Laurence B. Mussio, Ph.D. Historian Dr. Mussio is a Canadian historian living in Toronto who works in the private sector. He has spoken widely on issues of immigration.  He has also written newspaper and journal articles on a wide variety of topics, among them IT-communications, the development of the Internet, workfare, and the LCBO. He has also written major speeches for some of Canada's top executives on public and corporate policy, including issues concerning the brain drain, public education, and technological change.  Dr. Mussio is the author of two major forthcoming books in two very different fields -- telecommunications, and financial services.   He was born in Canada; his parents are from the Comune di Zoppola. Talk given by Laurence Mussio, Ph.D. at Congresso 2000, September 2000

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First of all, I would like to thank the organizing committee of the Congress of Fogolars Furlans for their invitation to speak to you this morning.  I have heard you have had a marvelous few days, and although I will not compete with the dinner dance, I hope to put some things in perspective for you at least.

This morning I have an opportunity to focus upon a specific historical phenomenon many of you have experienced directly: emigration. In the next 45 minutes I hope to put you or your relatives in the bigger picture of the massive waves of emigration over the last 200 years, and later concentrate on Canada, and the Furlan contribution to Canada – that is, beside billions in personal taxes, muset and Chiefs of Police.  

          I will not recount the history of Friuli – there’s just no time. But I thought I would challenge myself and try to give you a 60 second run-down of the entire history of Friuli from Celtic Tribe to European Union.  I may not include everything – 400 BC Celts arrive; Romans establish there 181 BC stay for a while; Longobards like the place, invade, pillage and stay and settle in 568; Visigoths and other Goths move in from 5^th to 9^th centuries AD; 794, Charlemagne conquers; Maygars attack in the 10^th century, while The Patriarchs of Aquileia establish a strong region for a while, only to be elbowed out by some pushy Venetian types who tell everybody what to do between 1420 and 1700. Then Austrians slowly take dominion. The Turks try to invade and take with them some really determined pyromaniacs; Napoleon arrives in 1797, gives the Austrians a sound thrashing and then took everything that wasn’t nailed down. Austrians come back in 1815, making sure that they also take everything that wasn’t nailed down.  The region comes under Italy in 1866; modernization is slow, a tiny minority rule. The First World War was a bloodbath on Furlan soil – devastating; and when they woke up from that nightmare; Yugoslavia was born! And elsewhere Mussolini and the fascists seize power not long after. Black shirts are suddenly in fashion; but for many, this is a bad sign.  World War II was again devastating for Friul, after which they found themselves on the front lines of the Cold War.  Slowly the Italian economic miracle percolated through the 1960s, Friuli becomes weakly autonomous within the Italian republic; they have an earthquake, there is a second economic miracle; Enzo Bearzot and Dino Zoff lead la Nazionale to the world cup in 1982; there is more incredible wealth generated; the region is prosperous; and finally Dino Zoff resigns as C.T. of la Nazionale, and despite his great success, thus ending one era of history and this 60 second tour.

I have a few points for you to think about: 

1.       The people and history of this region seem to be remarkably tied to its position in Europe – on invasion routes, straddling strategic passes, on the fault lines of the earth’s crust, especially in the mountainous and foothills. It has determined much -- turning territories and towns in Friuli into hotly contested pieces on the political or dynastic chessboard of Europe. That has often carried tragic consequences throughout the last two millennia – and I have only scratched the surface. Perhaps in the late 20^th century and 21^st century, that liability will become an advantage – invasion routes and strategic passes can become crossroads for trade as well.  

2.      The land and its history has profoundly affected the character of its people as Italian but set apart by the language and custom  of the place – at least to some degree. How else do you explain muset?

3.      The Furlan spirit has been profoundly influenced by the survivalist impulse it would seem to me – perhaps as a result of so much economic and political adversity, and the need for mass migration.

Without understanding our history we cannot know who we are as a people, as a region, or where Furlans fit onto the larger canvas of Italian European or even Canadian society.  It is our invisible constitution, part of our assumptions about life, and the way we view things, what we eat, and how we pray.

