Dalmatian Italians

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Dalmatian Italians
Dalmati italiani (Italian)
Dalmatinski Talijani (Croatian)
Overview of Zara (now Zadar in Croatian Dalmatia), where Dalmatian Italians are about 0.13% of the population.[1] In 1921, before the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, the Dalmatian Italians were 70% of the city's population.[2]
Regions with significant populations
Dalmatia, former Venetian Albania, Italy
Languages
Primarily Italian and Croatian, Venetian, formerly Dalmatian
Religion
Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Istrian Italians, Croats, Italians

Dalmatian Italians (

national minority living in the region of Dalmatia, now part of Croatia and Montenegro
.

Historically, Italian language-speaking Dalmatians accounted for 12.5% of population in 1865, 5.8% in 1880, and to 2.8% in 1910,[3] suffering from a constant trend of decreasing presence, due to various reasons. From 1943 to 1960, the number decreased as a result of the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus. Nowadays, some 500–2,000 people (0.05%–0.2%) identify as Italians.[1][4][5][6] Throughout history Dalmatian Italians exerted a vast and significant influence on Dalmatia, especially cultural and architectural.[citation needed]

Dalmatian Italians are currently represented in Croatia and Montenegro by the Italian National Community (Italian: Comunità Nazionale Italiana) (CNI). The Italo-Croatian minorities treaty recognizes the Italian Union (Unione Italiana) as the political party officially representing the CNI in Croatia.[7]

The Italian Union represents the 30,000 ethnic Italians of former Yugoslavia, living mainly in Istria and in the city of Rijeka (Fiume). Following the positive trend observed during the last decade (i.e., after the dissolution of Yugoslavia), the number of Dalmatian Italians in Croatia adhering to the CNI has risen to around one thousand. In Dalmatia the main operating centers of the CNI are in Split, Zadar, and Kotor.[8]

History

Main article: History of Dalmatia

Roman Dalmatia and the Middle Ages

Map of Dalmatia and Istria with the ancient domains of the Republic of Venice (indicated in fuchsia. Dashed diagonally, the territories that belonged occasionally)

Roman Dalmatia was fully Latinized by 476 AD when the

language in cities such as Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik. Their own Vulgar Latin, developed into Dalmatian, a now extinct Romance language. These coastal cities (politically part of the Byzantine Empire) maintained political, cultural and economic links with Italy, through the Adriatic Sea. On the other side communications with the mainland were difficult because of the Dinaric Alps. Due to the sharp orography
of Dalmatia, even communications between the different Dalmatian cities, occurred mainly through the sea. This helped Dalmatian cities to develop a unique Romance culture, despite the mostly Slavicized mainland.

Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Split

In 997 AD the

Kingdom of Hungary. The Venetians could afford to concede relatively generous terms because their own principal aims was not the control of the territory sought by Hungary, but the economic suppression of any potential commercial competitors on the eastern Adriatic. This aim brought on the necessity of enforced economic stagnation for the Dalmatian city-states, while the Hungarian feudal system promised greater political and commercial autonomy.[11][12]

Map of the Republic of Venice, c. 1000. The Republic is in dark red, borders in light red.

In the Dalmatian city states, there were almost invariably two opposed political factions, each ready to oppose any measure advocated by its antagonist.[12] The origin of this division seems here to have been economic.[12] The farmers and the merchants who traded in the interior naturally favoured Hungary, their most powerful neighbour on land; while the seafaring community looked to Venice as mistress of the Adriatic.[12] In return for protection, the cities often furnished a contingent to the army or navy of their suzerain, and sometimes paid tribute either in money or in kind.[12] The citizens clung to their municipal privileges, which were reaffirmed after the conquest of Dalmatia in 1102–1105 by Coloman of Hungary.[12] Subject to the royal assent they might elect their own chief magistrate, bishop and judges. Their Roman law remained valid.[12] They were even permitted to conclude separate alliances. No alien, not even a Hungarian, could reside in a city where he was unwelcome; and the man who disliked Hungarian dominion could emigrate with all his household and property.[12] In lieu of tribute, the revenue from customs was in some cases shared equally by the king, chief magistrate, bishop and municipality.[12] These rights and the analogous privileges granted by Venice were, however, too frequently infringed, Hungarian garrisons being quartered on unwilling towns, while Venice interfered with trade, with the appointment of bishops, or with the tenure of communal domains. Consequently, the Dalmatians remained loyal only while it suited their interests, and insurrections frequently occurred.[12] Zadar was no exception, and four outbreaks are recorded between 1180 and 1345, although Zadar was treated with special consideration by its Venetian masters, who regarded its possession as essential to their maritime ascendancy.[12]

