The Italian language in Fiume in its history

Author: Gianpaolo Dabbeni

Essay published in the magazine "Tempi e cultura", n. 11-12 of IRCI - December 2002 Fiume has always spoken Italian, despite the various and more or less subtle attempts to replace the native Italian language with other languages ​​such as Croatian, Hungarian and German that had nothing in common with the civilization and culture of Fiume. Various testimonies attest that even in official documents the Italian language was sovereign; in fact the City Council already in the fifteenth century published the food prices in Italian; and even the city messengers compiled their reports in Italian. Therefore the Municipality took particular care in teaching this language in schools, hiring teachers from the Venetian dominions of Istria and Dalmatia, from Venice or from other Italian cities and making available premises to be used for school education. The city of Fiume was assured autonomy by a statute issued by Ferdinand I of Austria in 1530; in the first half of the 700th century the city obtained from Charles VI the free port, the bill of exchange and mercantile court, the lazaretto and the Caroline road that brought it closer to the hinterland of the Danube basin. Maria Theresa first subjected it to Trieste and then annexed it to Hungary, respecting its autonomy as “Separatum Sacrae Regni Coronae adnexum corpus”, as well as recognizing the free use of the Italian language. When the Municipality of Fiume realized that the teaching of elementary notions could no longer be sufficient for the needs of the moment, it turned to the order of the Jesuits, who were responsible for the training and education of young people and who at that time were very powerful because they had the support of the Emperor of Austria and the majority of the Austrian nobility. The Society of Jesus already felt the need to found a Jesuit College in Fiume, as can be seen from a letter dated 11 April 1616 that the Father General of the Society of Jesus had sent to Father Bartolomeo Ville, confessor of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, to achieve this noble goal. In 1622, the Major Council of Fiume, in order to meet the needs of good teaching and the lack of qualified teachers, turned to two preachers from Trieste who were passing through Fiume, to request their mediation with the Superior Fathers of Trieste so that they could send a Jesuit to provide for the education of the youth, promising in exchange a house and salary for the teacher. Later, the Major Council instead asked the Father General of the Order, Muzio Vitelleschi, to found a College equal to the one in Trieste, sending several teachers..... continues in the pdf

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