Friuli’s economic and political history has made emigration into a prominent feature in the life of the Furlan people, particularly in the mountainous area of Carnia. As early as 1587, for example, the Venetian ambassador in Vienna reported that over 3,000 Furlans were present in the city working outside of the harvest season. Maybe they got the idea for brovada there, I don’t know. In the 18^th century, similar factors propelled a major migratory wave to Austria, Germany and Hungary. In the 19^th century, parts of the Austrian empire, of which Friuli was a part, were favored destinations. Between 1814 and 1866 emigration was a still a chronic problem. After 1866, when Friuli became part of the Kingdom of Italy, nothing really changed -- the flow of migration of braccianti and operai to Austrian imperial cities continued unabated. Now, the cities of northern Italy and Western Europe were increasingly favored, especially Germany. After 1876, large-scale permanent emigration began to take root, especially to South America. In 1880 the first Furlans engaged in mosaic work in terrazzo and in the construction trades America.

Between 1881 and 1915 the flow of emigration became a torrent, -- over 1.3 million left which represented 9.8% of the migration from Italy itself. The reasons are not hard to discern. The Furlans of Carnia streamed into neighboring countries which were industrializing.  In the center and southern part of Friuli, farmers with tiny pieces of land could no longer make a living and were therefore compelled to go abroad. Those who studied the problem in the 1880s cited land tenure as generating severe economic hardship for small-holding farmers, forcing them to go into debt to remain afloat. The fragmented nature of land-holding in Friuli created a class of proletarian small landholders, laborers and day-workers (giornalieri) just scratching out an existence.

 When they left where did they go? In this period most of the emigration was directed inside Europe, with the United States absorbing 2.5% of Furlans and Canada slightly less, at  2.0%. The period 1881-1915, then, was a demographic catastrophe for Friuli. At the beginning the emigration was temporary; by the end permanent emigration was increasingly becoming the norm. A few statistics will illustrate.

 

1915-19451915-1945

The First World War 1914-8 put an end to both temporary and permanent emigration for the duration of the hostilities; after 1918 there were even more reasons to leave. Between 1919 and 1925 an average of 25,581 Italian passports per year were issued.  Those who emigrated were generally better qualified, for example the workers in mosaic and tile setters of Spilimbergo. The character of the emigration also changed, from one based on departure of groups from towns to departures of a more individual nature. European countries were still the favored choice, and the United States and Canada were second and third choice, respectively.  Two changes marked the emigration of the 1920s from Friuli: first, it was beginning to take on a more permanent character; and second, overseas destinations were much more significant – in 1927, for example, transoceanic immigration represented over 45% of the departures from the region. The exodus took its toll: between 1921 and 1936, the population of Friuli declined by 7.5%, with a lower birth rate and a higher average age recorded. The worst depopulation occurred in the mountains.

 The Postwar: 1946-1970

Friuli was hit hard by the Second World War. At the end of the conflict, Friuli found itself the new frontier with the communist East. Of more importance was Friuli’s border with socialist Yugoslavia, anxious to extend its territory by annexation of large parts of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, especially Gorizia and Trieste. The heavily militarized nature of the region added to the tense atmosphere of the times. Economic underdevelopment,  the slow pace of agricultural reform and industrialization, continued to compel Furlans to seek better opportunities elsewhere. Areas where patterns of ownership were highly fragmented or highly rural areas not surprisingly generated the highest rate of emigration.  Agricultural crisis, then, was of the greatest importance in the decision to migrate.

Friuli’s economy just could not support its people. And so thousands of suitcases were packed and thousands of Furlans joined the stream of Italians leaving the patria. Between 1946 and 1970, 363,854 left Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. In its ebb and flow, Friulian emigration followed national patterns, it would seem closely mirroring unemployment statistics. In that period, 152,330 became permanent emigrants.  Udine and Pordenone lost the most population. Further, the effects of this massive exodus fell unequally upon the mountain, foothills and plain. A few figures will illustrate. In the half century between 1921 and 1971, the resident population of the mountain region fell from 151,856 to 93,504, a 38.4% decline. In the foothills in the same period, there is a decrease from 249,801 to 194,620, a 22% decline. Only in the plains is there a modest increase – over 21% --  from 515,475 to 625,104. If we project back our frame of analysis to 1871, the picture is even more dramatic. In the century between 1871 and 1971, Udine’s population grew only 53%, from  506,924 to 777,816, while the rest of the country as a whole grew at almost twice that rate.

