FRIULIAN EMIGRATION TO ROMANIA
IN THE 19TH AND 2OTH CENTURY
TIZIANA TOMAT
The main Friulian publications offering a wide-ranging overview of the historical
emigration from Friuli to Romania from the second half of the 19th century to the first
decades of the 20th century are Friuli Migrante by Lodovico Zanini and Friulani fuori
di casa in Croazia e Slavonia by Alessandro Vigevani. Among the most recent works
about this country, it is worth mentioning the following: L’emigrazione storica dei
friulani in Romania by Nicolae Luca and Emigranti Friulani in Romania dal 1860 ad
oggi. Un protagonista ritrovato Geniale Fabbro maestro costruttore by Renzo
Francesconi and Paolo Tomasella.
The analysis of these books, rich in oral and written records, shows that, between the
19th and the 20th century, Friulian emigrants in Romania mainly did traditional jobs,
which earned them praise in various countries: they were mainly construction
workers, stonecutters, stonemasons, tilers and woodmen; an important role was also
played by mosaicists and navvies in the building of prestigious residences and public
palaces1. Furthermore, farm labourers worked in rural areas. According to the list of
Friulian emigrants compiled by Vigevani, a great deal of the many workers who
arrived in Romania became building contractors or constructors thanks to their
professional skills and hard-working nature. In the regions he visited – Wallachia and
Moldavia, i.e. the heart of historical Romania, – the author found a majority of
Western Friulians as opposed to Eastern Friulians (from the Isonzo area).
The emigration to Romania begins (almost) as a seasonal movement for employment
purposes, from spring to late autumn – usually from Easter to All Saint’s Day, – and
later turns into a permanent stay due to personal choices or incidental needs linked to
certain historical periods2. After deciding to settle down in Romania, Friulians urged
the relatives back in Friuli to join them or married local women. The recurrent,
1
2
F. Vicario, Le Comunità friulane in Romania, in “Sot la nape”, y. XLIV, no. 4, December 1992, pp. 47-53.
P. Fortunati, Quattro secoli di vita del popolo friulano, Tipografia Antoniana, Padova 1932, pp. 89-97.
months-long absence from home could also cause some worries: a letter written by
Vincenzo Mansutti, who emigrated to Buzen (?) in Romania, casts light on the
difficult relationship between his newly-wed bride and his family and highlights the
nostalgia felt by both husband and wife. In the letter, dated June 12, 1892, the
husband asks for a prompt reply, because he does not know how long he will stay
there, thus disclosing a common trait of our fellow countrymen: the tendency to
travel, as they were used to looking for employment far away3.
The consuls’ reports and the official statistics of the early 20th century point out Friuli
as the main area of origin of the emigrants in Romania4. On the basis of consular
correspondence and of Italian and Romanian official documents, Professor Rudolf
Dinu also asserts that the geographical area of origin is one of the essential features of
temporary emigration to Romania between 1878 and 1914. The region which was
involved most in this migratory flux was Veneto, which at that time included Friuli5.
In 1892, for instance, the Italian Minister in Bucharest, Francesco Curtopassi, wrote
that “the towns Frisono, Forgaria, Castelnuovo del Friuli, Forni di Sotto [...] supplied
Romania with such a high number of workers that one might think they were left
uninhabited”6. A few years later, the Italian Consul General in Galatz7, Giulio Tesi, in
his reports, published in the Bulletin of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs between
1896 and 1897, emphasized that only from 1896 emigrants from other Italian areas
started to arrive in addition to those from Veneto-Friuli. The situation appeared
fundamentally unchanged in the first decade of the 20th century, when, after the
research carried out between April and May 1912, the inspector of the Italian
Emigration Commission wrote on the Emigration Bulletin: “The large majority of
Italian emigrants come from the province of Udine; they are followed, as far as
quantity is concerned, by those from the provinces of Belluno, Treviso, Rovigo,
Ancona and Bari, who altogether make up less than a fourth of the total of
3
G. M. Basso, Orsaria. Mosaico di lettere, Tip. Istituto “Mons. F. Tomadini”, Udine 1973, p.15.
L. Zanini, Friuli Migrante, new edition, Ente Friuli nel Mondo, Udine 1992, p. 134.
5
R. Dinu, Appunti per una storia dell’emigrazione italiana in Romania nel periodo 1878-1914: il Veneto come
principale serbatoio di piccole comunità in movimento, in Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (edited by G. Arbore
Popescu), Dall’Adriatico al Mar Nero: veneziani e romeni, tracciati di storie comuni, C.N.R., Roma 2003, pp. 245-261,
esp. p. 250.
6
“Buletinul Statistic General al României”, y. II, no. 4, 1893, p. 463.
7
Galatz o Galaţi, capital of the district having the same name, lies in the historical region Moldavia.
4
emigrants...”; in his description of the emigrants, he highlights again that “they come
almost exclusively from Veneto, more precisely from Friuli...”. In the analysis of
their jobs, he stressed that Italian masons and stonecutters played a fundamental role
in the erection of public and private buildings in various towns: “Italian masons were
the ones who, up to that moment, were able to set the highest numbers of bricks a day
(an average of around 800) and to work with more precision than masons from
anywhere else”8. According to the inspector, woodcutters, mainly from Pontebba,
were also considered highly professional workers, so much that they left clear traces
in the field-specific jargon9.
