Donato

Dunà

Donato, last village of the Western Biellese, climbs along the slopes of Mombarone up to the top and is divided from the Canavese region by the Viona stream. The report issued by superintendent Blanciotti in 1755 define it as “Mountainous land producing only chestnuts and hay”. Different from the other villages of the Valle Elvo, there was no departures for seasonal works and in spite of the quantity of water from the Ingagna and Viona streams, there were no forges registered. The inhabitants at the time of the report were 1200, but they were poorer then the other villages of the Valley and this was due to the pillage and the fire caused by the French in 1704.

 The most enterprising men went into transport as the position of the village was between the communicating roads through Serra connecting three provinces. The only artisan activity registered was the Gattino’s forge, in Roncalli, producing iron.works. At the beginning of the XIX century, public works started by the new government created changes in Donato’s way of life. In 1805 from eleven youngsters born between 1782 and 1783, seven were bricklayers and this started a tradition which during the first twenty years of 1800 took the masters of brickwork  to leave their village for the Canavese area and the nearby cities of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta.

  
In 1829 a smelting furnace was built near the Gattino’s forge, the only royal furnace in the Biellese, owned by Antonio Gallo first and then by Notary Giocondo Gastaldi. This new source of income for numerous families was limited though due to the lack of fuel and this caused a limitation in the running of the furnace to eight months every two years.The bricklayers leaving for seasonal work were more and more numerous: the initial emigration areas were Savoy and Isère.

The spirit of participation and the sense of solidariety took to the creation of important associations to assist the workers, between these the Donato Workers Society was the most important. The payment of a yearly share guarantied  subsidies when ill even to those working abroad. A building for the Society was constructed entirely by the seasonal workers who gave their time and work without payments during the winter months.

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During the 80’s in the XIX century almost all families in Donato had an emigrant in French places like: Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Faverges, Moutiers, Albertville, Grenoble and Chambery. As the work abroad became more secure, many transferred their families pushing beyond, Normandie, Bretagne, Switzerland, while a few had the courage to go to the United States and Argentina. Very few arrived in Africa. In 1919, the families leaving were many and in the 20’s and 30’s political emigration concerned also Donato: the officially registered political exiles were eleven  

The biographies of the Donatesis are 349, 22% of the inhabitants in 1911. From these, 85.9% emigrated to France, 4.7% in Africa, 3.9% in the United States, 2.8% in Switzerland, 1.1% in Asia, 0.8% in South America and the rest of Europe. The professions were so divided: 50.6% bricklayers, 6.5% contractors, 1.4% plasteres with a total of 58.5% of workers in construction; then, 8.8% decorators,5.5% carpenters, 4.1% housewives, 2.7% mechaniocs and 1.4% textile workers. The family names more common are Botalla, Favario, Anselmo, Allera and Allera Longo, Rosso, Pozzallo, Benedetto, Roffino and Poglio. The oldest emigrant, born in 1834 and emigrated in France as a bricklayer, is Martino Chioso.