Simon Rodia
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Rodia was born in 1879 near the town of Naples, Italy before emigrating to the United States at the age of 15 and living with his brother in Pennsylvania. However, his brother died soon afterwards, and Rodia then moved to the west coast. He first lived in Seattle, then Oakland, then Long Beach before living in Watts, where he constructed the towers he's known for. While living in Seattle, he married and had three children with his wife.
Rodia began working on the towers in 1921 and finished them in 1954. After finishing the towers, Rodia moved to Martinez, California where he lived until his death a decade later; it is generally accepted that he never saw his Towers again after leaving Watts. He moved due to disputes with his neighbors over the vandalization of the Towers.
Claims that Rodia's surname was "Rodella" or "Rodilla," or that his given name was "Sabatino," rather than Sabato, are generally given little credibility, and are likely the result of misspellings. There is some question of whether or not he was generally called "Simon" during his lifetime.
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