The doubtful allegiance of the Dalmatians tended to protract the struggle between Venice and Hungary, which was further complicated by internal discord due largely to the spread of the Bogomil heresy; and by many outside influences, such as the vague suzerainty still enjoyed by the Eastern emperors during the 12th century; the assistance rendered to Venice by the armies of the Fourth Crusade in 1202; and the Tatar invasion of Dalmatia forty years later (see Trogir).[12]

Republic of Venice (1420–1796)

Main article: Venetian Dalmatia
Dalmatian possessions of the Republic of Venice in 1797

In 1409, during the 20-year Hungarian civil war between

ducats. The more centralized merchant republic took control of the cities by the year 1420 (with the exception of the Republic of Ragusa), they were to remain under Venetian rule for a period of 377 years (1420–1797).[13] The southernmost area of Dalmatia (now part of coastal Montenegro) was called Venetian Albania
during that time.

In these centuries a process of gradual assimilation took place among the native population. The Romance Dalmatians of the cities were the most susceptible because of their similar culture and were completely assimilated.

vernacular language. This process was aided by the constant migration between the Adriatic cities and involved even the independent Dubrovnik (Ragusa) and the port of Rijeka
(Fiume).

The Slavic population (mainly Croats) was only partially assimilated, because of the linguistic unsimilarity and because the Slavs were mostly situated in the hinterland and the islands. Dalmatian, however, had already influenced the Dalmatian dialect of

Chakavian dialect, with the Venetian dialect influencing Albanian.[14]
Starting from the 15th century, Italian replaced Latin as the language of culture in the Venetian Dalmatia and in the Republic of Ragusa. On the other hand, more and more Slavs (Catholic and Orthodox) were pushed into Venetian Dalmatia, to escape the Ottomans. This resulted in an increase of the Slavic presence in the cities.

Napoleonic era (1797–1815)

1807: Dalmatia inside the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy

In 1797, during the

Napoleonic wars, the Republic of Venice was dissolved. The former Venetian Dalmatia was included in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy from 1805 to 1809 (for some years also the Republic of Ragusa was included, since 1808), and successively in the Illyrian Provinces
from 1809.

From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Italian and Slavic communities in Dalmatia had lived peacefully side by side because they did not know the national identification, given that they generically defined themselves as "Dalmatians", of "Romance" or "Slavic" culture.[15]

The census of 1808 found that Venetians (Italian speaking) made up about 33% of Dalmatians, and resided mostly in urban areas. After the final defeat of Napoleon, the entire territory was granted to the Austrian Empire by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

This marked the beginning of 100 years (1815–1918) of Austrian rule in Dalmatia and the beginning of the disappearance of the Dalmatian Italians (who were reduced from over 30% in 1803 to just 3% at the end of

WW1
, due to persecutions, assimilation policies and emigration).

Austrian Empire (1815–1918)

Austrian linguistic map from 1896. In green are the areas where Slavs were the majority of the population, in orange are the areas where Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians were the majority of the population. The boundaries of Venetian Dalmatia in 1797 are delimited with blue dots.

During the period of the

Italy
.

The Croatian faction (later called Unionist faction or "Puntari"), led by the

centralism
of Vienna. After a while, when the national question came to prominence, they split.

Many Dalmatian Italians looked with sympathy towards the

Austro-Hungarian Empire
, together with other Italian-speaking areas on the eastern Adriatic.

This triggered the gradual rise of

Slavicization of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence:[17]

His Majesty expressed the precise order that action be taken decisively against the influence of the Italian elements still present in some regions of the Crown and, appropriately occupying the posts of public, judicial, masters employees as well as with the influence of the press, work in South Tyrol, Dalmatia and Littoral for the Germanization and Slavization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard. His Majesty calls the central offices to the strong duty to proceed in this way to what has been established.

