ontario Review no. 53 (Fall–Winter 2000–2001): 59–60.

  The Denver and New York Steinbergs pooled their money: Ibid., pp. 61–62.

  “expelled from the Kingdom”: In the Decree of June 15, 1940. R & S, pp. 25–33. See also Bosworth, Mussolini’s Italy, pp. 414–18; Smith, Mussolini, pp. 220–22; MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 340.

  various friends … allowed him to sleep: AB, interview, June 19, 2007, and interview with Carol Chiodo, August 2008. AB shared a studio with Luciano Pozzo on the Via dell’Annunciata; ST to AB, November 23, 1945. Also YCAL Box 78, Folder “Tortoreto,” translated by Adrienne Foulke, pp. 1and 2.

  “The air in Milan was excellent”: R & S, p. 27.

  “like a real Sherlock Holmes”: Ibid., p. 32.

  While Steinberg was on the lam: Danson, “An Heroic Decision,” p. 60. Judith Steinberg Bassow provided information about her father Martin Steinberg’s role in interviews and telephone conversations throughout the winter of 2010–11. ST to AB, September 12, 1945, and August 22, 1946, where ST refers to the “old debt”; ST to Cesare Zavattini, written at Ellis Island, July 4, 1941, copy SSF, thanking him for the “300 lire” and promising to “take care of that soon.” ST to R & M Steinberg, Milan, December 20, 1940, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12, discusses money donated by H. & M. Steinberg and C. Civita.

  his application was rejected: Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., April 23, 1940, YCAL, Box 89, folder “Miscellaneous 1940–42.”

  the idea of using the Dominican Republic: Cesar Civita to Lawrence Danson, n.d.; internal evidence suggests mid-June 1940. Copy at SSF.

  “a very talented and worthwhile resident”: Quoted in Danson, “An Heroic Decision,” p. 60. Copies of the extant correspondence are at SSF and scattered throughout uncatalogued YCAL boxes.

  The Washington consul’s reply: Information that follows is from YCAL, Box 20, Folders “Tortoreto 1940–42” and “Miscellaneous 1940–42.”

  purchase a ticket in his name: Letter dated May 11, 1940, from Director da Policia de Vigilancia e Defesa do Estado, V. da Cunha, to the Portuguese Consul in Milan at the Ministerio dos Negocios Estrangeiros en Lisboa, received there on May 15, 1940, and referring to ST’s file #552.1.

  Portugal was being flooded: Alberto Dines, “Black Friday,” Serrote no. 1, 2009, pp. 69–72; cited in MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 338, note 79.

  He never learned the real reason: Information that follows is from Documento confidencial do secretario-general da Policia de Vigilancia e Defesa do Estado manifestando surpresa, em 07.09.1940, and memorando de 11.05.1940; Dines, “Black Friday,” and MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 338, n. 79.

  Undeterred, he contacted the Portuguese consul: For details of the flight, see Danson, “An Heroic Decision,” pp. 61–62; Memorando confidencial da Policia ve Vigilancia e Defesa do Estado (PVDR), to the Ministerio dos Negocios Estrangeiros, Lisboa, September 7, 1940.

  “another Steinberg”: Danson, “An Heroic Decision,” p. 61. Although this was never verified, ST did repeat the story to HS, who said “it was one he liked to tell,” interview, October 24, 2007.

  As long as he had to stay in Rome overnight: ST, “Wartime Diary,” Milan, December 12, 1940, YCAL, Box 20, Folder “Tortoreto 1940–42.”

  a cryptic diary-journal: Examples of the diaries he wrote at various times are in YCAL boxes and are cited where appropriate.

  “most dramatic disaster”: ST to Leo Steinberg, September 7, 1984, SSF: “44 years ago! Will tell you about it someday.” LS, October 31, 2007, says ST never did.

  “I am anxious right now”: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” Milan, December 7, 1940, YCAL, Box 20, Folder “Tortoreto 1940–42.”

  “a great and fine book”: Ibid., December 7 and 18, 1940.

  “I would not treat a friend”: Ibid., December 8, 1940.

