Istrian Italians

The Roman amphitheater of Pola, symbol of the Italians in Istria

Istrian Italians are the ethnic group in the northern Adriatic region of Istria, related to the Italian people of Italy. Historically they are descendants from the original Latinized population of Roman Istria, from the Venetian-speaking settlers who came to Istria during the Republic of Venice, and from the Italianized South Slavic population in Istria. Today, as a result of the Istrian exodus, the majority of Istrian Italians live outside of the Istrian peninsula; however, a significant Italian minority still lives in the Croatian County of Istria and in Slovenian Istria, where they are granted minority rights. Their number is around 17,000. The Istrian diaspora, on the other hand, counts more than 200,000 people.

History

Early period

Istria was part of the Roman Empire from the 2nd century before Christ until its fall in 476. During this period, the local Illyrian and Venetic population was largely Romanized and accepted the Latin language. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Istria was included under Odoacer's Kingdom (476-489), then to the Ostrogothic Kingdom and from 539 to the Byzantine Empire.

In the 6th century, numerous incursions of Slavs and Avars took place, which caused the decline of the peninsula and decimated its autochthonous population. During this period, the Slavs settled the northern parts of what was ancient Istria: the Kras Plateau and the area around modern-day Ilirska Bistrica. They did not however penetrate into Istria proper, which remained under Byzantine rule until the late 8th century, when it was shortly seized by the Lombards.

In 789, Istria was included into the Frankish Kingdom. This political shift caused profound social changes, characterized by the introduction of feudalism. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Frankish feudal lords started settling Slavic farmers to their estates in northern Istria (mostly in what is today Slovenian Istria) This caused a revolt of the Romance-speaking municipal powers. In 804, the Assembly of Rižana took place in the vicinity of the northern Istrian town of Koper (Capodistria), in which the representatives of various Romance towns presented their complaints to the Frankish authorities, which included the protest against the settling of Slavs on former municipal lands.

By the 11th centuries, most of the interior mountainous areas of northern and eastern Istria (Liburnia) were inhabited by South Slavs, while the Romance population continued to prevail in the south and west of the peninsula. Linguistically, the Romance inhabitants of Istria were most probably divided into two main linguistic groups: in the north-west, the speakers of a Rhaeto-Romance language similar to Ladin and Friulian prevailed, while in the south, the natives most probably spoke a variant of the Dalmatian language. The Italian linguist Matteo Bartoli however claimed that all Romance inhabitants of Istria spoke a Rhaeto-Romance language prior to the arrival of Venice.

Venetian rule

Istrian towns were first rivals of the Republic of Venice, but since 1149 Pula (Pola) and the other Istrian towns became vassalls of Venice, in order to secure their trade connections. In 1209, most of Istria became part of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, while northern and central Istria fell to the Counts of Gorizia. A conflict arose between the Patriarch and the Istrian cities, and the latter in part leant on Venice, Pula being the last one to do so in 1331.

During the 14th century, Istria was divided between the Republic of Venice and the Patriarchate of Aquileia

In the 14th century, epidemies such as the Black Death decimated in those years the Istrian population, which was still mostly of Romance ethnicity. As a consequence of depopulation, Venice started settling Slavic communities to repopulate the interior areas of the peninsula. These were mostly Čakavian and partially Štokavian speaking South Slavs from Dalmatia and present-day Montenegro (differently from Kajkavian and proto-Slovene speakers that lived in the northern areas of the peninsula).

At the same time, settlers from the Veneto region were used to resettle the towns. This caused a language shift of the local Romance population who replaced the old Romance (either Rhaeto-Romance or Italo-Dalmatian) languages with the Venetian dialect of Italian. Only in the extreme south of the peninsula did the original Istrian Romance language survive: under strong Venetian influences it transformed itself into the modern Istriot language. Until the early 19th century, Dalmatian continued to be spoken on the island of Krk, and a dialect of Friulian in the town of Muggia: both became extinct in the mid 19th century, replaced by Venetian.