— Franz Joseph I of Austria, Council of the Crown of 12 November 1866[16][18]
Proportion of Dalmatian Italians in districts of Dalmatia in 1910, per the Austro-Hungarian census

In 1867, the Empire was

Fiume (Rijeka) and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia were assigned to the Hungarian part of the Empire, while Dalmatia and Istria remained in the Austrian part. The Unionist faction won the elections in Dalmatia in 1870, but they were prevented from following through with the merge with Croatia and Slavonia due to the intervention of the Austrian imperial government. The Austrian century was a time of decline for the Dalmatian Italians. Starting from the 1840s, large numbers of the Italian minority were passively croatized
, or had emigrated as a consequence of the unfavorable economic situation.

The Italian linguist Matteo Bartoli calculated that Italian was the primary spoken language by 33% of the Dalmatian population in 1803.[19][20] Bartoli's evaluation was followed by other claims that Auguste de Marmont, the French Governor General of the Napoleonic Illyrian Provinces commissioned a census in 1814–1815 which found that Dalmatian Italians comprised 29 percent of the total population of Dalmatia. According to Austrian censuses, the Dalmatian Italians formed 12.5% of the population in 1865,[21] but this was reduced to 2.7% in 1910.[22] In Dalmatia there was a constant decline in the Italian population, in a context of repression that also took on violent connotations.[23] During this period, Austrians carried out an aggressive anti-Italian policy through a forced Slavization of Dalmatia.[24]

The Italian population in Dalmatia was concentrated in the major coastal cities. In the city of Split in 1890 there were 1,969 Dalmatian Italians (12.5% of the population), in Zadar 7,423 (64.6%), in Šibenik 1,018 (14.5%), in Kotor 623 (18.7%) and in Dubrovnik 331 (4.6%).[25] In other Dalmatian localities, according to Austrian censuses, Dalmatian Italians experienced a sudden decrease: in the twenty years 1890-1910, in Rab they went from 225 to 151, in Vis from 352 to 92, in Pag from 787 to 23, completely disappearing in almost all the inland locations.

In 1909,

status as the official language of Dalmatia in favor of Croatian only (previously both languages were recognized): thus Italian could no longer be used in the public and administrative sphere.[26]

The interwar period (1918–1941)

Trentino-Alto Adige, the Julian March and Dalmatia (tan), and the Snežnik Plateau area (green). Dalmatia, after the WWI, however, was not assigned to Italy but to Yugoslavia

Following the conclusion of

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
).

Carinthia, the city of Zadar along with the island and Lastovo
. A large number of Italians (allegedly nearly 20,000) moved from the areas of Dalmatia assigned to Yugoslavia and resettled in Italy (mainly in Zara).

Goffredo Mameli
Michele Novaro
On the left, a map of the Kingdom of Italy before the First World War, on the right, a map of the Kingdom of Italy after the First World War.

In November 1918, after the surrender of Austria-Hungary, Italy occupied militarily

Treaty of Rome (27 January 1924), the Free State of Fiume (Rijeka) was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia.[27]

Relations with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia were severely affected and constantly remained tense, because of the dispute over Dalmatia and because of the lengthy dispute over the city-port of

Treaty of Rome
.

In 1922 Fascism came to power in Italy. The fascist policies included strong nationalistic policies. Minority rights were severely reduced. This included the shutting down of educational facilities in Slavic languages, forced Italianization of citizen's names, and the brutal persecution of dissenters.

In Zara most Croats left, due to these oppressive policies of the fascist government. The same happened with the Italian minority in Yugoslavia. Although, the matter was not entirely reciprocal: the Italian minority in Yugoslavia had some degree of protection, according to the Rapallo Treaty (such as Italian citizenship and primary instruction).

All this increased the intense resentment between the two ethnic groups. Where in the 19th century there was conflict only on the upper classes, there was now an increasing mutual hatred present in varying degrees among the entire population.

World War II and post-war

Governatorate of Dalmatia (1941–1943) showing the province of Zara, the province of Spalato and the province of Cattaro
Flag of the Italian minority in Yugoslavia

The

Governatorate of Dalmatia with Zadar as its capital. The local population was subject to violent forced italianization by the fascist government. Several concentration camps were established by Italian authorities to house these "enemies of the state", including the infamous Gonars and Rab concentration camps. The Italian authorities were not able to maintain full control over the hinterland and the interior of the islands, however, and they were partially controlled by the Yugoslav Partisans
after 1943.

