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== While Visiting the Croatia Coast==

== While Visiting the Croatian Coast==

While visiting the '''Croatia''' coast (Dalmatia) of the Adriatic Sea, western journalists usually admire her ancient towns. They notice almost everywhere that the regional architecture is “heavily influenced” by a “Venetian” flavour. Years ago, a famous chef posing in front of a XVI century Dalmatian building for a documentary, claimed that its architecture was “quintessentially Croatian“. In the past, certain Western writers were almost convinced (and disgusted) that Croatians “imitated” Venetian and Italian Renaissance architecture in building Dalmatian towns. Today, Croatian and international tourist guides are presenting the rich artistic patrimony of Dalmatian coastal towns as essentially “Croatian” or “a reflection of Croatia‘s history“. They almost never mention the autochthonous Italians (about 80.000 in 1800s) who lived there since Roman times and who built those architectural jewels before disappearing in modern times. Where did they go? Almost all of them became refugees. They were the victims of the first ethnic cleansing documented in the Balkans.  

*Preceding unsigned comment added  on Wikipedia's Talk-pages ''by'' ''IP 200.112.16.153'' (28 December 2009)

* Original text was written by Edwin Veggian: ''Now Your History Belongs To Us''

 

While visiting the [[Croatia|Croatian]] coast (Dalmatia) of the Adriatic Sea, western journalists usually admire her ancient towns. They notice almost everywhere that the regional architecture is “heavily influenced” by a “Venetian” flavour. Years ago, a famous chef posing in front of a XVI century Dalmatian building for a documentary, claimed that its architecture was “quintessentially Croatian“. In the past, certain Western writers were almost convinced (and disgusted) that Croatians “imitated” Venetian and Italian Renaissance architecture in building Dalmatian towns.  

 

'''Today''', Croatian and international tourist guides are presenting the rich artistic patrimony of Dalmatian coastal towns as essentially “Croatian” or “a reflection of Croatia‘s history“. They almost never mention the autochthonous Italians (about 80.000 in the late 1800s) who lived there since Roman times and who built those architectural jewels before disappearing in modern times. Where did they go? Almost all of them became refugees. They were the victims of the first ethnic cleansing documented in the Balkans.  

The history of Dalmatia is compromised by strategic interests and political correctness. The current ignorance about the eastern Adriatic coast is appalling and widespread. It is, in short, the consequence of a “damnatio memoriae” of political nature. On one side, in the West nobody knows the real history of the region. On the other side, ”’today a phalanx of nationalistic Croatian historians, political leaders, journalists and tourist operators, profiting from this vacuum are erasing, falsifying and misappropriating the real history on an international level using books, newspapers, tourist propaganda and Internet sites”’.  

The history of Dalmatia is compromised by strategic interests and political correctness. The current ignorance about the eastern Adriatic coast is appalling and widespread. It is, in short, the consequence of a “damnatio memoriae” of political nature. On one side, in the West nobody knows the real history of the region. On the other side, ”’today a phalanx of nationalistic Croatian historians, political leaders, journalists and tourist operators, profiting from this vacuum are erasing, falsifying and misappropriating the real history on an international level using books, newspapers, tourist propaganda and Internet sites”’.  

=== Republic of Ragusa ===

=== Republic of Ragusa ===

Take for example the history of the '''Republic of Ragusa''', (officially the city is known as Dubrovnik only from 1919 on). Ragusa has been an independent republic governed since the Middle Ages by a Latin/Illyrian families. When it was abolished in 1808 by the Napoleonic army, the small but influential and immensely rich maritime republic left a gigantic archive in which all government documents were written, first in Latin, then in ''Dalmatian'' (an extinct Romance language formerly spoken in the Dalmatia region of Croatia,)<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian_language Wikipedia: Dalmatian language]</ref> and finally in modern Italian (the Republic had an office in charge of translations from Slavic vernacular). In the daily business of the government and in diplomacy - Ragusa had over 80 consulates in every major European and Middle Eastern city -, the official language of the small republic was Italian. Furthermore, The Republic of Ragusa is remembered as ”The fifth Maritime Republic of Italy” (with Venice, Pisa, Amalfi and Genoa). For centuries, the well-to-do Ragusan families sent their children to study in the Italian universities. Across the Adriatic sea, Ragusans had daily contacts with Italy. The celebrated libraries of Ragusa were full of Italian editions of every kind, but no books printed in Slavic languages. Today in some Croatian history books the real history of Ragusa disappears almost completely.  