Broadly speaking, three migratory phases can be outlined: the first one began in 1820
and involved a limited number of persons; the second phase, from the last twenty
years of the 19th century to the First World War, saw a remarkable number of
emigrants leave; and finally a third migratory phase. This last phase, during which a
lot of Friulians went back home after the First World War, gradually stopped.
Before beginning a detailed analysis, it is necessary to say that the history of this state
is the clue to understand the three different phases.
The first migration phase – dating back to the early decades of the 19th century – is
connected to the migratory movements within the Habsburg state, which at the time
included part of Friuli and some areas of Romania. We do not want, however, to
reduce the history of emigration from Friuli to Romania to a mere movement of
people towards or within the Austro-Hungarian Empire; quite the opposite, we want
to spur some considerations on a topic, which has not been thoroughly studied yet, in
order to grasp what exactly made Romania into much more than just a marginal
destination for Italian emigration.
The Banat regions and the north-western area of Moldavia (Bukovina) belonged to
the Habsburgs, Transylvania had been assigned to the Kingdom of Hungary; this is
why it is safe to declare that the first emigrants moved, at least partly, within the
8
“Bollettino dell’Emigrazione”, y. XI, no. 11, 1912, pp. 1202-1203, 1208 and p. 1222.
G. Micoli, I Friulani all’estero. I boscaioli della Carnia, in “Ce Fastu?”, y. VIII, 7-8, 1932, pp. 199-201; E. Negriti,
Travailleurs Italiens en Roumanie avant la Primière Guerre Mondiale, in “Revue Roumaine d’Istoire”, y. XXV, no. 3,
1986, pp. 225-239, esp. p. 231-232; V. Arvinte, Elemente retoromane în terminologia forestieră românească, in “Studii
si cercetari lingvistice”, y. XV, no. 5, 1964, pp. 643-644.
9
borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Habsburg State first and then the
Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to profit from the wealth of their provinces. The
historical-geographical Banat region – now divided among Romania, Serbia and
Hungary – offered resources, mainly mineral resources, the empire wanted to exploit
and thus appeared as an interesting destination for emigrants. Friulians, as stressed by
Nicolae Luca, were Catholic, hard-working and skilled; they thus represented an
important source of manpower in the Habsburg economy.
During the first half of the 19th century, industrialization, which was spreading
throughout Europe, brought about both a larger exploitation of raw materials and the
building of more infrastructures. The exploitation of the quarries and mines in Banat
was for instance accompanied by the building of railways to transport the material;
the line connecting the city Oravitza to the port on the Danube Baziaş was opened in
1854. This line was then extended and used to transport both goods and people. All
these works called for the employment of Friulian stonecutters and stonemasons, but
also woodmen to build the wooden sleepers, an essential element of the tracks. A
railway line required tunnels to be excavated and viaducts to be built, as well as
steelworks, which on their part required a lot of wood and coal. The wood for the
smelters had to be transported from the mountains to the valley; skilled workers came
in very handy in this case, too. From 1850 the Friulian woodmen, coming from
Pontebba, Tarvisio and Tolmezzo, built a system of dams and slides to transport
wood via river. According to some documents, emigration to Banat kept on till
190010.
As Alessandro Vigevani noted, “part of the Friulians living in Moldavia, especially in
Wallachia, arrived here from Transylvania, less from Banat (or Bukovina), after the
Austro-Hungarian territories into which they had previously emigrated were passed
under Romanian rule”11.
After 1877/78, the foundation of the Kingdom of Romania, beginning with the
10
M. Meschini, Comunità Italiana nel Banato, in Columna, no. 8, Iaşi August 2003; see also N. Luca, Il Banato. I primi
coloni friulani nell’Ottocento, in ID, L’emigrazione storica dei friulani in Romania, Imbellinum, Invillino (Villa
Santina) 2006, p. 45-48.
11
A. Vigevani, Friulani fuori di casa in Croazia e in Slavonia, Opuscoli della Società Filologica Friulana, Tipografia
Del Bianco & Figlio, Udine 1950, p. 81.
principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, needed skilled labour12. Charles of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen – ruling from 1866 but crowned in 1881 with the name
Charles I – promoted the arrival of foreign capital to spur the country’s
industrialization and economy. Despite his kingdom being very rich, agriculture was
still the driving sector. The kingdom lacked infrastructures, such as bridges, tunnels,
roads, railways, river dikes, but above all skilled workers. The unification of
Romania and the subsequent political stability promoted the development and
modernization of the country in spite of some economical measures slowing down
the immediate positive effects13.
The migratory flux towards Romania became very intense during this period; when
going back home, Italian men talked about a land where “everything was to be done:
roads, railways, waterworks, industrial factories, public administration buildings”.
Other factors to be considered are the relatively low cost of living here and a certain
language affinity. Hence the idea of Romania as a country “expressly made to offer
our workers employment and luck”14. When Charles of Hohenzollern arrived in
Bucharest in 1866, it was not a modern city; forty years and many building sites later,
the appearance of the city had radically changed. Big landowners and statesmen did
not just want to exploit the natural resources, but also to modernize the cities. The
new Kingdom of Romania saw in architecture and in arts a means to revive the local
cultural matrices on which to found the modern national state. The Neoromănesc
style, which can still be admired in the historical buildings and in the manor houses,
soon became the nation’s symbol15.