  To further complicate his life: Ibid., between December 8, 1940, and April 26, 1941.

  “not really alone”: ST to R &M Steinberg, January 7, 1941, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  “Gentile kindness”: M & R Steinberg to ST, February 12, 1941, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  Jews were still allowed to read newspapers: R & M Steinberg to ST, May 1, 1941, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12. Historical information from Jelavits, History of the Balkans, pp. 225–27.

  “a certain Captain Vernetti”: “San Vittore e Tortoreto” typescript manuscript, p. 2, YCAL, Box 78, Folder “Tortoreto, translated by Adrienne Foulke.”

  He wrote in his diary: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” December 25, 1940, YCAL, Box 20, Folder “Tortoreto 1940–42.”

  There must have been other foreign students: Information that follows is from Prefect of Milan to the Ministry of the Interior, February 21, 1941, in ACS, MI, PS, AG. Cat. A 16; draft of Ministry of the Interior to Prefect of Milan, February 27, 1941; Prefect of Milan to the Ministry of the Interior, March 12, 1941; Ministry of the Interior to the Prefects of Milan and Teramo, March 31, 1941. These documents were found in the Archivio Centro dello Stato, Rome, by MTL, who generously made them available to me.

  By the time Steinberg received this decree: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” May 7, 1941, Tortoreto, YCAL, Box 20, Folder “Tortoreto 1940–42.” Unless noted otherwise, information that follows is from the “Wartime Diary.”

  The next day he was transferred: He gave a far more romantic version of this in R & S, p. 33, saying his first cellmates were “bicycle thieves,” and the second was “another political detainee, or perhaps a false detainee who was there as a stool pigeon or for some other reason.”

  The two major categories of detainees: Among them was his old friend Giovanni Guareschi, from Bertoldo. See also Guareschi’s “How I Got Like This,” introduction to The Little World of Don Camillo.

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p; On May 1 at 9 a.m., he was taken down: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” May 1, 1941, YCAL, Box 20, Folder “Tortoreto 1940–42.”

  Aldo was waiting: Dr. Pino Donizetti was a radiologist and, after the war, the author of a medical quiz published in the magazine Tempo Medico. ST originally met him through AB and stayed in touch from time to time thereafter.

  They went from Bologna to Rimini: In R & S, pp. 34–35, ST describes the trip as if he were the only prisoner on the train, and the landscape as one of “perilous mountains … with the train going … along the edge of the abyss.” In “Descent from Paradise,” MTL writes that the route from Milan to Ancona “is actually very flat.”

  “constantly on the road”: ST to R & M Steinberg, Ancona, May 1, 1941, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

  Steinberg was in the one called Tortoreto Alto: Information that follows is from Costantino Di Sante, “Dall’internamento alla deportazione,” I campi di Concentramento in Abruzzo (1940–41) (Milan: F. Angeli, 2001), part II, pp. 2–15. See also Italia Iacoponi, Il fascismo, la resistenza, I campi di concentramento in provincial di Teramo: cenni storici (Colonnella: Grafiche Martintype).

  “a truly romantic prison”: ST to HS, March 25, 1955, AAA, written when he made a pilgrimage to the internment camp. I am grateful to Ms. Sterne for allowing me to quote from this letter and all others written to her by ST, which were restricted during her lifetime.

  “as an allowance”: R & S, pp. 38–39.

  “romantic young man”: Elena Zanoni, Alba Adriatica e la sua gente: Un secolo di eventi e di ricordi (Rome: Pioda Imaging, 2006), pp. 151–60, as quoted in MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 351, n. 127.

  before she coined the lover’s nickname: Ada’s correspondence is scattered throughout the YCAL boxes, and every letter begins with “mi olino caro.”

  The violinist Alois Gogg: For futher information, see MTL, “Descent from Paradise,” p. 352, n. 131.

  made a tongue-in-cheek drawing: MTL provides extended provenance for various copies of this document in “Descent from Paradise,” p. 381, fig. 18. Only a cover letter from the Prefect of Teramo is extant in ST’s file with “seen by the Duce” noted in the margin.