Take for example the history of the '''Republic of Ragusa''', (officially the city is known as Dubrovnik only from 1919 on). Ragusa has been an independent republic governed since the Middle Ages by a Latin/Illyrian families. When it was abolished in 1808 by the Napoleonic army, the small but influential and immensely rich maritime republic left a gigantic archive in which all government documents were written, first in Latin, then in ''Dalmatian'' (an extinct Romance language formerly spoken in the Dalmatia region of Croatia,)<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian_language Wikipedia: Dalmatian language]</ref> and finally in modern Italian <ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=eQIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4&dq=Sir+John+Gardner+Wilkinson+Italian+is+spoken+in+all+the+seaports+of+Dalmatia&hl=en&ei=qP6qTLiWJoPRcdXJ8KAE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Dalmatia and Montenegro: With a journey to Mostar in Herzegovina.Volume 1] by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (p4).

 

 

 

 

* "Two hundred years later that, is, early in the tenth century you might have heard Slavish and [[Latin]] spoken had you walked in the streets of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), just as you hear Slavish and '''Italian''' today; for as times of peace followed times of war, the Greek and Roman inhabitants of Rausium intermarried with the surrounding Slavs, and so a mixed race sprang up, a people apart from the rest of Dalmatia"</ref>(the Republic had an office in charge of translations from Slavic vernacular). In the daily business of the government and in diplomacy - Ragusa had over 80 consulates in every major European and Middle Eastern city -, the official language of the small republic was Italian. Furthermore, The Republic of Ragusa is remembered as ”The fifth Maritime Republic of Italy” (with Venice, Pisa, Amalfi and Genoa). For centuries, the well-to-do Ragusan families sent their children to study in the Italian universities. Across the Adriatic sea, Ragusans had daily contacts with Italy. The celebrated libraries of Ragusa were full of Italian editions of every kind, but no books printed in Slavic languages. Today in some Croatian history books the real history of Ragusa disappears almost completely.  

The historians maintain that Dubrovnik ''“is an important page of the history of Croatia”'', although Ragusa had only commercial liaisons with a Croatian territory that has not been a state for nine centuries. They repeat obsessively that the maritime republic was Croatian “almost since the beginning of her history”, that her merchant fleet was completely Croatian. Every family of the town’s aristocracy - Basilio, Cerva, Ghetaldi, Luccari, Menze, etc. - is given arbitrarily “the equivalent Croatian name“. All Ragusan state institutions are receiving Croatian denominations; all monasteries in town are presented as “Croatian”, although the clergy was Italian. You find all these misappropriations in [[Wikipedia]] “the free encyclopaedia” site, where the authors (clearly Croats) are demonstrating how grotesque are their pretensions when, at a certain point, they report the list of Ragusan senators who attended the last session of their Greater Council, the one in which it was announced that the glorious republic was dissolved (29th of August 1814): of a little over forty incontestable Italian names of the senators, only one is of Croatian origin: Marino Domenico, count of Zlatarich.  

The historians maintain that Dubrovnik ''“is an important page of the history of Croatia”'', although Ragusa had only commercial liaisons with a Croatian territory that has not been a state for nine centuries. They repeat obsessively that the maritime republic was Croatian “almost since the beginning of her history”, that her merchant fleet was completely Croatian. Every family of the town’s aristocracy - Basilio, Cerva, Ghetaldi, Luccari, Menze, etc. - is given arbitrarily “the equivalent Croatian name“. All Ragusan state institutions are receiving Croatian denominations; all monasteries in town are presented as “Croatian”, although the clergy was Italian. You find all these misappropriations in [[Wikipedia]] “the free encyclopaedia” site, where the authors (clearly Croats) are demonstrating how grotesque are their pretensions when, at a certain point, they report the list of Ragusan senators who attended the last session of their Greater Council, the one in which it was announced that the glorious republic was dissolved (29th of August 1814): of a little over forty incontestable Italian names of the senators, only one is of Croatian origin: Marino Domenico, count of Zlatarich.  