Where did Furlans go after the war? European countries mainly. Overseas emigration, however, tended to be more permanent in nature and arguably carry a more dramatic human significance if such things are measured by kilometers and oceans to be crossed. Moving to Zurich for a decade meant something very different than moving to Windsor, Ontario, for example.  Better chocolate but lederhosen vs. Tunnel BarbQ but the Detroit River.

Canada as a Destination

Now that we have a clearer picture of the causes and nature of Friulian emigration, we can shift our focus to Canada as a destination for Furlan emigration.

 Furlans comprise the fourth largest group of Italians in Canada, with the first wave coming in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Prompted by economic conditions and encouraged by steamship agents, the flow of Furlan emigration to Canada began, originating mainly through the port of Genova. Numbers are difficult to obtain. Among the first towns of the region to send migrants to Toronto was San Giorgio della Richinvelda and Codroipo. Although most Furlans settled in major metropolitan centers of the country, Furlan emigration was generally highly mobile and would go where the work was. Most were engaged in rough trades, but most conspicuously in the fine building trades, mosaics, marble tile and terrazzo. Continuing a specialization which originated in their homeland,  Friulani could be found on building sites, quarries and railway lines brick-making, stonecutting and performing general labor. The De Spirts, a Furlan immigrant family to the United States in the 1890s established a major mosaic, marble and terrazzo firm which spread throughout the Midwest United States and came also to dominate the trade in Toronto, along with firms headed by Albino Pedron and the Gasparini family. By the 1950s the trade was almost entirely in the hands of Friulani. Brick makers and bricklayers from southern Friuli were also prominent, many of whom became builders after 1903 – Brattis, De Zorzis, Morassuttis and Del Zottos.  Judging from the pictures it seems as if in the summers these workers were compelled to all wear canotieris e doprà un cjapielut.  The first Furlan colony in Toronto was concentrated in the Dufferin, Davenport, Wallace and West Toronto Junction quadrangle. Many came as skilled tradesmen, or were trained by other Furlans in Toronto or elsewhere. More and more women also joined the stream of emigration as it became permanent, providing the essential basis for family and work in the new land – and Furlan men also suddenly much better dressed, too.  In this period, Furlan men generally married Furlan women, though usually not from the same town.

Of course, Toronto was not the only center of Friulan immigration before World War II. Although Furlans generally did not settle in the west or rural Canada, mines, railway projects and public works attracted some to where the work was – in British Columbia at Trail, Cranbrooke and Fernie, or the coal mines of Natal, Michel, Rossland, Corbin, White Sulphur, Revelstoke or Crowsnest. Several towns in Alberta, especially Conniston, attracted migrants. Across northern Ontario, Friulani could also be found: in Creighton Mines, Kirkland Lake, Trout Lake, Copper Cliff, Timmins, Cobalt, Cochrane, Porcupine, Levack and Hunstville. Sudbury was a major point of attraction as well, especially for those from the Friulian towns of San Vito, San Denêl, Casarsa, Codroipo, Rive D’Arcano and Valvasone.

                                         The Post-War Period

After WW II Canada absorbed a significant number of emigrants from the region, especially in the 1950s. By the late 1960s, the trend begins to wane, and by the 1970s there is a net re-migration back to Friuli from Canada.  From 1951 to 1960, Furlans comprised an average of 7.47% of all Italian immigration to Canada. In the 1960s, that figure declined to 2.26%. By 1970, the period of significant emigration to Canada came to a close as Italy’s economic miracle gathered momentum, and the region became more prosperous.

Chains of migration brought significant numbers of Friulani across the Canadian urban landscape –to Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula, Oakville, London, Windsor, Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury each of which hosted varying numbers of Furlans.

 In the west, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and the interior of British Columbia and Vancouver also hosted Friulano immigration. Friulani streamed into the traditional avenues of regional specialization, particularly in the fine building trades, in terrazzo and mosaic work, and in bricklaying as well. Many Friulani also joined the ranks of other skilled trades such as pipefitting and boiler making or tool and dye making, acquiring the expertise soon after landing, as the market demanded.

