Angelo Patri

Angelo Patri was an Italian-American author and educator.

Biography

His original surname was Petraglia, and he was born in Piaggine, Salerno, in southern Italy. Patri came to the United States when he was five. He gained a B.A. at the New [York University|College of the City of New York] in 1897, and an M.A. at Columbia University in 1904. A schoolteacher in New York from 1898 to 1908, he may have been the first Italian-born American to become a school principal in the United States. In attempting to engage the student with tasks that went beyond book learning, he was influenced by the writings of John Dewey. From 1908 to 1913 he was principal of Public School No. 4, and in 1913 he became principal of Public School 45, Bronx, New York. He wrote a syndicated column, "Our Children", on child psychology, for newspapers and magazines. He died in Danbury, Connecticut on September 13, 1965.
The Angelo Patri Middle School, MS 391 in the Bronx, is named in his honor.