Archives of Writers and Regional Culture
Collections, personal libraries and artistic heritage.
The Archive of Writers and Regional Culture houses a variety of items created by some of the true protagonists of the literary and cultural history of Trieste and the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.
The Archive was established in 2012 thanks to a donation made by the “Archivio e Centro di Documentazione della Cultura Regionale” Association - an association founded in 1992 by lecturers from the Department of Italian Studies of the University of Trieste - which, over the years, has collected bequests and donations made by the writers themselves, while still living, or by their heirs, after their passing.
The wealth of resources provides a valuable point of reference for scholars and enthusiasts alike, comprising personal libraries, collections, a considerable repertory of artistic items of various types and objects that had belonged to the various protagonists of the region's culture.
The collections
The Archive’s documents collection consists of “papers” - handwritten works by the writers, notes, diaries, correspondence - by the following authors:
Elio Bartolini, Oliviero Honoré Bianchi, Francesco Burdin, Manlio Cecovini, Bruno Chersicla, Francesco de Grisogono, Fabio Doplicher, Enrico Elia, Ferruccio Fölkel Antonio Fonda Savio, Gerti Frankl Tolazzi, Geda Jacolutti, Lalla Kezich, Vito Levi, Marisa Madieri, Claudio Magris, Biagio Marin, Adriano Mercanti, Vladimiro Miletti, Elody Oblath, Scipio Slataper, Giani Stuparich, Giuseppe Amedeo Tedeschi, Fulvio Tomizza and Giorgio Voghera.
The manuscripts and typed works, complete with their crossings-out, notes added in pen or pencil, pages set aside and then sometimes reinstated, show their authors’ writing techniques, revealing the creative process that gave rise to each and every work.
The different documents featured in each collection (correspondence, diaries, notes, printed texts) reveal the relations between each individual and other scholars and intellectuals, offering insight into the cultural context in which they played a leading role.
The Archive also houses the collection donated by the heirs of Roberto Costa, engineer and architect and former lecturer at the University of Trieste. The collection contains various types of documents - correspondence, technical reports, photographs and numerous projects for public works and private constructions.
The personal libraries
The collections hold part or all of the personal libraries of Dario de Tuoni, Emilio Dolfi, Antonio Fonda Savio, Bruno Maier, Manlio Malabotta, Claudio H. Martelli, Scipio Slataper, Italo Svevo and Giorgio Voghera. There are ancient books, valuable Italian and foreign editions, brochures and magazines, as well as rare publications. Conserved intact, the libraries contain notes on ownership, annotations on the text and dedications.
Thus the libraries reveal the interests of the intellectuals who created the various collections, their training and the relations they enjoyed with their homeland, making for an essential point of reference for scholars everywhere.
The catalogue of the “Library of the Archive of Writers and Regional Culture” is available for consultation on the University Library System portal at: BiblioUniTS
Hundreds of conserved volumes have been digitised and are now available on OpenstarTs, the open access institutional archive of the University of Trieste, at the following link: OpenstarTs
The artistic heritage
The artistic collections comprise paintings, prints, drawings, geographic maps, diplomas, portraits and satirical cartoon strips, mainly originating from the Fonda Savio legacy. Drawings include artists who were friends of Svevo, like A. Fittke, V. Bolaffio, E. Fonda, T. Silvestri and C. Wostry. There are also volumes illustrated with drawings by architect Pietro Nobile.
Subsequent iconographic donations have enriched the Archive with the works of artists G. Cadorin, U. Carà, B. Chersicla, V. Cocever, R. Daneo, F. de Pisis, A. Levier, M. Mascherini, D. Predonzani and L. Saba
Over the years, various collections have been enhanced by exhibitions and publications, organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the Regional Entity for the Cultural Heritage of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Department of Humanities of the University of Trieste.
The Archive continues to welcome new donations, preserving items from dispersion, making them available for study and research and promoting knowledge of them with local awareness-raising initiatives.
The Ministry of Culture has declared the Archive to be of cultural interest and therefore subject to the protection of the Archives Superintendency of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The Archive is open to the public. The documents and iconographic materials can be consulted by interested scholars, by prior appointment, to be organised by e-mailing:
archiviodegliscrittori@units.it
The Archive of Regional Writers and Culture in 2021 participated with the video 'Generations of Frontiers' in Archivissima. Festival degli archivi, Turin 4 - 9 June 2021.
The rich heritage preserved in the Archive of Writers and Regional Culture in 2022 was presented with documentary videos made for the popularisation project 'Voices, Words and Images from the Archive of Writers and Regional Culture', curated by Paolo Quazzolo and Sergia Adamo of the Department of Humanistic Studies of the University of Trieste.
Elody Oblath. Occhi verdi, voglia di scappare dal nido
Gerti Frankl. Portrait of a Lady.
Antonio Fonda Savio. Collezionismo d'autore
