EMIGRATION FROM FRIULI TO FRANCE BETWEEN 1820 AND 1970 Matteo Ermacora* 1820-1914 – Mosaic workers, terrazzo workers and bricklayers in France. The first to arrive in this transalpine republic at the beginning of the nineteenth century were small groups of mosaic workers and terrazzo workers from the right bank of the Tagliamento river, who devoted themselves to the restoration of ancient Roman mosaics and to the decoration of public and private palaces, using innovative techniques. The urban sprawl which occurred at the end of the century further attracted bricklayers and stone masons from the mountain areas and nearby valleys; in any case the migratory flows towards France were considerably fewer compared to those directed towards the neighbouring Empires of Central Europe. 1. The origins. A possible destination, but a secondary one Until the years after the First World War, France was an exceptional destination for Friulian workers compared to the migration flows to the Central Empires. According to official statistics, in the period between 1876 and 1915 the overall number of emigrants headed for France was 19,713, rather meagre (equal to 2.2%) when compared to the streams directed towards Germany and Austria. 1 From the start emigration in this country remained limited to small groups of terrazzo workers and mosaic workers from the right bank of the Tagliamento River who, after having worked in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, moved over to France to carry out decoration works in public and private palaces. Around the middle of the nineteenth * Professor and researcher in social history at the University of Venice Cà Foscari, expert in the subject. 1 My revision of extracts from B.M. Pagani, L’emigrazione friulana dalla metà del XIX secolo al 1940 , Udine, Arti Grafiche Friulane, 1968, pp. 33; 98; Emigration from Veneto and Friuli towards France in the years 1909-1913 represented an average of 4.8% of the continental flows at that time. M. Fracca , La forza di espansione della popolazione veneta , in «Quaderno mensile dell’Istituto federale di credito per il Risorgimento delle Venezie», Venezia, Ferrari, 1924, p. 25; Commissariato Generale dell’Emigrazione, Annuario statistico dell’emigrazione italiana 1876- 1925 , Roma, 1926, tav. II e III, p. 101. century the finding of mosaics dating to Roman times attracted workers from Sequals for the restoration works in Montpellier, Béziers and Nîmes. 2 This presence of skilled workers strengthened gradually: the ministerial inquiries carried out in the years 1884-1885 and 1888 signalled the presence on the other side of the Alps of terrazzo workers and furnace workers from Fanna, of road workers from Aviano, of mosaic workers, stonecutters and terrazzo workers from Sequals and of stone masons from Travesio. The skilfulness of these workers was recognised and appreciated, to the extent that during this period some groups started to head for Germany, Holland, Denmark and the United States. 3 The dynamism of the Friulian mosaic industry in France during the second half of the nineteenth century is without doubt related to the entrepreneurial success of Gian Domenico Facchina; born in Sequals in 1826 and educated in Trieste and Venice. Around the middle of the century Facchina moved to Montpellier where he devoted himself to the restoration of antique flooring, experimenting an innovative technique– which meant a considerable lowering of production prices and a rapid execution of the work that guaranteed him an increase in orders. His skill in putting together Roman, Venetian and Byzantine artistic techniques and traditions allowed him to work in the French capital, where, after having taken part in the world exhibition of 1867, he was commissioned the decoration of the Opera House. Up to 1904, the year in which he died, Facchina divided his time between his workshops in Venice and Paris, and thus represented one of the driving forces of emigration for mosaic workers and terrazzo workers towards France, many of whom – like the Odorico brothers – after a period of apprenticeship, set up their own businesses working in other French towns. 4 The expansion of the sector of mosaic decorations spurred the establishment of many family businesses during the last decade of the nineteenth 2 L. Zanini, Friuli migrante , Udine, Doretti, 1964, p. 153; 155. 3 G. Colledani and T. Perfetti (eds.), Dal sasso al mosaico. Storia dei terrazzieri e mosaicisti di Sequals , Sequals, Comune di Sequals, 1994; O. Lorenzon-P. Mattioni, L’emigrazione in Friuli , Udine, Administration of the province of Udine, 1962, p. 33. 4 Zanini, Friuli migrante above, pp.159-170; G. Colledani, Giandomenico Facchina: da Sequals a Parigi , in «Il Barbacian», XXX (1993), n. 1, pp. 11-13. century and broadened the area from where specialist workers left, including the areas of Pordenone, Sacile and Spilimbergo. 