ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS OF ITALIAN ORIGIN – SARAJEVO:

When did the first Italian families, experts, workers, diplomatic representatives, emissaries of culture and art come to these areas? Documents, they say - a long time ago. According to the official data of the province of Trento, the first organized arrivals of Italian families in Bosnia and Herzegovina were registered in 1882, but most often the ancestors of our families came between 1900 and 1910. The first consular representation of the Kingdom of Italy was opened in Sarajevo during the Ottoman Empire, according to some in 1862, and according to others a year later. The first Italian Consul Riva wrote that many Italians came to Bosnia before him and that, among other things, they participated in the construction of the first normal-gauge railway from Banja Luka to Dobrljina, which is still in use today. Consul Riva suggested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy to open consulates in Banja Luka, Mostar and Tuzla, but we did not find any information about the fate of this proposal. The Archive of BiH preserves numerous documents on the affairs of the very up-to-date consul Vita Finzio in the period from 1902 to 1905. The Presidium of the Austrian Monarchy, by a decision of May 25, 1906, awarded Consul Finzio the high award of His Highness Franz Josef upon the expiration of his term of office.

It should be noted for the times to come in order to save us from forgetting that in the middle of 1993, during the war year, eight of our members initiated the idea, gathered the membership and did all the necessary actions to hold the Founding Assembly of the Association at the beginning of 1994. They were Čivić Petar, Čivić Zlatko, Ćatić-Bancher Leonida, Jurić Anto, Latal Zdravko, Lipa Kenan, Palestra Bruno and Ševelj Tomislav. At the Founding Assembly held on January 29, 1994, in the hall of the BiH Chamber of Commerce, we unanimously adopted the Statute, which states that the Association is non-partisan, in which citizens freely organize themselves for the realization of personal and common interests and the expression of their civil and national rights, cultural, humanitarian, social, as well as other needs in the interest and in accordance with the Law. The Statute also stated that the Association will cooperate with Italian diplomatic missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Italy with societies, bodies and organizations responsible for the care of Italians in the diaspora. We also adopted the Work Program in which we wrote that our activities will be aimed at strengthening the knowledge and feeling of membership that we are descendants of Italian families who immigrated to this country, and gave and still give their full contribution to its overall development. One of the permanent tasks of the Association is the preservation of the native language, traditions and customs of the old region. Italian language courses are our constant preoccupation. However, the Association took the position that it was founded in 1993 during the war, and was officially confirmed a year later.

Dipl.ing. was unanimously elected as the first president, vice president and general secretary. Petar Čivić, architect Vinko Jurić and Dipl.ing. Bruno Palestra. It was agreed that the annual membership fee amounts to 100,000 BiH dinars, i.e. 10 marks. The minutes for the Assembly were kept by journalist Milorad Filoni. The founding act of the Association required by the Court at the Assembly was signed in alphabetical order by Batistuti Julio, Batistuti Josip, Begić Mirjana, Begić Žaneta, Begić Igor, Begić Ivan, Bulić Miran, Bancher - Ćatić Leonida, Čatić Ahmet, Čivić Ivan, Čivić Olga, Čivić Petar, Čivić Vladimir, Čivić Zlatko, Đurić Ljubomir, Đurić Zdenka, Filoni Milorad, Filoni Rasema, Hibert Ervin, Hibert Ines, Jakubik Rajmond, Janković Dragan, Jovanović – Mihajlović Desanka, Jovanović Igor, Jurić Josip, Jurić Radmila, Jurić Rajna, Jurić Vinko, Kihli , Šmit Ivanka, Šmit Robert, Šmit Zdenko, and Zamboni Katarina.

Over time, the number of members changes, it grew to more than four hundred, and then decreased. In 2012, the Association had 69 members. In addition to the Founding Assembly held on January 29, 1994, six other assemblies were held. The first regular Assembly was held on February 25, 1995, where the mandate of the Association's leadership was extended. Due to legal changes on the association of citizens, on December 16, 2000, the Constituent Assembly had to be held again, and immediately after that, the Regular Assembly, where the President of the Association was elected B.Ecc. Rina Martinović, for the vice-president Vito Šafran and for the general secretary Dipl. Eng. Bruno Palestra. The next Assembly was held on December 29, 2003, at which the president, vice president and general secretary were elected, Dipl.ing. Bruno Palestra, Zdravko Latal and Željko Kapeleti. At the Electoral Assembly held on November 7, 2009, the President of the Association was elected Dipl.ing. Bruno Palestra, for the vice president, Dipl.ing. Zdenko Dubreta and Zdravko Latal for the general secretary, and on December 17, 2011, the regular Assembly of the Association was held. From the first Founding Assembly held on January 29, 1994 to the last Assembly held on December 17, 2011, the Presidency of the Association held 187 sessions where preparations and execution of program tasks were discussed, as well as other current issues related to the work of the Association. That is a period of 6,535 days, which results from the fact that, on average, we had sessions of the Presidency every 35 days. From the Assembly on December 17, 2011 to the end of 2012, we held 8 more sessions of the Presidency.

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of work, on November 29, 2003, we organized a formal academy and an exhibition of documents from the Archives of BiH in the MAK Gallery about the first arrivals and stay of Italians in BiH, as well as their place and role in the overall development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We named the exhibition "Time Past - Time Future". In addition to the documents, the amateur works of our members Vinko Jurić and Toni Kapeleti were presented at the exhibition. Vladimir Čivić, our member since the first day, during the war, for reasons known only to him, collected old and discarded broken wall clocks on the streets and flea markets. Today, he is a real doctor for the "healing" of watches. At the exhibition, we also presented part of his collection of old watches that he gave new life to. His installation of clocks, in which each clock, like man, ticks with its own rhythm, and shows a different time, was one of the reasons why we named the exhibition - "Time Past, Time Future". The association organized a series of exhibitions, and a publication was published about the Bancher family, whose descendants live in Sarajevo and Tuzla, as a valuable record of the revolutionary past of Italians in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

From 1994 to 2012, the Association held 18 Italian language courses, which were attended by an average of twenty course participants, members of the Association and citizens of Sarajevo. Since 2006, the Association has been organizing traditional trips for members. So far, six trips have been organized, we visited the Franciscan monasteries in Fojnica, twice, Kreševo, Kraljeva Sutjeska, Visoko and Šćit and got acquainted with the valuable historical collections kept by the Franciscans, then in those places the thermal spas, natural beauties and resources, and the work associations of healthy food producers. Traditionally, from the very beginning, we organize membership gatherings in our premises on the first Saturday of every month, and then, if your journey takes you to Sarajevo, we invite you to join us.