Following the

German Army took over the occupation after a short period of Partisan control (officially, the Governorship of Dalmatia was handed to the control of the puppet Independent State of Croatia). During this period a large proportion of the coastal city population volunteered to join the Partisans (most notably that of Split, where a third of the total population left the city), while many Italian garrisons deserted to fight as Partisan units and still others were forced to surrender their weapons and equipment. As Soviet troops advanced in the Balkans in 1944, a small-scale evacuation took place in Zadar, while Marshall Josip Broz Tito's Partisans (since 1942 recognized as Allied troops) simultaneously moved to liberate the remainder of Axis-occupied Dalmatia. Split
was henceforth the provisional capital of Allied-liberated Croatia.

In 1943–44 the city of Zadar suffered 54 air raids by the Allies and it was severely damaged, with heavy civilian casualties. Many civilians had already escaped to Italy when the Partisans controlled the city.

After World War II Italy ceded all remaining Italian areas in Dalmatia to the new

Istrian-Dalmatian exodus
, of nearly all the remaining Italians in Dalmatia. Italian-language schools in Zadar were closed in 1953, due to a dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia over Trieste.

In 2010 a kindergarten for the small Italian community of Zadar was going to be opened, promoted by the local Italian association, but the local Croatian authorities refused to open the school because the number of attending children was too small. Indeed, the issue was of administrative nature because the administration claimed that the Italian ethnicity had to be proved by the ownership of an Italian passport. Due to the restrictions imposed to the double nationality of the Italian minority in Yugoslavia after 1945, this requirement could only be met by a limited number of children. This administrative difficulty has been solved in 2012 and the opening of the kindergarten took place in 2013.

Population decline

Overview

The Land Gate in Zara (today Zadar).
Kamerlengo Castle in Trogir.

mother tongue in the following percentages:[3]

Year Number of native Italian speakers Percentage Population (total)
1865 55,020 12.5% 440,160
1869 44,880 10.8% 415,550
1880 27,305 5.8% 470,800
1890 16,000 3.1% 516,130
1900 15,279 2.6% 587,600
1910 18,028 2.7% 677,700

Reasons

There are several reasons for the decrease of the Dalmatian Italian population following the rise of

European nationalism in the 19th century:[28]

Stages

The process of the decline had various stages:[29]

Decline of Dalmatian Italians since the 19th century

Antonio Bajamonti, a Dalmatian Italian mayor of Split, in office from 1860 to 1864 and from 1865 to 1880

To evaluate the variation in the number of Italian Dalmatians some local data relating to the language used in specific Dalmatian municipalities are indicative:[30]