In 1374 Because of the implementation of a treaty of inheritance, central and eastern Istria fell to the House of Habsburg, while Venice continued to control the northern, western and south-eastern portion of the peninsula, including the major coastal towns of Koper, Poreč, Rovinj, Pula, Plomin, and the interior towns of Labin and Buzet. This created a dichotomy that characterized Istria until the late 18th century. The Venetian culture and language left a profound impact on Venetian Istria. By the Baroque and Enlightenment periods, Istrian Italians were completely integrated in the wider Italian culture via their belonging to the Republic of Venice. The towns of Venetian Istria became almost exclusively Venetian-speaking, and Venetian Italian was the language of commerce, culture and administration. Nevertheless, significant numbers of South Slavic speakers (mostly Slovene and Čakavian Croatian) continued to dwell in the rural areas of Venetian Istria, especially in the north of the province and on the border with Austrian Istria.

On the other hand, interior and eastern Istria was included into the Central European cultural sphere and were dominated by a feudal culture. By the late 18th century, the vast majority of Austrian Istria were Slavic (Slovene and Croat) speakers.

After the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) Austria occupied the Venetian part of the peninsula. After a short French interim, Austria reconquered the whole peninsula in 1813, and unified it into a single province. As a result, Istrian Italians became a minority in the new administrative unit, although they maintained their social and part of their political power.

The Austrian period

Ethnic distribution in Istria in 1910:

  Italians

  Croats

  Slovenes

  Istro-Romanians

Although the incorporation into the Austrian Empire caused deep changes in the political asset of the region, it did not alter the social balance. Venetian-speaking Istrian Italians continued to dominate the region both culturally and economically. In the first half of the 19th century, the use of Venetian language even extended to some areas of former Austrian Istria, like the town of Pazin. The Austrian censuses detected a gradual but constant rise of Italian speakers both in numerical and proportional terms: in 1848, around a third of Istrians were Italian (Venetian or Istriot) speakers; by 1910, this figure rose to around 38%.

From the early 19th century onward, the local Croats and Slovenes engaged in a national revival, demanding linguistic and national rights that challenged the supremacy of the Italian language and culture in Istria. The Croatian-Slovene national movement gained force only in the second part of the 19th century, causing a clash with a parallel nationalist movement of the Istrian Italians.

Many Istrian Italians looked with sympathy towards the Risorgimento movement that fought for the unification of Italy. However, after 1866, when the Veneto and Friuli regions were ceded by the Austrians to the newly formed Kingdom Italy, Istria remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, together with other Italian-speaking areas on the eastern Adriatic (Trieste, Gorizia and Gradisca, Fiume). This triggered the gradual rise of Italian irredentism among many Italians in Istria, who demanded the unification of the Austrian Littoral, Fiume and Dalmatia with Italy.

On the other hand, the Istrian Slovenes and Croats, who represented around three fifths of the Istrian population, increased their demands for national and linguistic emancipation. The result was the intensification of the ethnic strife between the two groups, although it was limited to institutional battles and it rarely manifested in violent forms.

Until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the bourgeois Italian national liberal elites retained much of the political control in Istria.

Under Italy

See also: Julian March

During World War One, many Istrians fought as volunteers on the Italian side against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Among them, the most famous was the Nazario Sauro from Koper (Capodistria).

After the end of the war, the whole peninsula was occupied by the Kingdom of Italy, and officially annexed to Italy with the Treaty of Rapallo of 1920.

Istria was included in the administrative region known as the Julian March. After the Fascist takeover of Italy in 1922, Italian became the sole language of administration and education. A fierce policy of Italianization was followed which prohibited all use of any language but Italian. Many Slovenes and Croats left the region, which strengthened the Italian positions. However, ethnic tensions grew, and Slavic anti-Fascist insurgency started to appear in the late 1920s, although it was much less stronger than in other parts of the Julian March.