Emigrants were so sure they would find a job that they sometimes left without an
employment contract, although the manual for Italian emigrants to the Balkans and
Romania – published in 1910 by the Emigration Commission – advised to sign the
12
The long process for the unification of Wallachia and Moldavia ended in 1859: although formally the area was still
under Ottoman influence, a liberal and progressive man, Colonnel Cuza, was elected prince. It is noted that Oltenia, the
western part of Wallachia, belonged to the Habsburgs.
13
As extensively described by Nicolae Luca in the paragraph Cenni sull’economia rumena tra 1821-1914 (Notes on the
Romanian economy between 1821-1914), at first Charles I favoured the free trade policy, which did not protect the
emerging Romanian industry, but then issued (1887) the law “General measures sustaining the national industry”, see
N. Luca,…op.cit., pp. 61-67.
14
L. Zanini, Friuli..op. cit., p. 129.
15
P. Tomasella, Lo stile Neoromeno, in R. Francesconi – P. Tomasella, Friulani in Romania dal 1860 ad oggi. Un
protagonista ritrovato Geniale Fabbro maestro costruttore, ed. L’Omino Rosso, Pordenone 2007, pp. 84-89.
contract before leaving16. If either the worker or the employer had not fulfilled the
prescribed bureaucratic procedures (passport valid for the country of destination and
contract on the worker’s side, authorization for the admission issued by the Romanian
Ministry of the Interior on the employer’s side), after 1881 the workers risked being
rejected at the border17.
The many workers who settled down in Bucharest turned the local Friulian colony
into the biggest in the whole country. Suffice it to think that the bilingual weekly
magazine Fratellanza romeno-italiana, which became daily in 1883 – under the
name Universal, – remained the most popular newspaper in Romania for a long time.
The Friulians in the capital traditionally lived in the suburban area Bucareşti-Noi.
Among the first colonies of Friulians we mention Ploieşti (Multenia), Craiova
(Oltenia), Sinaia (Muntenia), a city which grew after the railway Predeal was opened,
Tulcea (Dobrugia), Iaşi (Moldavia)18, as well as Galatz/Galaţi (Moldavia), the river
port of which was enlarged thanks to the labourers coming from Osoppo. Another
citizen from Osoppo invested his earnings after twenty years abroad (some of which
in Siberia) in Tulcea, a city in the delta of the Danube, in favour of the Italian farmers
of the near colony of Cataloi19.
In these and other cities, Friulian emigrants built their houses and often founded
cooperation and aid societies. A high number of descendants of emigrants from
Pordenone lives in Craiova: they still remember their forefathers when they look at
the cathedral or at the courthouse20. In the early 20th century, this agricultural town
underwent profound changes and became the seat of banks and universities.
According to some researches carried out at the State Archives in Craiova, the first
workers from Friuli arrived here in 1850 and settled down around 1860. This
opportunity arose thanks to Petre/Pera Opram, a rich landowner who, during a trip to
16
Commissariato Generale dell’Emigrazione, Avvertenze per l’emigrante italiano nei Paesi Balcanici, Roma 1910; cf.
also Caritas Italiana (edited by A. Ricci), Immigrazione e lavoro in Italia. Statistiche, problemi e prospettive, IDOS,
Roma 2008, p. 60.
17
Until 1881 no unusual formalities (other than a valid travelling document) were necessary to expatriate to Romania;
for more details on the relevant legislation, see VV.AA. Emigrazioni e colonie, Raccolta di rapporti dei RR. Agenti
diplomatici e consolari, vol. I, Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Roma 1885, p. 188-189.
18
The city Iaşi or Jassi was the old capital of Moldavia.
19
L. Zanini, Friulani in Romania, in …op cit., p. 129-141.
20
I. Pàtrascu - E. Pirvu, I friulani di Craiova. Rapporti socio-culturali italo-romeni, Efasce, Pordenone 1994.
Italy, saw the plantations in the areas of Cormons and Udine. He then invited around
thirty families of farmers to move to his lands in Işalnita; more people from Friuli and
Veneto followed suit and settled down near Craiova, on the lands of the family of
Opram and Ion Argenoianu21.
According to more general studies, the first departures of Italians date back to 1821,
when some families from the Val di Fassa and the Val di Fiemme (in Trentino) were
sent to the Apuseni Mountains in Transylvania to work as woodcutters and woodmen
for an Austrian wood merchant22. Another useful piece of information to date the
beginning of Italian emigration is the erection of a building near Lake Tei, ordered by
Prince Grigore Ghica Vodă in 1822. The ceilings were decorated by an Italian
painter, Giacometti, presumably from Friuli. Furthermore, in the early 1840s,
Bucharest already boasted an Italian restaurant; ten years later many Friulian
surnames were listed among the makers of residential buildings. The emigration from
Italy and Friuli, however, became regular and intense only after 186023.
Comprehensively we can say that emigrants were employed at first as skilled labour
in marble quarries and in the building sector, especially in the coastal area – Dobruja
– and in the East of the country – present Romanian Moldavia – as well as in
Bucharest and Transylvania24. Friulians settled down temporarily or permanently on
the whole territory, although important and long-lasting communities actually
developed only in some areas.