  • Krk
    • 1890: Italian 1,449 (71.1%), Serbo-Croatian 508 (24.9%), German 19, Slovene 16, other 5, total 2,037
    • 1900: Italian 1,435 (69.2%), Serbo-Croatian 558 (26.9%), German 28, Slovenian 22, total 2,074
    • 1910: Italian 1,494 (68%), Serbo-Croatian 630 (28.7%), German 19, Slovene 14, other 2, foreign 37, total 2,196
  • Zadar
    • 1890: Italian 7,423 (64.6%), Serbo-Croatian 2,652 (23%), German 561, other 164, total 11,496
    • 1900: Italian 9,018 (69.3%), Serbo-Croatian 2,551 (19.6%), German 581, other 150, total 13,016
    • 1910: Italian 9,318 (66.3%), Serbo-Croatian 3,532 (25.1%), German 397, other 191, foreign 618, total 14,056
  • Šibenik
    • 1890: Italian 1,018 (14.5%), Serbo-Croatian 5,881 (83.8%), German 17, other 5, total 7,014
    • 1900: Italian 858 (8.5%), Serbo-Croatian 9,031 (89.6%), German 17, other 28, total 10,072
    • 1910: Italian 810 (6.4%), Serbo-Croatian 10,819 (85.9%), German 249 (2%), other 129, foreign 581, total 12,588
  • Split
    • 1890: Italian 1,969 (12.5%), Serbo-Croatian 12,961 (82.5%), German 193 (1.2%), other 63, total 15,697
    • 1900: Italian 1,049 (5.6%), Serbo-Croatian 16,622 (89.6%), German 131 (0.7%), other 107, total 18,547
    • 1910: Italian 2,082 (9.7%), Serbo-Croatian 18,235 (85.2%), German 92 (0.4%), other 127, foreign 871, total 21,407
  • Dubrovnik
    • 1890: Italian 331 (4.6%), Serbo-Croatian 5,198 (72.8%), German 249 (3.5%), other 73, total 7,143
    • 1900: Italian 548 (6.5%), Serbo-Croatian 6,100 (72.3%), German 254 (3%), other 247, total 8,437
    • 1910: Italian 409 (4.6%), Serbo-Croatian 6,466 (72.2%), German 322 (3.6%), other 175, foreign 1,586, total 8,958
  • Kotor
    • 1890: Italian 623 (18.7%), Serbo-Croatian 1,349 (40.5%), German 320 (9.6%), other 598, total 3,329
    • 1900: Italian 338 (11.2%), Serbo-Croatian 1,498 (49.6%), German 193 (6.4%), other 95, total 3,021
    • 1910: Italian 257 (8%), Serbo-Croatian 1,489 (46.8%), German 152 (4.8%), other 73, foreign 1 207, total 3,178

In other Dalmatian localities, according to the Austrian censuses, the Italians experienced an even more sudden decrease: in the twenty years 1890-1910 alone, in the municipality of Rab they went from 225 to 151, in Vis from 352 to 92, in Pag from 787 to 23, in Risan from 70 to 26, disappearing completely in almost all inland locations.[30]

Modern-day presence in Dalmatia

Demographics

Zadar Cathedral
Split

The Dalmatian Italians were a fundamental presence in Dalmatia, when the process of political unification of the Italians, Croats and Serbs started at the beginning of the 19th century. The 1816 Austro-Hungarian census registered 66,000 Italian speaking people between the 301,000 inhabitants of Dalmatia, or 22% of the total Dalmatian population.[31]

The main communities are located in the following coastal cities:

Following the Italian emigration from Dalmatia and the events following World War II,[32] the Dalmatian Italian communities were drastically reduced in their numbers. The Italian community in Dalmatia, according to the official 2011 censuses, is made up of 349 residents in Croatia,[1] and 135 residents in Montenegro.[4][5] This number rises to about 1,500 for Croatia, considering the data provided by the local Comunità degli Italiani, and to about 450 on the coast of Montenegro.[6] However, it is estimated that in Croatian Dalmatia the actual number is higher, as there is still a widespread fear of declaring oneself Italian.[33]

Following the collapse of the communist regime and the dissolution of Yugoslavia, there was a timid awakening of the identity of the last Dalmatian Italians who set up Italian communities in Zadar, Split,

Kvarner area in Cres, Mali Lošinj, Krk and the one in Montenegro.[34] In particular, according to the official Croatian census of 2011, there are 83 Dalmatian Italians in Split (equal to 0.05% of the total population), 16 in Šibenik (0.03%) and 27 in Dubrovnik (0.06%).[35] According to the official Croatian census of 2021, there are 63 Dalmatian Italians in Zadar (equal to 0.09% of the total population).[36] According to the official Montenegrin census of 2011, there are 31 Dalmatian Italians in Kotor (equal to 0.14% of the total population).[37]

Education and Italian language

In Zadar the local Comunità degli Italiani requested the creation of an Italian asylum since 2009. After considerable government opposition,[38][39] with the imposition of a national filter that imposed the obligation to possess Italian citizenship for registration, and by 2013 it was opened hosting the first 25 children.[40] This kindergarten is the first Italian educational institution opened in Dalmatia after the closure of the last Italian school, which operated there until 1953.

Croatian Venetists

A contemporary reaction to both the

Istrian and/or Dalmatian) and North Italian (mostly Venetian, and/or Friulian) extractions. The two most popular self identifications of this kind remain; Croatian Venetists
, and Venetian Lombards (most of which explicitly self identify as Croatian, and implicitly as mentioned above).