In the last half century it reached epidemic proportions:  

In the last half century it reached epidemic proportions:  

*Andrea Antico, born in Motovun (Montona) in Istria, a composer and music publisher of the 1500s (he is studied in every music school of this globe), was re-baptised Andrija Staric (or Starcevic)

*Andrea Antico,<ref>Print Culture and Music in Sixteenth-Century Venice by Jane A. Bernstein. Page 142</ref> born in Motovun (Montona) in Istria, a composer and music publisher of the 1500s (he is studied in every music school of this globe), was re-baptised Andrija Staric (or Starcevic)

*The Renaissance painter Lorenzo De Boninis, born in Dubrovnik, is presented in Croatian history books and tourist guides as “Lovro Dobricevic”

*The Renaissance painter Lorenzo De Boninis, born in Dubrovnik, is presented in Croatian history books and tourist guides as “Lovro Dobricevic”

*Nicola Fiorentino, an Italian born XVI century architect active for decades in Dalmatia, becomes the fake Croat “Nikola Firentinac“.

*Nicola Fiorentino, an Italian born XVI century architect active for decades in Dalmatia, becomes the fake Croat “Nikola Firentinac“.

===Robert D. Kaplan===

===Robert D. Kaplan===

In 1998, writing for “The Atlantic” magazine''' Robert D. Kaplan''' (author of influential “Balkan Ghosts”)<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7zx8HswRGmMC&dq=Robert+D.+Kaplan++“Balkan+Ghosts”&hl=en&ei=M0c1TPaVLI3fcf2V7csD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA Balkan Ghosts:] A Journey Through History ''by'' Robert D. Kaplan </ref> seemed to be the first American essayist to reveal the truth about the suppression of the Italian past of Ragusa by Croatia (and by extension of Dalmatia). ''“A nasty, tribal principality, he wrote - who are attempting to transform, in the old Republic, its character subtly from that of a sensuous, cosmopolitan mélange into a sterile, nationalistic uniformity”''.  

In 1998, writing for “The Atlantic” magazine''' Robert D. Kaplan''' (author of influential “Balkan Ghosts”)<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7zx8HswRGmMC&dq=Robert+D.+Kaplan++“Balkan+Ghosts”&hl=en&ei=M0c1TPaVLI3fcf2V7csD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA Balkan Ghosts:] A Journey Through History ''by'' Robert D. Kaplan </ref> seemed to be the first American essayist to reveal the truth about the suppression of the Italian past of Ragusa by Croatia (and by extension of Dalmatia). ''“A nasty, tribal principality, he wrote - who are attempting to transform, in the old Republic, its character subtly from that of a sensuous, cosmopolitan mélange into a sterile, nationalistic uniformity”''.  

===Writers===

===Writers===

'''Giovan Francesco Biondi''', a writer born in 1572 on the Dalmatian island of Hvar (Lesina)  is introduced to the Western cybernauts as an improbable “Ivan Franc Biundovic”, although he was a diplomat (and maybe a spy) in the service of the Venetian Republic and with his three books is considered the first modern Italian novel writer. (The “super-patriotic” Croatians historians completely ignore the “Italian” aspects of his biography, reducing his creations to “an excellent history of the British civil wars while living in England” to be added to Croatian merits).  

'''Giovan Francesco Biondi''',<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rYB_HYPsa8gC&pg=PA160&dq=Giovan+Francesco+Biondi&hl=en&ei=vxo7TLW9L4qTkAXGm-XLAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false The Evolution of the Grand Tour:] Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations since the ... ''by'' Edward Chaney</ref> a writer born in 1572 on the Dalmatian island of Hvar (Lesina)  is introduced to the Western cybernauts as an improbable “Ivan Franc Biundovic”, although he was a diplomat (and maybe a spy) in the service of the Venetian Republic and with his three books is considered the first modern Italian novel writer. (The “super-patriotic” Croatians historians completely ignore the “Italian” aspects of his biography, reducing his creations to “an excellent history of the British civil wars while living in England” to be added to Croatian merits).  

