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52 CURRENT BIOGRAPHY

DE SAPIO, CARMINE G. - Continued

De Sapio is expected to have a vital role in choosing the Democratic presidential ticket in 1956. Adlai E. Stevenson, Democratic presidential candidate in 1952, said "If it were my ambition next year, I would welcome the support of Carmine De Sapio and Tammany Hall" (New York Times, May 18, 1955). When pressed for his position on the 1956 Democratic nominee several months later, De Sapio stated: "I'm confident that the delegation from New York will prefer Averell Harriman as its designee for the nomination for President" (New York Times, July 3, 1955).

Carmine Gerard De Sapio was married to Theresa Natale in 1937. They have one daughter, Geraldine. "He is six feet one inch [tall], weighs 195 pounds, has dark wavy hair, gray at the temples, and is smartly but conservatively dressed," wrote the New York World-Telegram and Sun (January 26, 1955). He has an insurance business, organized in his name, in which he is largely inactive.

In March 1955 the Israel Bond Organization honored him with its distinguished leadership award. He is a member of the Elks, Knights of Columbus, the Grand Street Boys Association, and the National Democratic Club. De Sapio stars seeing people in his apartment at 8 A.M. and often works until one o'clock the next morning.

De Sapio has said, "You're living in the past if you think you can still force the public to swallow any candidate you nominate.... We have to offer the public what it wants - a slate of reputable officials who will give them good government - and after they're in office we'll follow through to see that the people get what we promised them" (Life, June 6, 1955).

References
Harper 209:23+ Jl '54
Life 38:157+ Je 6 '55 pors
N Y Post p4+ Ja 24-31 '55 pors
N Y Sunday Mirror p39 Mr 14 '54 por
N Y World-Telegram p15 Ja 24 '55 por; p15 Ja 25 '55; p25 Ja 26 '55
Sat Eve Post 227:17+ Ap 23 '55 pors
Time 65:14+ D 27 '54 por
Washington (D.C.) Post p25 D 3 '54 por; p10M O 31 '54

DOBBS, MATTIWILDA July 11, 1925- Singer
Address: c/o S. Hurok, 711 5th Ave., New York 22.

Fresh from triumphs at London's Royal Opera House and Milan's La Scala, American-born coloratura soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs made her debut at New York's Town Hall on March 8, 1954. The young Negro singer sang the role of Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss' miniature opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, presented by Thomas Scherman's Little Orchestra Society, and the audience and critics gave her a rousing ovation. "She immediately proved herself to be one of the gifted bravura singers now before the public," reported Olin Downes (New York Times, March 9, 1954). "Miss Dobbs has more than an exceptional virtuosity in song. She has temperament and charm . . . and [is] a coloratura of exceptional range."

She first came to prominence in the musical world when she won the International Music Competition in Geneva, Switzerland in October 1950. After making her professional debut in Paris, she became the first Negro to sing a principal role at La Scala in Milan, Italy. She has sung leading operatic roles at the Edinburgh, Glyndebourne and Holland festivals, and, in 1954, before Queen Elizabeth II at London's Royal Opera House at a gala performance of Rimski-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or in honor of King Gustaf VI and Queen Louise of Sweden, at which she was decorated with the Order of the North Star.

Making her second appearance on the stage of Town Hall on January 23, 1955, Miss Dobbs was greeted by a capacity audience to hear her first concert recital. During the summer of 1955 she made her first round-the-world tour which included thirty-five concerts in Australia and appearances in such cities as Singapore and Bangkok. She returns to the United States in October to make her American operatic debut with the San Francisco Opera Company. She has recorded complete performances of The Pearl Fishers and Zaide, and Angel Records has recently released two solo LP records of selections from her concert and operatic repertoire.

Mattiwilda Dobbs was born in Atlanta, Georgia on July 11, 1925, the fifth of six daughters of John Wesley Dobbs, a railroad mail clerk. Her father had worked his way through three years of college, and with the aid of his wife, by much self-sacrifice, managed to give all of his daughters a college education. Mattiwilda, next to the youngest, was very shy. At the age of eight she had rehearsed a little duet with her younger sister, June; when June became sick, Mattiwilda, terribly frightened, quaveringly sang the song alone.

At the age of seven she began to study the piano and had become a proficient pianist by the time she was fifteen. She began to discover her voice, but, timid still, sang only for her family. She was persuaded to join the choir of the First Congregational Church, and, on entering Spelman College in Atlanta, she began voice lessons with Naomi Maise and Willis James.

Her father, deciding that the best musical instruction must be given her, took her to New York after she had been graduated in 1946 as valedictorian of her class with the B.A. degree.

In New York, Mme. Lotte Leonard was her teacher for four years (1946-1950). She studied Spanish at Teachers College, Columbia University, and received her M.A. degree. In 1947 she was a soloist in the University of Mexico's festival of music and drama, and in the same year she won a Marian Anderson scholarship.

During 1948 she was granted two scholarships to study opera at the Mannes Music School (now the College of Music) in New