World War Two and its consequences

See also: Foibe killings, Istrian exodus, and Free Territory of Trieste

After the Italian armistice of 1943, Istria became a battlefield between the Nazi German army and the partisan (mostly Yugoslav) insurgency. Already in September 1943, several hundreds Istrian Italians were killed by the Yugoslav partisans because of their allegiance to the Italian State. This was the first wave of the Foibe killings, which continued after the Yugoslav takeover of the region in May 1945.

After the Yugoslav Communist troops occupied Istria in May 1945, many Italians started leaving Istria under the pressure of the new authorities who demanded the annexation of Istria to Yugoslavia. With an agreement between the Allied forces and Tito's Yugoslav government, a line of demarcation known as the Morgan Line was set in June 1945: most of Istria remained under Yugoslav occupation, while the towns of Pula and Muggia were transferred to Allied administration.

With the peace treaty of 1947, most of Istria (including Pula) was assigned to Yugoslavia. Only the north-western portion was assigned to the short-lived Free Territory of Trieste, but de facto remained under Yugoslav administration. This triggered the Istrian exodus: the departure of the large majority of Istrian Italians to Italy.

Part of Yugoslavia

See also: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

After the dissolution of the Free Territory of Trieste in 1954, almost the totality of Istria became officially part of Yugoslavia. This triggered the last wave of the Istrian exodus, with some 40,000 Istrian Italians chosing to leave Yugoslavia and move to Italy for various reasons - some were intimidated into leaving and some simply preferred not to live in communist Yugoslavia.

Only around 20,000 Italians remained in Istria after 1954: an estimated 10%-12% of the pre-World War Two number.

Yugoslav Istria was divided between Croatia and Slovenia, so that the Istrian Italians became subject to two different administrations. From the 1960s onward, extensive linguistic rights were granted to the Italian minority, but the actual level of human rights remained relatively low, resulting in a further impoverishment of the Italian culture in Istria.^{citation needed}

Characteristics

Historian Theodor Mommsen wrote that Istria (the X region of Roman Italia since Augustus) was fully romanized in the 5th century AD.

From the Middle Ages onwards numbers of Slavic people near and on the Adriatic coast were ever increasing, due to their expanding population and later due to pressure from the Turks pushing them from the south and east. This led to Italic people becoming ever more confined to urban areas, while some areas of the countryside were populated by Slavs, with exceptions in western and southern Istria (that remained fully romance speaking)

Anyway, there is a questionable claim that the original language of the romanized Istrians survived the invasions (and is still alive in our days: it is called Istrioto, but it is reduced to a small area near Pola). Indeed Venice influenced the neolatins of Istria for many centuries from the Middle Ages until 1797, when was conquered by Napoleon: Capodistria and Pola were important centers of art and culture during the Italian Renaissance. Other historians have attributed the ancient language of romanized Istrians as being the Istrorumeno.

Under Austrian rule in the 19th century, it included a large population of Italians, Croats, Slovenes, some Vlachs/Istro-Romanians and even a few Montenegrins. The Italians in Istria supported the Italian Risorgimento: as a consequence, the Austrians saw the Italians as enemies and favored the Slav communities of Istria This fact created a huge emigration of Italians from Istria before World War I, reducing their percentage inside the peninsula inhabitants (they were more than 50% of the total population during Napoleonic times (when General Marmont did a French census), but at the end of the 19th century they were reduced to only two fifth according to some estimates).

Indeed in 1910, the ethnic and linguistic composition was completely mixed and the Italians were reduced to a minority (even if huge). According to the Austrian census results, out of 404,309 inhabitants in the "Margravate of Istria", 168,116 (41.6%) spoke Croatian, 147,416 (36.5%) spoke Italian, 55,365 (13.7%) spoke Slovene, 13,279 (3.3%) spoke German, 882 (0.2%) spoke Romanian, 2,116 (0.5%) spoke other languages and 17,135 (4.2%) were non-citizens, which had not been asked for their language of communication.