Romania was not the main destination for emigrants from Friuli, there were other
places which welcomed a larger number of Friulians; this country nevertheless
attracted a remarkable number of people between 1870 and 1914, especially from the
mountains and the piedmont areas. The men from these areas were mostly
stonemasons, stonecutters, navvies, mosaicists, construction workers and woodmen.
These were considered so skilled as to be essential to exploit the forests in Croatia,
Slavonia, Transylvania and the Carpathians.
21
I. Pàtrascu - E. Pirvu, …op. cit., p. 47.
Caritas Italiana,…op. cit., p. 61.; S. Bontempelli, Quando gli italiani emigravano in Romania, 7.09.2008
http://sergiobontempelli.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/italianiinromania/
23
G. Vignoli, Gli italiani dimenticati, Università degli studi di Genova, Giuffrè ed., Milano 2000, p. 233-249.
24
R. Francesconi - P. Tomasella, Emigranti Friulani..op. cit., p. 9.
22
The hills and the plain supplied farmers, masons and quite a large variety of other
workers. Tilers came from the hills as well, but not only; they were experts in various
activities, up to the erection of kiln chimneys. A high number of builders came from
Villanova di San Daniele, for instance: Giovanni and Luigi Zilli, Pietro Zanini, Luigi
Domini, Isidoro Ceconi and Gino Temporale built hundreds of chimneys in Austria,
Germany and Romania, especially around Bucharest.
Another job involving a high number of Friulians, although from a smaller area
(Gemona, Tarcento and Spilimbergo), was the preparation and production of pork.
Between 400 and 600 workers were employed in factories in Austria, Croatia and
also Romania from December to February/March. In many cases, skilled hands later
became directors, partners or even owners of companies. Some of the companies
which were directly or indirectly managed by Friulians and employed fellow
countrymen were for instance Dozzi, Budapest: 40 workers; Dal Medico Giovanni,
Budapest: 70 workers; Creisser Rodolfo, Budapest: 80 workers; Hermann Härz und
Sohn, Budapest: 150 workers; Grausmann u. C., Budapest: 40 workers25.
Some Friulians changed jobs according to the season; Friulians offered their skills not
only for the erection and decoration of public buildings – banks, churches, schools,
etc. – but also of private houses, above all royal palaces and castles. The first one was
commissioned by Prince Charles I in 1875: Castle Peleş in Sinaia. The contracting
company, Axerio from Piedmont, usually built royal residences, but subcontracted
the works to other Italian contractors. In that period, around thirty persons arrived in
Sinaia from Treppo Carnico: masons, stonecutters and decorators26. In winter these
people from Friuli worked in the salami factory Mosca & Dozzi, founded by Filippo
Dozzi, who had lived in Hungary for a long time. This company was connected to the
above mentioned company of Giuseppe Dozzi from Frisanco, founded in Budapest in
1863.
With respect to the workers’ specializations, we want to stress the role Friulian
25
G. Cosattini, L’emigrazione temporanea del Friuli, Tip. Nazionale di G. Bertero, Roma 1903; anastatic reprint edited
by F. Micelli, Direzione regionale del Lavoro Assistenza sociale Emigrazione, Udine 1983. See esp.: Professioni
secondarie, pp. 66-68. About the so-called “job precincts” see also L. Zanini, …op. cit., pp. 31-35.
26
In this respect see Nino Moro’s recollection L’emigrazione in Romania; in Bollettino Parrocchiale “La nôste Valade”
http://www.cjargne.it/racconti/racconti7.htm
woodmen played as persons in charge of squaring logs for wooden sleepers.
Lodovico Zanini wrote that men from the Carnic valleys “reached the forests of
Galicia and Transylvania. The Carpathian forests also witnessed twenty years of
exceptional activities between 1860 and 1880; there were probably one thousand five
hundred woodmen from Friuli”27. The Eastern Carpathians, the Southern Carpathians
and Moldavia were rich of forests to be exploited.
Between 1882 and 1884, the Romanian state became the owner of the land and
buildings which once belonged to the Ottoman Empire; this made it possible to
organize and reassign the land without damaging the landowners. After the
declaration of independence and the peace conference in Berlin, Romania had
obtained Dobruja. The government decided to favour those who should decide to give
up the Italian or Austrian citizenship offering them property in this region: many
people thus decided to settle down permanently there. In those years, many Friulians
(mostly from the mountains) settled down in the countryside: Iacobdeal, Turcoaia and
Greci28 were their destinations in Dobruja; many immigrants later became citizens of
the Kingdom of Romania in order to buy land from the state “below cost”. According
to the Constitution, all foreigners had equal rights, but the possession of land was
reserved for Romanian citizens only29.
A significant undertaking was the building of the bridge of Cernavodă: this bridge on
the Danube, the longest at the time, was built between 1890 and 1895. A lot of
Friulians were involved in its erection, like the stonecutters working in the quarry of
Gura-Văii, near Turnu Severin. The squared stones were then transported via river on
large boats30.
According to the census in 1899, 1391 Italians were living in Dobruja. In 1914
Antonio Mantica, member of the Bucharest Committee of the Society “Dante
Alighieri,” passed by Iacobdeal, Greci and Măcin and was surprised at the many
27
L. Zanini, …op. cit., p. 219.
About Greci and its Italian colony, see G. Vignoli, La minoranza italiana in Romania. Persecuzioni e rinascita, in
“La Regione liberale”, no. 26, 1996, p. 9
29
A royal decree of 1899 granted those foreigners who wanted to set up an industry the right to own rural immovable
properties; see R. Francesconi – P. Tomasella, La situazione degli italiani in Romania: le loro attività ed i loro
insediamenti nel paese, in ID., Emigranti friulani in Romania…op. cit., p. 19-26.
