Faraun
Encyclopedia
Faraun is a name given to Croatian merchants from the town of Trpanj
in Croatia
who in the late 19th century started insisting in using the Croatian language
in their correspondence with their Italian suppliers.
n merchants, Trpanj businessmen used Italian wholesalers in Trieste
, and to do so they communicated in Italian. In early 1890s, Ivo Cibilic, a wholesaler from Alexandria, originally from Trpanj wrote as a freelancer in the Narodni List, a Croatian newspaper printed in Zadar
, suggesting that Trpanj merchants switch to using Croatian in their correspondence with their Italian suppliers for namely two reasons:
The Narodni List in its no.58 issue from 1893 reports that at a special dinner held at the Croatian library in Trpanj on 15 August 1893, the Trpanj merchants vowed to exclusively use Croatian in their business dealings, and to refuse to do business with merchants that do not use Croatian in their transactions. The town merchants signed a proclamation to that effect which was published on the front page in the no.69 issue of the Narodni List on 30 August 1893.
used it to refer to the townspeople in Trpanj by implying that they are Gypsies.
The name Faraun was used for the Trpanj soccer team founded in 1921. It was also used to label the top quality range of sardine products by the now closed Divna factory in Trpanj. Ivan Mirkovic, a Trpanj businessman from San Pedro U.S.A., also specializing in fishing used the name Faraon for his products. Today the main hotel in Trpanj is named Faraon.
Trpanj
Trpanj , is a town and municipality of Dubrovnik-Neretva County in south-eastern Croatia. According to the 2001 census, Trpanj has a population of 871. Croats make up 93.11% of the population.-Etymology:...
in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
who in the late 19th century started insisting in using the Croatian language
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
in their correspondence with their Italian suppliers.
Background
Like most other DalmatiaDalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n merchants, Trpanj businessmen used Italian wholesalers in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, and to do so they communicated in Italian. In early 1890s, Ivo Cibilic, a wholesaler from Alexandria, originally from Trpanj wrote as a freelancer in the Narodni List, a Croatian newspaper printed in Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
, suggesting that Trpanj merchants switch to using Croatian in their correspondence with their Italian suppliers for namely two reasons:
- it would provide young Croatians (usually the sons of merchant families who were studying in Trieste) with jobs as translators
- it would be a symbolic gesture of respect towards Croatian language and culture
The Narodni List in its no.58 issue from 1893 reports that at a special dinner held at the Croatian library in Trpanj on 15 August 1893, the Trpanj merchants vowed to exclusively use Croatian in their business dealings, and to refuse to do business with merchants that do not use Croatian in their transactions. The town merchants signed a proclamation to that effect which was published on the front page in the no.69 issue of the Narodni List on 30 August 1893.
Reaction
The autonomasi which is a Croatian term given to the Italian minority in Dalmatia and to all those opposed to an emerging Croatian national identity, published a satirical song against the merchants from Trpanj in their own newspaper Il Dalmata. The author A. Piasevoli wrote that a faraun race emerged from Trpanj as a result of the mating between a Latin mule and an Egyptian donkey. The result of this mating is the Faraun bastard that betrayed his Latin-Italian origins. The source of the name came from the fact that other towns on PelješacPelješac
Pelješac is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia...
used it to refer to the townspeople in Trpanj by implying that they are Gypsies.
Consequences
The Trpanj merchants were thus first in Dalmatia to require that commercial correspondence be carried out in Croatian, at a time when aristocracy and citizens of Italian upbringing tried to negate any cultural character of the language of the masses. The proclamation from Trpanj had ignited negative reactions from automasi from all over Dalmatia. The initially derogatory term Faraun however became a source of pride for anyone associated with it as it represented the effort to introduce the national language into every sphere of society.The name Faraun was used for the Trpanj soccer team founded in 1921. It was also used to label the top quality range of sardine products by the now closed Divna factory in Trpanj. Ivan Mirkovic, a Trpanj businessman from San Pedro U.S.A., also specializing in fishing used the name Faraon for his products. Today the main hotel in Trpanj is named Faraon.
See also
- TrpanjTrpanjTrpanj , is a town and municipality of Dubrovnik-Neretva County in south-eastern Croatia. According to the 2001 census, Trpanj has a population of 871. Croats make up 93.11% of the population.-Etymology:...
- Illyrian movementIllyrian movementThe Illyrian movement , also Croatian national revival , was a cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835–1849...
- Dalmatian languageDalmatian languageDalmatian was a Romance language spoken in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and as far south as Kotor in Montenegro. The name refers to a pre-Roman tribe of the Illyrian linguistic group, Dalmatae...
- Language planningLanguage planningLanguage planning is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure, or acquisition of languages or language variety within a speech community. It is often associated with government planning, but is also used by a variety of non-governmental organizations, such as grass-roots...
- Historical linguisticsHistorical linguisticsHistorical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...