But scholars like Matteo Bartoli complained that these census percentages included areas outside Istria (like the island of Veglia/Krk and the city of Castua/Kastav, a mostly Croatian town situated north of Fiume and outside the real Istrian peninsula): in his opinion the peninsula of Istria was still with a majority of Italians during World War I. Generally speaking, Italians lived on coast, while Croats, Slovenes and the dwindling numbers of Istro-Romanians mainly lived inland.

In the second half of the 19th century] a clash of new ideological movements, Italian irredentism (which claimed Trieste and Istria) and Slovene and Croatian nationalism, manifested itself in Istria as the alternate irredentism (developing individual identities in some quarters whilst seeking to unite in a South Slav bid in others), resulted in growing ethnic conflict between Italians one side and Slovenes and Croats in opposition. This was intertwined with the class conflict, as inhabitants of Istrian towns were mostly Italian, whilst Croats or Slovenes largely lived out in the countryside even if in western Istria there were many Italians in the agricultural areas.

The Istrian Italian Nazario Sauro

The Italians in the actual Slovenian and Croatian Istria were mostly an indigenous population (in the first years of the 20th century they accounted for nearly half of the local inhabitants), bolstered by some new arrivals of the so called regnicoli (from the Kingdom of Italy), never well liked by the indigenous Venetian-speaking Istrians.

Austrian 1910 census indicated approximately 182,500 people who listed Italian as their language of communication in what is now the territory of Slovenia and Croatia: 137,131 in Istria and 28,911 in Fiume/Rijeka (1918). Meanwhile the Italian 1936 census indicated approximately 230,000 people who listed Italian as their language of communication (in what is now the territory of Slovenia and Croatia, then part of the Italian state): nearly 194,000 in today’s Croatia and 36,000 in today’s Slovenia.

So, in the 1936 Census, the peninsula of Istria had 294,000 residents: the majority were Istrian Italians. Here there are the percentages for al the Istrian cities/districts:

District (1936 Census)	Italians	Slovenians	Croatians
Pola	68%	-	32%
Pisino (Province of Pola)	28%	2%	70%
Capodistria (Province of Pola)	51%	34%	15%
Lussino (Province of Pola)	57%	-	43%
Parenzo (Province of Pola)	72%	4%	24%
Fiume	81%	3%	16%
Abbazia (Province of Fiume)	24%	30%	46%

From the end of World War II (characterized even by the Foibe massacres) until 1953, according to various data, nearly 350,000 Italians emigrated from these regions (this number including even Dalmatians): the so-called optanti emigrants who were living permanently in this region on June 1940 and who expressed their "forced" wish to obtain Italian citizenship and emigrate to Italy. This emigration of Italians (called Istrian exodus) reduced the total population of the region and altered its ethnic structure.

In 1953, officially, only 36,000 Italians lived in Yugoslavia, 16% of the Italian population before World War II. Furthermore, most of the Istrian Italians living in the area "B" of the Free Territory of Trieste left when their area passed to Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslavia.

In its 1996 report on 'Local self-government, territorial integrity and protection of minorities' the Council of Europe's European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) put it that "a great majority of the local Italians, some thousands of Slovenes and of nationally undefined bilingual 'Istrians', used their legal right from the peace treaty to 'opt out' of the Yugoslav controlled part of Istria". In several waves they moved to Italy and elsewhere (also overseas, mainly in the Americas) and claimed Italian or other citizenship.

Istria under Italian rule, until 1947

Percentage of Italians in Croatian Istria, according to 2001 Census

Remaining areas where it is spoken the Istriot language: green in 1850, gray in 1900 and red in 1950. In 2000 only in Rovigno (Rovinj) y Dignano (Vodjan).

Anyway, in various municipalities in actual Croatia and Slovenia, census data shows that there are still significant numbers of Italians living in Istria, such as 51% of the population of Grožnjan/Grisignana, 37% at Brtonigla/Verteneglio and nearly 40% in Buje/Buie.