30
L. Zanini, …op. cit., p. 140.
28
Italian – especially Friulian and Venetian – colonies in those and in the neighbouring
towns.
A total of approximately 5800 Friulians arrived in Romania in the decade 1880-1889;
this figure reached 6800 in the following decade31.
The data contained in Giovanni Cosattini’s work, L’emigrazione temporanea del
Friuli, are important for a clear overview of the situation in Friuli in the early 20th
century. Official statistics are certainly helpful in quantifying the number of
emigrants, but, as the author writes himself, they do not mirror the actual figures –
especially as to seasonal migration – due to “situations” which are impossible to
verify32. Figures could moreover vary every year due to economic crises,
international agreements, protectionist measures, etc.
In 1900 temporary emigration to Austria involved a total of 17,853 persons; 17,668 to
Germany; 3639 to Hungary; 2527 to the Danubian States (Serbia, Romania, Greece)
and European Turkey; 741 to Switzerland; 369 to France; 154 to Russia. According
to statistics based on the number of railway tickets sold, we can deduce that, in 1901,
307 tickets for Budapest were sold in Udine; in spring 1902 the tickets sold were
21933.
The Italian church in Bucharest was consecrated on August 19, 1915: its bells had
been cast in Udine; this confirms the presence of a substantial and stable Italian
colony in the capital city. The situation obviously changed with the onset of the First
World War because of stagnation in the building sector and currency depreciation,
although the Romanian government was officially neutral till 1916. Emigrants had to
choose between staying in Romania and going back home. As Italy was at war
against the Central Empires, the Friulians who decided to go back home had to travel
along complicated routes, for instance through Russia.
In spite of the many military defeats endured by the Romanian army, the country
grew when the Entente won, reaching its largest surface ever: it included Banat,
31
N. Luca, Alcune considerazioni sull’emigrazione friulana in Transilvania prima della Prima Guerra Mondiale, in
Fondazione Cassamarca, Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Transilvania Latina dalla romanità alla romanità, Cluj
Napoca (Romania), April 4-6, 2002, p. 58.
32
In this respect see G. Cosattini, Fonti, in ID, …op. cit., pp.6-12.
33
G. Cosattini, Appendice, in ID, …op. cit., pp. 126-139.
Bessarabia, Bukovina, Dobruja, Moldavia, Transylvania and Wallachia34.
Romania was still a country with many resources and a (relatively) small population;
at the end of the First World War, emigration was on the rise again and many
Friulians moved back there. During the first post-war period, the Italian emigrants
came however mostly from other regions. Emigration continued until the Forties;
suffice it to say that, according to some estimates, approximately 60,000 Italians were
in Romania in the Thirties.
The main feature of the first migratory period had been skilled and expert labour;
after 1918 many emigrants were entrepreneurs and professionals like clerks,
engineers and architects.
Once the difficult economic situation brought about by the war had been overcome,
“Greater Romania” enjoyed a remarkable prosperity in the Twenties and Thirties
thanks to an agricultural reform, an industry-oriented legislation and a careful
economic policy. In that period emigrants could make a fortune: there was a large
demand for palaces, villas and material (wood, bricks, cement...), both for the
national building sector and to be exported into the neighbouring countries, as well as
for the construction of new infrastructures, especially railway networks. There was
also the will to erect works to commemorate the Romanian soldiers killed during the
war. The big economic crisis of the early Thirties also impacted on the Romanian
economy, which nevertheless remained fairly stable.
In those years, dictatorial regimes were taking root in many Middle-European
countries and in 1939 Romania had already become an authoritarian monarchical
regime35. General Antonescu, who was appointed Prime Minister in September 1940,
forced King Charles II to abdicate in favour of his young son Michael. Later on,
Antonescu proclaimed himself Conducător (Chief) and took on dictatorial powers,
confining the king to a mere symbolic role. He also allied himself with Germany.
As international tension grew and Italy was getting ready for a future conflict, in
1939 the Italian government strongly requested emigrants to go back and work in
34
Part of Bukovina and of Bessarabia will be lost after the Second World War.
For more details see A. Capelli-R. Broggini (edited by), Antisemitismo in Europa negli anni Trenta: legislazioni a
confronto, Angeli, Milano 2001.
35
Italy36. In Tulcea (Dobruja) there was a flourishing Friulian colony renting stateowned land: the Italian authorities asked the farmers not to renew the contracts.
According to Vigevani, they were then employed in the reclamation of the marshland
of the so-called Paludi Pontine (domestic colonization); their deep regret is manifest
in the letters sent to their countrymen in Romania, urging them to stay there37.
Many first-generation emigrants who had made quite a fortune decided to go back to
their home country, maybe because they were homesick; those who decided to stay
never lacked employment38. Generally speaking, we can say that those who remained
in Romania were the people who had given up the Italian citizenship and/or had built
a house, started a business or a family with locals.