Social Life

The presence of a significant number of Furlans in cities across Canada promoted the establishment of social clubs and organizations. Many Furlans joined pan-Italian clubs. Where numbers warranted, “Fogolars Furlans” [Friulian Hearth] clubs were established across the country – in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Windsor Montreal, Niagara, Hamilton, Oakville, Ottawa, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Montreal and Halifax. The oldest was established by the Friulani of Toronto, the Famee Furlane, in 1933.  The Fogolars have served as a critical point of reference for mutual support and cultural vitality within the Furlan communities of Canada. So keep it up.

By 1953, the size and dispersion of the Friulian diaspora around the world prompted the government of Friuli-Venezia Giulia to establish the Ente Friuli Nel Mondo. Established by personalities closely tied to the Democrazia Cristiana, Friuli nel Mondo has had a mandate to protect the links between emigrants and the “Piccola Patria Friulana” by the promotion of an impressive range of activities -- youth exchanges, congresses, social and cultural events and occasionally even scholarly research on emigration.

Friuli nel Mondo has also been important in advancing the Region’s cultural objectives in preserving the Friulian language and culture in its status as a cultural and linguistic minority group within Italy and Europe. The formal granting of autonomous status to Friuli-Venezia Giulia in 1963 also led to greater connections being established between the homeland and Furlan immigrants around the world. The worldwide network generated by these contacts were plainly in evidence in the relief efforts of the devastating earthquake of 1976, when Furlans around the world mobilized to provide aid to the region in its hour of need.

Contribution

Furlans who joined the migratory wave to Canada in the first part of the century and after the Second World War embraced the opportunities offered by an expanding economy, providing labor, entrepreneurial skill and artisan expertise in key sectors of Canadian economic life. Many of the structures of 20^th century Canadian civilization were built, or improved, or adorned by the fruits of traditional Furlan occupations – terrazzo, mosaic, plasterers, etc. Their collective experience, and their collective contribution, lies first and foremost as a people, a community whose labors have enriched the country. Friulani immigrants and the second generation have branched out to make their mark in new professions and sectors. As a community of emigrants, the objectives of the Friulani have largely been met. Greater economic security and prosperity are realities for the majority.  A certain social status and respectability, ardently sought as much by Furlans as other Italians wishing to become an integral part of Canadian society have been achieved in substantial measure. Without sentimentality, it is appropriate to give pride of place to the mass of immigrants who, thrown into difficult and often heart-wrenching circumstances, exerted their determination to uproot and begin from nothing. The role of women in this period is of particular importance, in the home, in supplementing income, in raising families, and later branching out outside the home, but is too often forgotten.

 There are those, however, who exemplify that success either by their personal achievements or the positions they have been able to reach. Giuseppe (Beppi) deCarli (1883-1964) the founding president of the Famèe Furlane, and a businessman is one such man. Dante Colussi-Corte, (1890-1966) journalist, and noted anti-Fascist and second president of the Famee Furlane is another.  Antonio Tosoni (1920-1985), biochemist and Ph.D. of the University of Toronto, worked with supervisor Dr. Peter Maloney which led to the development of techniques to crystallize penicillin, making it easier to produce and conserve.     The Bratty and Del Zotto families have made their fortunes in construction, building and real estate.

In the political sphere, others have come to the fore. Umberto Badanai from Azzano Decimo served as mayor of Fort William, Ontario in the 1940s, and in 1958 became the first Furlan MP, later Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in 1964.  There is no Dept of Frulan Affairs, but if there were there’d have been no shortage of qualified people.  The late Senator Peter Bosa who emigrated to Canada in 1948 was from an early age very active in political and cultural pursuits, and was called to the Canadian Senate in 1977 becoming the first Furlan Senator in Canada. More recently, Sergio Marchi rose through Liberal Party ranks as a Member of Parliament to occupy several important positions as Minister of the Crown in the government of Jean Chrétien.  Julian Fantino is Toronto’s new chief of police – where his furlanitat in my opinion is very much in evidence.  In sport, after an interesting career playing soccer Bob Lenarduzzi became the head coach of the Canadian national soccer team and spearheaded efforts to develop the sport in Canada – a valiant but noble struggle. Cesare Maniago was familiar to a generation of National Hockey League fans as a fine goaltender. In the arts, Vancouver-based Carlo Marega created historical monuments, which can be found across his adopted city and province. Sculptor Louis Temporale based in Port Credit outside of Toronto is also of note as the sculptor who adorned the Clifton Gate Archway at Niagara Falls and produced a number of majestic statues at Queen’s Park and murals in Head offices in downtown Toronto. Furlan representation in scholarship is also respectable, and is one indication of the extent to which Furlans have integrated into Canadian society.