2001/2002 Census data

The following 2001/2002 census data show that there are nearly 50,000 Istrian Italians in Istria (between Croatia, Slovenia and Italy):

Municipality	Other name (if bilingual)	Country	Inhabitants	Mother tongue Italian	Mother tongue Croatian/Slovenian
Labin, city	Albona	Croatia	12426	03.09%	92.62%
Buje, city	Buie	Croatia	5340	39.66%	53.76%
Novigrad, city	Cittanova	Croatia	4002	15.32%	77.59%
Vodnjan, city	Dignano	Croatia	5651	19.93%	73.16%
Poreč, city	Parenzo	Croatia	17460	06.42%	87.12%
Buzet, city	Pinguente	Croatia	6059	00.87%	96.63%
Pazin, city	Pisino	Croatia	9227	01.21%	97.56%
Pula, city	Pola	Croatia	58594	04.87%	88.38%
Rovinj, city	Rovigno	Croatia	14234	10.81%	81.85%
Umag, city	Umago	Croatia	12901	20.70%	72.87%
Bale	Valle	Croatia	1047	22.54%	75.36%
Barban	Barbana d'Istria	Croatia	2802	00.39%	99.21%
Brtonigla	Verteneglio	Croatia	1579	41.29%	52.83%
Cerovlje	Cerreto	Croatia	1745	00.46%	99.31%
Fažana	Fasana	Croatia	3050	04.66%	90.75%
Gračišće	Gallignana	Croatia	1433	00.28%	99.16%
Grožnjan	Grisignana	Croatia	785	66.11%	29.17%
Kanfanar	Canfanaro	Croatia	1457	01.51%	96.23%
Karojba		Croatia	1489	00.94%	97.99%
Kaštelir-Labinci	Castellier-Santa Domenica	Croatia	1334	07.80%	88.23%
Kršan	Chersano	Croatia	3264	00.40%	94.49%
Lanišće	Lanischie	Croatia	398	n.p.	98.99%
Ližnjan	Lisignano	Croatia	2945	08.05%	88.29%
Lupoglav		Croatia	929	00.32%	98.82%
Marčana		Croatia	3903	00.74%	97.72%
Medulin	Medolino	Croatia	6004	03.05%	89.77%
Motovun	Montona	Croatia	983	15.46%	81.28%
Oprtalj	Portole	Croatia	981	32.11%	65.04%
Pićan	Pedena	Croatia	1997	00.95%	98.05%
Raša	Arsia	Croatia	3535	02.63%	94.29%
Sveta Nedelja		Croatia	2909	01.51%	97.32%
Sveti Lovreč	San Lorenzo del Pasenatico	Croatia	1408	01.49%	96.38%
Sveti Petar u Šumi	San Pietro in Selve	Croatia	1011	00.30%	99.21%
Svetvinčenat	Sanvincenti	Croatia	2218	01.17%	97.16%
Tinjan	Antignana	Croatia	1770	00.79%	98.59%
Višnjan	Visignano	Croatia	2187	08.78%	89.44%
Vižinada	Visinada	Croatia	1137	08.36%	90.59%
Vrsar	Orsera	Croatia	2703	02.96%	90.75%
Žminj	Gimino	Croatia	3447	01.28%	97.80%
Muggia		Italy	13208	94.80%	04.80%
San Dorligo della Valle	Dolina	Italy	6025	29.20%	70.50%
Koper, city	Capodistria	Slovenia	49206	02.22%	74.14%
Izola	Isola	Slovenia	14549	04.26%	69.13%
Piran	Pirano	Slovenia	16758	07.00%	66.69%
Lovran	Laurana	Croatia	3987	01.71%	92.65%
Opatija, city	Abbazia	Croatia	12719	04.64%	93.81%
Mošćenička Draga		Croatia	1641	00.91%	95.67%