At the end of the Second World War, Europe was split in two: the eastern part, under
Soviet influence, and the western part, where the model representative democracy
linked to the United States persisted or was reinstated. In 1947 Romania became one
of Russia’s satellite countries: the adoption of the Soviet model, then strengthened by
the Warsaw Pact, brought about Communism and the subsequent loss of political
freedom. And in the same year, 1947, there was “overnight the currency change
which wrecked above all the emigrants who had saved their whole life”39.
The situation changed quickly: the monarchy was abolished, the Constitution of the
People’s Republic of Romania was passed, Italians became strangers, potential
enemies: finding a job was becoming more and more difficult for them. To say
nothing of the abolition of private property, as the smallest industrial, commercial
and agricultural properties had been nationalized, even the individual or family
artisan businesses. The communist regime persecuted (also) the Italian minority,
which is why most Italians decided to go back to their home country40. Those who
decided to stay were subjected to a forced assimilation, which often meant not only
giving up the Italian citizenship, but also “handing over” their passport and
roumanising their family name. It was thus very difficult for Friulians in Italy to keep
36
Commissione Permanente per il Rimpatrio degli Italiani all’Estero, Il rimpatrio degli italiani nell’anno XVII – E.F.,
Ministero Affari Esteri, Roma 1940
37
A. Vigevani, Friulani fuori di casa…op. cit., p. 81.
38
N. Moro, L’emigrazione in Romania…op cit.
39
N. Moro, L’emigrazione in Romania…op cit
40
A. Vigevani, Friulani in Romania, in “Il Barbacian”, y. XXIII, no. 2, December 1986, pp. 45-46.
or get in touch with those in Romania.
In 1951 the forced repatriation of 40,000 Italians began, in groups of 100 people
every two weeks. Everyone could take with them a suitcase weighing 35 kilos at the
most and absolutely no gold. In the meantime, their houses were being nationalized.
Only naturalized Friulians could stay in Romania41.
In 1965, after the Stalinist Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, faithful to Moscow, Nicolae
Ceauþescu became the leader of the Communist Party. The political changes in 1989
marked the end of the Communist regime: in Romania this meant the dismissal and
killing of the Secretary of the Communist Party, Nicolai Ceauþescu, who had been
exercising a personal, despotic and tyrannical rule.
After abolishing the Communist regime, the Romanian state recognized the Italian
communities as linguistic minorities having the right to be represented at the
Chamber of Deputies42.
According to the Consular Registry on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
1958 Italians live in Bucharest and 808 in Timişoara (Banat)43. At present the Italian
community in Romania is made up both of descendants of the Friulian emigrants and
of people who moved recently for business or personal reasons and who have their
temporary or permanent residence in this country. In these past few years, a lot of
companies have moved part of their most labour-intensive production processes to
Romania (textiles, shoes, wood...). Most Italian investments are in Banat,
Transylvania and in the area around Bucharest44.
41
N. Luca, L’emigrazione storica dei friulani in Romania..op cit., p. 141.
Caritas Italiana,…op. cit., p. 68.
43
http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Italiani_nel_Mondo/PrincipaliAttivita/Anag_Consolare/Europa.htm The Consular
Registry contains data about countrymen residing abroad who registered at the Consulate or of whose presence the
Consulate is aware
44
R. Francesconi- P. Tomasella, Emigranti Friulani…op. cit., p. 10.
42
NOTES ON THE EMIGRATION TO RUSSIA, CROATIA, BOSNIAHERZEGOVINA
Romania was not the only Eastern European country to attract Italian – especially
Friulian – labour. In the last decades of the 19th century and the first of the 20th
century, palaces, roads, tunnels, bridges and railway lines were built in Croatia,
Slavonia, Bosnia, Serbia and Russia.
The building of railways was greatly boosted in this period, as they were considered
essential to the development of commerce. Railways were not merely an answer to
the need to transport goods and, to a lesser extent, people, they were considered an
incentive for the economic and industrial development of the regions they crossed.
They also indirectly impacted on the appearance, the structure and the economic
importance of many cities.
One famous example is the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1860 Tsar Alexander II had
founded Vladivostok to control the northern coast of the Pacific Ocean. After this
port had been turned into one of the most important coastal fortresses in the world,
the works to build the Trans-Siberian Railway began in 1891: it would connect
Moscow to the Asian territories of the empire. This very long railway would cross a
huge area, from the Ural Mountains through Siberia and the Asian plains to the
Pacific Ocean, different environments and climates, often inhospitable regions, from
forests to the Siberian taiga and the sheer cliffs of Lake Baikal. According to the
relevant literature, the first call for workers for the Trans-Siberian Railway dates back
to 1894. The call was answered by a group from Osoppo who left for Siberia. Many
jobs were connected to the building of the railway: people squared stones in quarries,
worked on site – or outside – building bridges and viaducts and coating tunnels. Due
to the difficult climatic conditions, the railway was completed only in 1901, when the
western section met the eastern tracks.
Salvatore Minocchi travelled through those areas, collecting information and stories
of Friulians, which he then published in his Lettere siberiane from October to
December 1903 in the newspaper Giornale D’Italia. According to him, there were at
least 450 Italians on Lake Baikal, mainly from Friuli.
Alessandro Vigevani gives us information about the life of Friulians in Croatia,
Slavonia and Dalmatia. In the second half of the 19th century, these regions were the
destination of much seasonal – and sometimes permanent – emigration, so that in the
late 19th century tilers and masons had an actual “monopoly” in Croatia.