                            Prospects for the Next Century

On the eve of the 21^st century, the Furlan community finds itself in a paradoxical position. Thirty years have passed since the last of the major waves of immigration from Friuli. As a community, Friulani can be said to have met their broad objectives in emigrating from their piccola patria. Though by no means always the case, Friulani have managed with considerable success and pride to participate in the economic and cultural life of the country in spite of difficulties, discrimination, or initial lack of acceptance.

Furlans of the postwar period managed to harness an extended period of postwar Canadian prosperity to establish their presence and consolidate economic security.  

The second generation stands on the shoulders of these men and women who endured hardship in order to have what history and circumstance conspired to deny them in their own homeland. The cultural interaction between Friulani and Canada has mutually enriched both and broadened perspectives for both resident and newcomer. Their everyday experience over this past century, but especially in the last twenty-five years, has brought them into contact with the teeming human diversity that flourishes in many of the Canadian cities which many Furlans have made their home. Through marriage, or work, in neighborhoods or at church, the multicultural composition of city and country has provided an opportunity to reach new understanding of other races, cultures and practices.  Not least, Furlans have come into intimate contact with the peoples of other distant Italian regions, and have been able to make common cause on a number of issues while acknowledging distinct regional differences. Until now, opportunities to branch out culturally were difficult to obtain in Italy itself. There are no east Indian shops to go to in Pordenone, and the Kenyan Club of Udine does not exist – but the Albanian Club now might!  We come into contact with other faiths, races and traditions.  We even are in contact with people from other regions of Italy and appreciate how wonderfully distinct (and similar) they are! In Canada, the Furlans of the Diaspora have become at once more Canadian, and more Italian.  Isn’t that odd?

And yet on the eve of the 21^st century, the friulanità of the second generation remains a two-sided problem, involving not only the loss of culture, but also the disappearance of the Furlan language. Friuli-Venezia Giulia itself has changed beyond recognition. From humble beginnings, the region and its 1.3 million inhabitants enjoy a per capita income among the highest in Europe, and is itself a region receiving immigrants. It has also received refugees and various other forms of less respectable guests one sees on the side of the Statale and La Napoleonica.  And Joerg Haider too.  As the years dim the memory of those who left, and profound economic and cultural shifts transform the life of the region, substantive links with Furlans outside of Friuli within relatives and friends weaken.

 How can it be otherwise? Furlans elsewhere are transfigured into Italo-Canadians, Italian-Americans, Italo-Argentineans or Italian-Australians, the official will behind the institutions that hold them together also moves on to other priorities. The survival of the Furlan language in Friuli-Venezia Giulia itself is a matter of considerable debate and hand-wringing let alone in Canada. Through Canadian clubs and cultural institutions, in particular the Fogolârs Furlans, and with the continued help of internationally-minded institutions such as the Ente Friuli nel Mondo or the cultural arm of the Regione Autonoma, Friulani can maintain their substantial cultural inheritance, and perhaps keep the language alive too.  At the very least, the efforts of people and communities engaged in the act of remembering their past will enrich their descendants. By circumstance, or just by ‘the way things are’, second and third generations of Furlans will flourish in a very different cultural soil than their mothers and fathers. But by the will of those who wish to preserve and pass down their culture, friulanità can yet be a living reality that can contribute to enriching the young and linking them to the collective memory of a distinctive people. In the act of remembrance and in the understanding and appreciation of other cultures, the Furlan-Canadian culture can take its place not only as a group of mosaicisti, but by becoming a colorful and interesting piece of the mosaico itself.  It enriches us, and allows us to join ourselves to a larger, complex, imagined place not only a part of ourselves but also a curious and interesting part of the world in which we live.