Koper's Italian cultural community association celebrating 75th anniversary
Koper, 22 December - The 75th anniversary of a cultural association bringing together members of the Italian minority in Koper will be marked with a festive ceremony in this coastal town on Friday.
Izola
Culture event in Zone B of the Free Territory of Trieste, which also featured in 1951 the Community of Italians in Koper.
Photo: Community of Italians in Koper
The Santorio Santorio association, which has around 1,000 members today, started out as the Antonio Gramsci Italian culture circle in 1948, a time when Koper was not yet part of Yugoslavia but of the post-WWII Free Territory of Trieste, with the Italian community being a majority in the town. Such circles were set up in all towns of the territory's zone B that was under Yugoslav military administration.
The first and biggest turning point for the association came in 1954, when the area was incorporated into Yugoslavia. Most Italians left Koper, including the leading members of the cultural association, who were left-leaning, and it became the main meeting place for those who stayed, Mario Steffe, the president of the Community of Italians in Koper, explained for the STA.
The association's premises in the Gravisi Buttorai palace on Liberation Front Street, with a garden and a restaurant, also became popular among the Slovenian population, especially in the 1960s, Steffe explained, mainly for its Western-influenced music and other cultural events.
He said activities died down somewhat as Slovenia became independent, also because of a legal limbo concerning the status of minority organisations. When the Italian Self-Governing Community was established in 1993 as a legal entity governed by public law, the newly elected leadership also revived the activities of the cultural association.
The association was formally established anew, but retains its former heritage. It has also been given a new name. Instead of the Marxist thinker Gramsci, it is named since 1993 after the 16th century Koper physician Santorio Santorio.
Its members are active in various areas of folk and popular culture. The association continues to organise cultural events, also in cooperation with other institutions and associations not linked to the Italian community.
The 75th anniversary of the association will be honoured this evening at Koper's St Francis of Assisi Hall with a ceremony that will also feature a number of music acts, along with dance performances, a fashion show and a photo exhibition.