The first Friulians arrived in Rijeka in ancient times, but more arrived between the
19th and 20th century, thus enabling the renewing of the architecture of the city and
the building of port structures. A substantial presence of people from Friuli is
registered in Ljubljana as well: after the earthquake in 1895, masons played a crucial
role in rebuilding the city. Labour from Friuli is to be found in Zagreb, too: the city
changed completely after the earthquake in 1880: the old Austrian province town
turned into a modern city. A lot of Friulians also lived in other towns, such as
Karlovac, Vinkovci and Sisak. This last city was then an important river port, where
the Friulian community had started the commerce of wood and the production of
bricks.
In addition to tilers, masons and master builders, there were building contractors. For
example, Girolamo Colussi from Osoppo (1781/5-1880) and his son Antonio (18121868) offered employment in their company, thus promoting emigration to Croatia.
Following his family tradition, in 1864 Andrea Colussi (1848-1930) also played an
important role in the building sector: his company completely changed the
architectonical appearance of Sisak. The old river facilities were restored, roads were
paved, public palaces and private houses were erected. The other grandson, Antonio,
mainly worked in Karlovac as contractor45.
From the second half of the 19th century, railways began to be built; again Friulian
labour was employed. Around 1860 the works on the railway stretch Zigani MostZagreb began, which was opened till Sisak in October 1862. Another important
undertaking was the stretch Zagreb-Rijeka46.
The political structure of this area changed after the First World War: Hungary, as
45
In this respect see also A. Vigevani, Famiglie friulane in Croazia, in “Il popolo del Friuli”, y. XIX, Udine 23/1/1941,
p. 3; ID., Abitazioni rurali in Croazia, in “La patria del Friuli”, y. XIX, Udine 30/1/1941, p. 3.
46
A. Vigevani, Friulani fuori casa…op. cit., pp. 5-47
part of the defeated Habsburg Empire, had to hand over Croatia and Slovenia to the
newly-founded Yugoslav state, Transylvania to Romania, the eastern part of Banat to
Romania and the western part to Yugoslavia (Treaty of Trianon, 1920).
Italian emigrants arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina around 1865, but the most
substantial migration lasted from 1878, when this area began to be ruled by Austria,
to the First World War and the breakdown of the Empire. Different destinations
called for different jobs. Important cities like Sarajevo attracted mainly craftsmen,
tradesmen and entrepreneurs; many farmers settled down in the district of Banjaluka.
Masons, brick makers and farm labourers, mostly from the province of Udine, made
up the largest group: around fifteen of them were already working in Banjaluka in
186747. Part of the northern Italians were employed in the wood sector.
In 1910 Count Giuseppe Giacchi, Consul General in Sarajevo, wrote that “the largest
colony is the Italian one, which, though much smaller than a few years ago when
railways were being built, still counts over one thousand members”48. The Italian
cities which at that time registered the highest numbers of emigrants to Bosnia were
Udine, Belluno and Treviso.
47
G. Scotti, Si va in Bosnia a far mattoni, in ID., Adriatico, Balcani, Slavi e Italiani, Ed. Laguna, Monfalcone 2008, pp.
142-150
48
G. Giacchi, La Bosnia-Erzegovina sotto l’aspetto storico, giuridico ed economico, in “Bollettino del Ministero degli
Esteri”, 1910.
BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
The texts listed in the basic bibliography give the main information on the topic
discussed here. For a complete bibliography, also about emigration from Friuli on the
whole, see Javier Grossutti’s bibliographic review in Ti ho spedito lire 100. Le
stagioni di Luigi Piccoli, emigrante friulano. Lettere famigliari 1905-1915 and the
works mentioned in the beginning.
- G.L. Pecile, Cronaca dell’emigrazione, in “Bollettino dell’Associazione Agraria Friulana”
(Bullettin of the Friuli Agricultural Association), Udine 1878, pp. 92-93
- “Buletinul Statistic General al României”, y. II, no. 4, 1893
- VV.AA. Emigrazioni e colonie, Raccolta di rapporti dei RR. Agenti diplomatici e consolari, vol. I,
Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Roma 1885
- M. Mancini, Lettere dalla Siberia. La ferrovia Transiberiana e gli operai friulani, in “La Patria
del Friuli”, April 17, 1900.