The case of '''Francesco Patrizi''',<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=sVP3vBmDktQC&pg=PA441&dq=Francesco+Patrizi&hl=en&ei=pkg1TM-uJseeccnqxIQD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Francesco%20Patrizi&f=false History of Italian Philosophy, Volume 1] by Eugenio Garin & Giorgio A. Pinton</ref> a XVI century philosopher and scientist who was a teacher of “La Sapienza” university in Rome, is almost incredible. He became “Franjo Petric” (or “Petricevic”), that means a “Croat”, only because he was born on the island of  Cres (Cherso) in the Quarner gulf. Croatian academic and political circles are so proud of “Franjo Petric” that almost every year they are holding in Zagreb, the capital of the country, and on “Cres“, an academic symposium dedicated to this magnificent intellectual mind. Many years ago they published one of his books printed in Italy in 1500s. They took the original, ornate volume, translated it into modern Croatian language and published it presenting the book as an anastatic edition of the original, in order to demonstrate the high level of their national civilisation in the 1500s (when Croatian capital Zagreb was still a village and Croatians in toto were still an agricultural/pastoral population). But they made a mistake: they used the Croatian diacritic signs (“accents” on certain consonants) invented only in the middle of the 1800s. Another example is that of Pier Paolo Vergerio, a catholic bishop and an historical figure in the turbulent times of the Reformation. He lived in Capodistria, a small town on the Istrian peninsula. In a Croatian history book, written by a Croatian academic and published in the [[USA]], the bishop is presented as “Petar Pavao Vergerije”, without pointing out that he was Italian, that the town of Capodistria never had anything to do with Croatia, never had a noticeable Slavic minority among her population and today is part of Slovenia.  

The case of '''Francesco Patrizi''',<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=sVP3vBmDktQC&pg=PA441&dq=Francesco+Patrizi&hl=en&ei=pkg1TM-uJseeccnqxIQD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Francesco%20Patrizi&f=false History of Italian Philosophy, Volume 1] by Eugenio Garin & Giorgio A. Pinton</ref> a XVI century philosopher and scientist who was a teacher of “La Sapienza” university in Rome, is almost incredible. He became “Franjo Petric” (or “Petricevic”), that means a “Croat”, only because he was born on the island of  Cres (Cherso) in the Quarner gulf. Croatian academic and political circles are so proud of “Franjo Petric” that almost every year they are holding in Zagreb, the capital of the country, and on “Cres“, an academic symposium dedicated to this magnificent intellectual mind. Many years ago they published one of his books printed in Italy in 1500s. They took the original, ornate volume, translated it into modern Croatian language and published it presenting the book as an anastatic edition of the original, in order to demonstrate the high level of their national civilisation in the 1500s (when Croatian capital Zagreb was still a village and Croatians in toto were still an agricultural/pastoral population). But they made a mistake: they used the Croatian diacritic signs (“accents” on certain consonants) invented only in the middle of the 1800s. Another example is that of Pier Paolo Vergerio, a catholic bishop and an historical figure in the turbulent times of the Reformation. He lived in Capodistria, a small town on the Istrian peninsula. In a Croatian history book, written by a Croatian academic and published in the [[USA]], the bishop is presented as “Petar Pavao Vergerije”, without pointing out that he was Italian, that the town of Capodistria never had anything to do with Croatia, never had a noticeable Slavic minority among her population and today is part of Slovenia.  

According to '''Daria Garbin''', an archeologist living in Split, who wrote extensively about that Longobards,<ref> [http://books.google.com/books?id=GqUrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA146&dq=Longobards&client=safari&cd=2#v=onepage&q=Longobards&f=false The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful... ] Volume 14 By Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain)</ref> that the  bas-relief  king “could be” the Longobard Alaric. Finally, the elegant and rich book “Croatia in the Early Middle Ages - A cultural survey”, published by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, printed in London in 1999, and distributed in all English speaking countries, is embellished by a magnificent, full-page picture of the same bas-relief. Beside the picture, there is the explanation: “Marble carving of a Croatian king (maybe Zvonimir)”. Here the Longobards do not receive any attention. One of the most frequent tricks in this “propagandistic history” is to find a couple of Croatian personalities and squeeze between them the Slavicized name of an Italian local personality in order to “demonstrate” that a Dalmatian town was, yes inhabited by “some” Italians, but was predominantly Croatian.  