5 The seasonal flows of terrazzo workers, mosaic workers and decorators intensified in the course of the first decade of the twentieth century, as demonstrated by the enquiry carried out by Guido Picotti, Inspector of Employment, in 1909. However, at the turn of the century these experts were joined by teams of bricklayers and stone masons from the mountain areas of Pordenone and Carnia. In fact, stonecutters from Forni di Sotto left in the years 1898 and 1899 for the mines of Lorraine and Paris, where they built the metro stations. 6 The reports by the parish priests of the Diocese of Udine in the period between 1911 and 1914 confirm that by then emigration towards France had also involved builders from the areas situated at the foot of the mountains (Venzone, Pioverno, Montenars, Alesso) and from Carnia (Verzegnis-Chiaicis, Lauco, Ampezzo, Raveo, Enemonzo). 7 As well as these “traditional” professions, the parish priest of Ampezzo mentioned the migration in 1911 of tailors headed for Marseille and Paris, 8 while some groups of furnace workers from Artegna and Buja and Central Friuli headed for Alsace-Lorraine, travelling along the much disputed border between France and Germany and Austria. Therefore, between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries France established itself as one of the possible destinations of Friulian emigration, but it mostly remained a transit area for those who, having reached the French ports, set sail for Canada. In spite of this, news of what was happening in this country the other side of the Alps reached Friuli, leaked out by the press or by those few workers who went there. Just to mention a few: the rise of the French trade union movement, the episodes of 5 M. Ermacora, Imprenditoria migrante. Costruttori e imprese edili friulane all’estero (1860-1915) , in F. Merluzzi (ed.), Baumeister dal Friuli. Costruttori e impresari edili migranti nell’Ottocento e primo Novecento , Udine, Grop Pignot, 2005, p. 117. G. Cosattini, L’emigrazione temporanea del Friuli , Udine-Trieste 1982, (1903), p. 41; 130; 137. 6 J.B. Candotti, C’era una volta in Carnia. (Ricuarz di un frut) , Castions di strada, Coordinamento circoli culturali della Carnia, 1997, p. 17; 87. 7 Archives of the Archiepiscopal Administration of Udine (later refered to as Acau), vol. 8 (Enemonzo 1913, file n. 75; Forni di Sopra 1913, file n. 77, Raveo 1913, file n. 79), vol. 12 (Lauco 1914, file n. 113); vol. 15 (Alesso 1911, file n. 147; Montenars 1916, file n. 152), vol. 16 (Venzone 1916, file n. 164). 8 Acau, vol.8, Ampezzo 1911, file n. 74. xenophobia against the Italian workers in Aigues Mortes in 1893, and furthermore the many cases of exploitation of glassworkers. 9 1915-1918 – The interval of the Great War The Great War was a real turning point in the history of Friulian migration; in August 1914 this military event caused the repatriation of about 80,000 workers from the Empires of Central Europe, it changed the traditional migration flows and increased the role of the state in regulating the permits to leave the country. 2. A forgotten episode. Friulian refugees in France between 1917 and 1919 The Great War caused the end of migrations towards the Empires of Central Europe, by requiring manpower for the logistical works to be carried out at the front and behind the lines, but it also presented the possibility of new ways of moving abroad on the basis of the economic and military agreements between allied countries. Indeed, during 1917, the Italian government, through the General Commission of Emigration, recruited in successive stages about 35,000 builders and labourers to be used as military workers to build defence lines, roads, railways and canals behind the lines of the French front. 10 Between December 1917 and January 1918, after the rout of Caporetto, these forces were increased with about two thousand refugee workers from Friuli, mainly from Carnia and the areas around Gemona, very often including young teenagers, who wished to escape the precarious nature of refugee life. Having left from Lombardy, Piedmont and that part of Veneto not occupied, the groups of refugees worked for the American and French troops, and for the Italian expeditionary force. 11 Archive documents and military reports tell about a great number of workers who were injured and ill because of the difficult living and working conditions; as Carissimo Ferro, a worker from Nespoledo, recalled: 9 F. Micelli, Geografie dell’emigrazione: i friulani in Francia (1919-1926) , in «Metodi e Ricerche», n.s. XVII (1998), n.1, p. 40. 10 National Central Archives (Archivio Centrale di Stato - Acs), Rome, General Secretariat for Civil Affairs, b. 512, Italian Military Mission. Royal inspector of emigration. Report, 30 April1917. On employment during the conflict, see M. Ermacora, Cantieri di guerra. Il lavoro dei civili nelle retrovie del fronte italiano (1915-1918) , Bologna, Il Mulino, 2005. 11 Acs, High Commissioner of War Refugees, b.33.