- Segretariato dell’Emigrazione di Udine, Vademecum dell’Emigrante, Tipografia Bardusco, Udine
1902
- G. Cosattini, L’emigrazione temporanea del Friuli, Tip. Nazionale di G. Bertero, Rome 1903;
anastatic reprint edited by F. Micelli, Direzione regionale del Lavoro Assistenza Sociale
Emigrazione, Udine 1983
- S. Minocchi, Lettere Siberiane, in “Giornale d’Italia”, October 12/23/30; November 2/6/18/24
1903
- “Bollettino dell’Emigrazione”, y. XI, no. 11, 1912
- Commissariato Generale dell’Emigrazione, Avvertenze per l’emigrante italiano nei Paesi
Balcanici, Roma 1910
- L. Ridolfi, Il mestiere dell’emigrante friulano, in “Ce Fastu?”, y. II, no. 9-10, 1926, p. 7
- P. Fortunati, Quattro secoli di vita del popolo friulano, Tipografia Antoniana, Padova 1932
(edited by the Istituto di Statistica della R. Università di Padova)
- G. Micoli, I Friulani all’estero. I boscaioli della Carnia, in “Ce Fastu?”, y. VIII, no. 7-8, 1932,
pp. 199-201
- Commissione Permanente per il Rimpatrio degli Italiani all’Estero, Il rimpatrio degli italiani
nell’anno XVII – E.F., Ministero Affari Esteri, Roma 1940
- L. Zanini, Friuli Migrante, ed. “La Panarie”, Udine 1937; new edition edited by Ente Friuli nel
Mondo, Udine 1992
- A. Vigevani, Famiglie friulane in Croazia, in “Il popolo del Friuli”, y. XIX, Udine 23/1/1941, p. 3
- A. Vigevani, Abitazioni rurali in Croazia, in “La patria del Friuli”, y. XIX, Udine 30/1/1941, p. 3
- A. Vigevani, Friulani fuori di casa in Croazia e in Slavonia, Opuscoli della Società Filologica
Friulana no. 13, Tipografia Del Bianco & Figlio, Udine 1950
- V. Arvinte, Elemente retoromane în terminologia forestieră românească, in “Studii si cercetari
lingvistice”, y. XV, no. 5, 1964, pp. 643-644
- M. Iliescu, Le frioulan à partir des dialectes parlès en Roumanie, Mouton, Paris 1972, pp. 20-30
- G. M. Basso, Orsaria. Mosaico di lettere, Tip. Istituto “Mons. F. Tomadini”, Udine 1973
- N. Cantarutti, I ponti sulla Transiberiana e il Museo di Mosca. Un costruttore friulano tra ladri,
granduchi e rivoluzione, in “Ce Fastu?”, y. LII, January-December, 1976, pp. 27-74
- A. Vigevani, Emigrati dallo spilimberghese in Croazia e Romania, in “Il Barbacian”, y. XVIII,
no. 2, December 1981, pp. 18-20
- M. Arpea, Lavoratori italiani in Siberia e Manciuria, in “Affari Sociali Internazionali”, y. X, no.
3, 1985, pp. 81- 108. This text reviews the statements collected and published by Professor
Salvatore Minocchi.
- E. Negriti, Travailleurs Italiens en Roumanie avant la Primière Guerre Mondiale, in “Revue
Roumaine d’Istoire”, y. XXV, no. 3, 1986, pp. 225-239
- A. Vigevani, Friulani in Romania, in “Il Barbacian”, y. XXIII, no. 2, December 1986, pp. 45-46
- F. Vicario, Le Comunità friulane in Romania, in “Sot la nape”, y. XLIV, no. 4, December 1992,
pp. 47-53
- I. Pàtrascu - E. Pirvu, I friulani di Craiova. Rapporti socio-culturali italo-romeni, Efasce, Tip.
Mascherin, Fiume Veneto (PN) 1994.
- G. Vignoli, La minoranza italiana in Romania. Persecuzioni e rinascita, in “La Regione liberale”,
no. 26, 1996, p. 9
- A. D’Agostin – J. Grossutti, Ti ho spedito lire 100. Le stagioni di Luigi Piccoli, emigrante
friulano. Lettere famigliari 1905-1915, Biblioteca dell’Immagine, Pordenone 1997
- G. Vignoli, Gli italiani dimenticati, Università degli studi di Genova, Giuffrè, Milan 2000
- A. Capelli-R. Broggini (edited by), Antisemitismo in Europa negli anni Trenta: legislazioni a
confronto, Angeli, Milano 2001
- N. Luca, Alcune considerazioni sull’emigrazione friulana in Transilvania prima della Prima
Guerra Mondiale, in Fondazione Cassamarca, Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Transilvania
Latina dalla romanità alla romanità, Cluj Napoca (Romania), April 4-6, 2002
- R. Dinu, Appunti per una storia dell’emigrazione italiana in Romania nel periodo 1878-1914: il
Veneto come principale serbatoio di piccole comunità in movimento, in Consiglio Nazionale delle
Ricerche (edited by G. Arbore Popescu), Dall’Adriatico al Mar Nero: veneziani e romeni, tracciati
di storie comuni, C.N.R., Rome 2003, pp. 245-261
- M. Meschini, Comunità Italiana nel Banato, in Columna, y. XI, no. 8, Iaşi, August 2003
- N. Luca, L’emigrazione storica dei friulani in Romania, Imbellinum, Invillino (Villa Santina)
2006
- R. Francesconi - P. Tomasella, Emigranti Friulani in Romania dal 1860 ad oggi. Un protagonista
ritrovato Geniale Fabbro maestro costruttore, ed. L’Omino Rosso, Pordenone 2007
- Caritas Italiana (edited by A. Ricci), Immigrazione e lavoro in Italia. Statistiche, problemi e
prospettive, IDOS, Roma 2008
- G. Scotti, Adriatico, Balcani, Slavi e Italiani. Vicende e personaggi di una lunga storia, ed. Della
Laguna, Monfalcone 2008
Websites
- Nino Moro, L’emigrazione in Romania; in Bollettino Parrocchiale “La nôste Valade”
http://www.cjargne.it/racconti/racconti7.htm
- S. Bontempelli, Quando gli italiani emigravano in Romania, 7.09.2008
http://sergiobontempelli.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/italianiinromania/
- http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Italiani_nel_Mondo/PrincipaliAttivita/Anag_Consolare/Europa.htm