How they perceive

Italian unification and the legacy of two world wars, remains a controversial issue at best, it does suggest a much larger presence of people of Italian and Venetian
descent in Croatia than previously thought.

Since Croatia's much talked about adoption of Italian as one of the national languages of Croatia (particularly in Istria), curtailing language rights for

Venetian autonomy referendum, 2017
in Italy, which may have weakened the Italian in the northern Adriatic Basin since.

Main Dalmatian Italian associations

Mali Lošinj port
Kotor

In contemporary Dalmatia there are several associations of Dalmatian Italians, mainly located in important coastal cities:

  • The Italian Community of Zadar (Comunità Italiana di Zara). Founded in 1991 in Zadar, with an Assembly of around 500 members. The current president is Rina Villani (who has been recently elected [41] in the Zadar county, or Županija). The former president of the CI, Dr. Libero Grubišić, started the first Italian courses in the city after the close of all the Italian school in Zadar in 1953. The actual vice president, Silvio Duiella, has promoted the creation of an Italian Choral of Zadar under the direction of Adriana Grubelić. In the new offices, the CI has a library and organizes several courses of Italian and conferences.[42] The office of the community was the target of a criminal fire in 2004.
  • The Italian Community of Split (Comunità Italiana di Spalato). Was created in 1993 in Split, with an office near the city's trademark Riva seashore. The president is Eugenio Dalmas and the legal director is Mladen Dalbello. In the office, the CI organises Italian language courses and conferences.[43] This CI has 97 members.
  • The Italian Community of Mali Lošinj (Comunità degli Italiani di Lussinpiccolo) was reestablished in 1990 in the northern Adriatic island of Lošinj (Lussino). This CI was founded thanks to Stelio Cappelli (first president) in this little island, that was part of the Kingdom of Italy from 1918 to 1947. It has about 500 active members, under the leadership of President Sanjin Zoretić. The headquarters is in Villa Perla in Mali Lošinj (Lussinpiccolo). The library has been donated by the local Rotary Club.[44]
  • The Italian Community of Kotor (Comunità Italiana di Cattaro), in Kotor is being registered officially (with the "Unione Italiana") as the Italian Community of Montenegro (Comunità degli Italiani del Montenegro). In connection with this registration, the "Center for Dalmatian Cultural Research" (Centro di Ricerche Culturali Dalmate) has opened in 2007 the Venetian house in Kotor to celebrate the Venetian heritage in coastal Montenegro.
  • The Dante Alighieri Society is an Italian government organization promotes Italian culture and language in the world with the help of the Italian speaking communities outside Italy. In Dalmatia is actually present in:

Culture

See also: Venetian Dalmatia, Italian cuisine, and Italian folk dance
The city gates to Zadar features the Lion of Saint Mark of the Republic of Venice.
Kamerlengo Castle in Trogir.

The legacy from Venice in Dalmatia is huge and very important, mainly in the cultural and artistic area. Venice was one of the centers of Italian

Giorgio Orsini
to the influence on the early contemporary Croatian literature, Venice made its Dalmatia the most western-oriented civilized area of the Balkans, mostly in the cities.

Some architectural works from that period of Dalmatia are of European importance, and would contribute to further development of the Renaissance: the Cathedral of St James in Šibenik and the Chapel of Blessed John in Trogir.

Indeed, the Croatian renaissance, strongly influenced by Venetian and Italian literature, was thoroughly developed on the coastal parts of Croatia. The beginning of the Croatian 16th-century literal activity was marked by a Dalmatian humanist Marco Marulo and his epic book Judita, which has been written by incorporating peculiar motives and events from the classical Bible, and adapting them to the contemporary literature in Europe.[49]

In 1997 the historical city-island of

St. Lawrence, whose main west portal is a masterpiece by Radovan
, and the most significant work of the Romanesque-Gothic style in Croatia.

