Search engine for surnames italianised by force

In Trieste and its Territory Italy has changed, by law and by force, tens of thousands of surnames, from the 1920s onwards. The declared aim of this was to “wash from the beautiful face of Trieste this ugliness that decreases its latin expression and contaminates its spiritual purity“, and even until 1966 in Trieste it was strictly forbidden to have non-Italian first names.
THESE SURNAMES CHANGED BY FORCE REMAIN, TODAY, STILL IN FORCE, while returning to the original surnames is discouraged by Italy with a procedure that is so complex and bureaucratic that there are just a few dozens requests every year. Those who have been subject to this injustice are often not even aware of it.

Former director of Triest NGO, Marco Pizzi (Spitz) has written (in Italian) “Nameless”, the first book on the psychological consequences that this loss of identity has created in Trieste and its surrounding areas. We then have brought this serious question even in front of the United Nations. For further information (in Italian): interview 1, interview 2.

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