Source: Croatian Census - 2001. Slovenian Census - 2002. Italian Census - 1970/2001

Famous Istrian Italians

Muggia, the only Italian comune of contemporary Istria

• Andrea Antico, music editor and composer of the Renaissance
• Mario Andretti (originally Andretich), international automobile racing driver
• Laura Antonelli (originally Antonaz), international film actress
• Giovanni Arpino, writer and journalist
• Lidia Bastianich, chef, author and restauranteur
• Nino Benvenuti, professional boxing champion
• Villi Bossi, sculptor
• Fausto Budicin, footballer for HNK Rijeka of the Prva HNL
• Sergio Endrigo, singer-songwriter
• Aurelio Juri, politician, Member of European Parliament
• Pietro Polani, Doge of Venice
• Santorius Santorio, inventor of clinical thermometer and physician
• Nazario Sauro, Italian irredentism's martyr
• Antonio Smareglia, opera composer
• Giuseppe Tartini, music composer and violinist
• Fulvio Tomizza, international writer
• Francesco Trevisani, Rococo painter
• Alida Valli (her stage name, not her real name), international film actress
• Pier Paolo Vergerio, Reformer and Humanist
• Vittorio Vidali, politician
• Spartaco Schergat, military frogman, hero of WWII
• Elvis Scoria, former footballer and current coach of NK Istra 1961

See also

• Istria
• Istrian exodus
• Italian irredentism in Istria
• Free Territory of Trieste
• Dalmatian Italians
• Istriot language
• Istro-Romanian language
• Nazario Sauro
• Spartaco Schergat

Bibliography

• Antolini, Nicola. Slavi e Latini in Istria tra cinquecento e novecento: origini storiche e problemi del contesto multietnico istriano. Magazine "Storicamente". n. 2, 2006
• Bartoli, Matteo. Le parlate italiane della Venezia Giulia e della Dalmazia. Tipografia italo-orientale. Grottaferrata 1919.
• Benussi, Bernardo. L' Istria nei suoi due millenni di storia. Treves-Zanichelli. Trieste 1924.
• Mommsen Theodore. The Provinces of the Roman Empire. Barnes & Noble Books. New York, 1996 ISBN 0-7607-0145-8
• Perselli, Guerrino. I censimenti della popolazione dell'Istria, con Fiume e Trieste, e di alcune città della Dalmazia tra il 1850 e il 1936. Centro di ricerche storiche - Rovigno, Trieste - Rovigno 1993.
• Pirjevec, Jože; Kacin-Wohinz, Milica. Storia degli sloveni in Italia, 1866-1998. Marsilio, Venezia 1998.
• Petacco, Arrigo. L'esodo, la tragedia negata degli italiani d'Istria, Dalmazia e Venezia Giulia. Mondadori, Milano, 1999.
• Pradelli, A. Il silenzio di una minoranza: gli italiani in Istria dall'esodo al post-comunismo 1945–2004. Lo Scarabeo Editoriale. Bologna, 2004.
• Seton-Watson, Italy from Liberalism to Fascism, 1870-1925. John Murray Publishers, Londra 1967.
• Vignoli, Giulio. I territori italofoni non appartenenti alla Repubblica Italiana. Giuffrè, Milano, 1995.
• Tomaz, Luigi. Il confine d'Italia in Istria e Dalmazia. Duemila anni di storia. Think ADV, Conselve 2007.

External links

• Slavs and Latins in Istria (Italian)
• Arrigo Petacco: "The exodus. The story of the Italian population of Istria (1943-1956)" (English translation).
• Official website of bilingual Groznan/Grisignana (Croatian) (Italian)
• Official website of Italians (Istrian exodus) from Piemonte d'Istria-Grisignana (Italian)
• Official Website of the Italian community in Croatia and Slovenia (Italian)
• Centro Ricerche Storiche di Rovigno: "Istria nel Tempo on line" (in Italian)