According to '''Daria Garbin''', an archeologist living in Split, who wrote extensively about that Longobards,<ref> [http://books.google.com/books?id=GqUrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA146&dq=Longobards&client=safari&cd=2#v=onepage&q=Longobards&f=false The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful... ] Volume 14 By Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain)</ref> that the  bas-relief  king “could be” the Longobard Alaric. Finally, the elegant and rich book “Croatia in the Early Middle Ages - A cultural survey”, published by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, printed in London in 1999, and distributed in all English speaking countries, is embellished by a magnificent, full-page picture of the same bas-relief. Beside the picture, there is the explanation: “Marble carving of a Croatian king (maybe Zvonimir)”. Here the Longobards do not receive any attention. One of the most frequent tricks in this “propagandistic history” is to find a couple of Croatian personalities and squeeze between them the Slavicized name of an Italian local personality in order to “demonstrate” that a Dalmatian town was, yes inhabited by “some” Italians, but was predominantly Croatian.  

Take for example Trogir, known for a millennia as the Italian Dalmatian town of Trau, incredibly rich in arts and architecture, and since 1997 protected by the '''UNESCO'''. On a Croatian Internet site you can notice that a humanist and writer from Trogir, Koriolan Cipiko, active in 1500s is sandwiched between two Croatian historical figures that had nothing to do with him nor Trogir. Here the intention is to ''“neutralised”'' completely that gentleman, whose real name was Coriolano Cippico, a member of an illustrious centuries old Dalmatian dynasty (of bishops, writers, philosophers, army and navy leaders, you name it) of Roman origin.  

Take for example '''Trogir''', known for a millennia as the Italian Dalmatian town of ''Trau'', incredibly rich in arts and architecture, and since 1997 protected by the '''UNESCO'''. On a Croatian Internet site you can notice that a humanist and writer from Trogir, Koriolan Cipiko, active in 1500s is sandwiched between two Croatian historical figures that had nothing to do with him nor Trogir. Here the intention is to ''“neutralised”'' completely that gentleman, whose real name was Coriolano Cippico, a member of an illustrious centuries old Dalmatian dynasty (of bishops, writers, philosophers, army and navy leaders, you name it) of Roman origin.  

Another Croatian site says that “during this period Italian citizens, until 1918 the ruling class and almost half part of the population, were forced to leave for Italy”. Forced by whom? The authors of the site cautiously don’t say it. In another Croatian site we find that in the same period Trogir had 16.000 inhabitants, that means that 8.000 were Italians. Today the Italians living in Trogir are only a handful. There are literally hundred of episodes and cases like these, in numerous Croatian history books and tourist guides published in English language and distributed in the West, and now also on Internet. Outright falsehoods, half-truths, tendentious presentations, patriotic rhetoric and grotesque nationalistic grandiosity are very common in them. This part of the Croatian academic world knows no limits in the national appetite for glory, veneration of patriotic heritage, and stealing of other people’s cultural icons to show off.

Another Croatian site says that “during this period Italian citizens, until 1918 the ruling class and almost half part of the population, were forced to leave for Italy”. Forced by whom? The authors of the site cautiously don’t say it. In another Croatian site we find that in the same period Trogir had 16.000 inhabitants, that means that 8.000 were Italians. Today the Italians living in Trogir are only a handful. There are literally hundred of episodes and cases like these, in numerous Croatian history books and tourist guides published in English language and distributed in the West, and now also on Internet. Outright falsehoods, half-truths, tendentious presentations, patriotic rhetoric and grotesque nationalistic grandiosity are very common in them. This part of the Croatian academic world knows no limits in the national appetite for glory, veneration of patriotic heritage, and stealing of other people’s cultural icons to show off.

Today nobody is noticing and condemning this threatening phenomena. These charlatans with a master degree are doing a tremendous disservice first of all to their own country. They are also dangerous. In a region in the past tremendously violent and today with so many unsolved problems, this kind of piracy is very ominous and should be stopped.  

Today nobody is noticing and condemning this threatening phenomena. These charlatans with a master degree are doing a tremendous disservice first of all to their own country. They are also dangerous. In a region in the past tremendously violent and today with so many unsolved problems, this kind of piracy is very ominous and should be stopped.  

== References ==

== References ==

<references/>

These claims are news to me. Researching it's content (I've started to add references to it). So far it seems to me to be not too far from the truth, however more research (may be a few years) is needed.