The

Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition[50]
states, in the "Antiquities" entry, of page 774, that:

... from Italy (and Venice) came the Romanesque. The belfry of S. Maria, at Zara, erected in 1105, is first in a long list of Romanesque buildings. At Arbe there is a beautiful Romanesque campanile which also belongs to the 12th century; but the finest example in this style is the cathedral of Trau. The 14th century Dominican and Franciscan convents in Ragusa are also noteworthy. Romanesque lingered on in Dalmatia until it was displaced by Venetian Gothic in the early years of the 15th century. The influence of Venice was then at its height. Even in the relatively hostile Republic of Ragusa the Romanesque of the custom-house and Rectors' palace is combined with Venetian Gothic, while the graceful balconies and ogee windows of the Prijeki closely follow their Venetian models. In 1441 Giorgio Orsini of Zara, summoned from Venice to design the cathedral of Sebenico, brought with him the influence of the Italian Renaissance. The new forms which he introduced were eagerly imitated and developed by other architects, until the period of decadence - which virtually concludes the history of Dalmatian art - set in during the latter half of the 17th century. Special mention must be made of the carved woodwork, embroideries and plate preserved in many churches. The silver statuette and the reliquary of St. Biagio at Ragusa, and the silver ark of St. Simeon at Zara, are fine specimens of Italian jewelers' work, ranging in date from the 11th or 12th to the 17th century ...

In the 19th century the cultural influence from Italy originated the editing in Zadar of the first Dalmatian newspaper, in Italian and Croatian: Il Regio Dalmata – Kraglski Dalmatin, founded and published by the Italian Bartolomeo Benincasa in 1806. The Il Regio Dalmata – Kraglski Dalmatin was stamped in the typography of the Dalmatian Italian Antonio Luigi Battara and was the first done in Croatian.

The Dalmatian Italians contributed to the cultural development of theater and opera in Dalmatia. The Verdi Theater in Zadar was their main symbol until 1945.[51]

The

Istrian-Dalmatian exodus.[52][53] For example, the influence of Italian cuisine on Croatian dishes can be seen in the pršut (similar to Italian prosciutto) and on the preparation of homemade pasta.[54]

The

Split (in Italian Spalato), Korčula (Curzola) and Lastovo (Lagosta). There are differing accounts of the origin of the Dalmatian dance, some tracing to Italian and others to Slavic roots.[55] Andrea Alibranti has proposed that the first appearance of the dance in Korčula came after the defeat of the corsair Uluz Ali by the local inhabitants in 1571.[56]

Dalmatian Italians

Across the centuries Dalmatian Italians made with their life and their works a large influence on Dalmatia. However, it would somehow arbitrary to attribute a nationality to the Dalmatians living before the Napoleonic time. Indeed, only at the beginning of the 19th century the concept of national identity started to build up. For this reason, hereafter are reported some notable Dalmatian Italians who are considered Croat too, in chronological order of birth.

Scientists

Ottavio Missoni
Niccolò Tommaseo
Arturo Colautti
Enzo Bettiza
Ida Quaiatti
Xenia Valderi

Artists

Writers

Politicians

Cinema

Sport

Military members

Business

Organizations and periodicals

Many Dalmatian Italians are organized in associations such as:

  • Associazione nazionale Venezia Giulia e Dalmazia[57]
  • Comunità di Lussinpiccolo.[58]
  • Comunità chersina nel mondo [59]
  • Libero Comune di Zara in esilio (Free Commune of Zadar in exile)
  • Società Dalmata di Storia Patria[60]

The most popular periodical for Dalmatian Italians is Il Dalmata, published in Trieste by Renzo de' Vidovich.[41]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c "Central Bureau of Statistics". Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  2. ^ Ministero dell'economia nazionale, Direzione generale della statistica, Ufficio del censimento, Censimento della popolazione del Regno d'Italia al 1º dicembre 1921, vol. III Venezia Giulia, Provveditorato generale dello Stato, Rome, 1926, pp. 192-208 (In Italian)
  3. ^ a b Š.Peričić, O broju Talijana/talijanaša u Dalmaciji XIX. stoljeća, in Radovi Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zadru, n. 45/2003, p. 342
  4. ^ a b "STANOVNIŠTVO PREMA NACIONALNOJ, ODNOSNO ETNIČKOJ PRIPADNOSTI PO OPŠTINAMA" (PDF). Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b Situazione attuale dei dalmati italiani in Croazia
  6. ^ a b Membri, Comunità degli Italiani di Montenegro
  7. ^ "Comunità Nazionale Italiana, Unione Italiana". Unione-italiana.hr. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
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Bibliography

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