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“Remembering together, exiles and those who remain, our deceased”
The President of the Association of Italian Fiumani in the World - Free Municipality of Fiume in Exile Franco Papetti on the occasion of the Day of the Deceased declared: "We would have liked to remember together, exiles and those who remained, our deceased, as every year in the Crypt of Cosala in Fiume, but the pandemic has decided for us. This makes our thought even stronger in the desire to remember and pay homage to those who have drawn our footsteps".
Papetti, currently also vice president of the Federation of Associations of Istrian, Fiuman and Dalmatian Exiles, added: “Our thoughts are with all of you, Fiumans in the world, in these days of remembrance and reflection in which we cannot fail to remember two fundamental moments that characterized, with their importance and historical significance, the remote meeting of October 31 of our association”.
The two moments that the President wanted to highlight are linked to the anniversaries of these days, not only All Saints and All Souls but also historical ones tout court. On the evening of October 29, 1918, the City Committee of Fiume (enlarged city council) met in the Philharmonic Hall and decided to take the name of “ITALIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL” with the unforgettable Antonio Grossich as President. The following day, October 30, it was decided to write a proclamation-manifesto to be posted in the city; thus the PROCLAM OF ANNEXATION TO ITALY was born.
Naturally, the Italian National Council arose in opposition to the Croatian one, which had occupied the Government Palace that same day by some soldiers and had installed the lawyer Riccardo Lenac as Supreme Count of Fiume.
On October 30, the Proclamation compiled by Dr. Lionello Lenaz, previously approved by Antonio Grossich and Giovanni Rubinich, was read to the members of the National Council gathered in the Municipal Council Hall, who approved it unanimously.
The Italians of Fiume, united around their National Council, embraced the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination, advocated by US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson.
Almost fifty years later, at the Venice gathering on 29 and 30 October 1966, in the Provincial Council Hall, the sixty councillors who had been elected by referendum by the citizens of Fiume who were members of the Free Municipality of Fiume in exile were appointed and the administrative positions were elected in the solemn meeting at the Doge's Palace.
Characters we want to remember at this time: Mayor, Ruggero Gherbaz; Deputy Mayors, Carlo Descovich, Leone Spetz. Councilors: Aldo Andreanelli, Giuseppe Billà, Oscar Bhom, Aldo Di Pasquale, Augusto Grecele, Ireneo Raimondi Cominesi, Armando Sardi, Leone Spetz, Aldo Tuchtan, Cesare Venutti, Sergio Viti.
And together with them, a whole host of people who have made an effective contribution to the maintenance of humanity in the world and who still today they help us trace the path of our commitment. A prayer for all of them, for our dead and for our loved ones, so that they may show us the path to follow and make us ever stronger and more united.
