Vincenzo Bettiza (7 June 1927 – 28 July 2017) was a Yugoslavian-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Biography

Bettiza was born in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

, then part of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, in a rich

Dalmatian Italian Dalmatian Italians are the historical Italian national minority living in the region of Dalmatia, now part of Croatia and Montenegro. Since the middle of the 19th century, the community, counting according to some sources nearly 20% of all Dalma ...

-Croatian family.Saša Ljubičić
Bettize nisu napustili Split zbog partizana
Bettiza's interview for Slobodna Dalmacija (1), November 24, 2004. Accessed June 12, 2016
''Inače, te tzv.miješane talijansko – hrvatske familije kao moja, ...Najlakše je reć da sam Dalmatinac. Kulturno pripadam latinskoj sredini, Italija me priznala kao pisca, ali ja se najviše osjećam kao Dalmatinac, i dijelom, naravno, Europejac.'' His mother stemmed from a family of the Croatian island of

Brač Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. The island's talle ...

. His family owned the most important enterprise in Dalmatia, the ''Gilardi e Bettiza'' cement factory, in the city of

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

. In 1941,

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

invaded Yugoslavia. During Italian occupation, Bettiza's father helped many Croatian people during the war and took many of them out of

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

prison. Enzo's cousin Pietro threw a bomb on the Italian army band, since they played Fascist marches, while Enzo himself boycotted Fascist gatherings and organizations. In 1944, the city was again rejoined to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in new Yugoslavia. Many Italian families left already after the fall of

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

, after they realized that things were going badly in the country. Some Italian and mixed remained, part of them used the opportunity to opt for

Italian citizenship Italian nationality law is the law of Italy governing the acquisition, transmission and loss of Italian citizenship. Like many continental European countries it is largely based on '' jus sanguinis''. It also incorporates many elements that are ...

. New authorities were interested in dealing with those who were collaborating with the occupiers, and all others whom they considered as the "enemy of people", either

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

or others. Their assets were nationalized. Bettiza moved to

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the re-annexation of his native land to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, at the age of 18. Later he moved to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, and then to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

: here he always declared to be living as "an exiled". Bettiza has been director of several Italian newspaper and author of numerous books. as a journalist he devoted his attention to

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

countries and nationalities, and

Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...

, Yugoslavian area in particular. In the period 1957-1965 he was foreign correspondent for the newspaper ''

La Stampa ''La Stampa'' (meaning ''The Press'' in English) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin, Italy. It is distributed in Italy and other European nations. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. History and profile The paper was fou ...

'', first from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and then from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Later he moved to ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

'', for which he worked for ten years. In 1974, together with

Indro Montanelli Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli (; 22 April 1909 – 22 July 2001) was an Italian journalist, historian and writer. He was one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes according to the International Press Institute. A voluntee ...

, founded the Milanese newspaper '' il Giornale nuovo'', for which he was co-director until 1983. Starting from 1976, he was member of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

and the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. He lived in Rome with his family and was married a few times. His last wife, Laura Laurenzi, is an Italian writer. Bettiza's major novel, ''I fantasmi di Mosca'' (''Phantoms of Moscow'') is credited as the most extended published novel written in Italian language. He died on 29 July 2017 at the age of 90.

Selected bibliography

*''Mito e realtà di Trieste'' *''Il mistero di Lenin'' *''Saggi, viaggi, personaggi'' *''Non una vita'' *''L'eclisse del comunismo'' *''Quale PCI? Anatomia di una crisi'' (1969) *''La campagna elettorale'' *''Il fantasma di Trieste'' *''L'anno della tigre'' *''I fantasmi di Mosca'' (1993) *''Esilio'' (1995) *''L'ombra rossa'' *''Via Solferino'' *''Mostri sacri'' *''Corone e Maschere'' *''La cavalcata del Secolo'' (2000) *''Viaggio nell'ignoto'' *''Sogni di Atlante'' *''Il libro perduto''

Awards and medals

Croatian President

Stipe Mesić Stipe may refer to: Biological terminology * Stipe (botany) * Stipe (mycology) In mycology, a stipe () is the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is co ...

awarded him with " Red Danice hrvatske s likom Marka Marulića", after the proposal of the journalists from Split. * : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (28 may 2003)

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bettiza, Enzo 1927 births 2017 deaths Writers from Split, Croatia Journalists from Split, Croatia Politicians from Split, Croatia Italian people of Croatian descent Croatian people of Italian descent Italian Liberal Party politicians Senators of Legislature VII of Italy Italian Socialist Party MEPs MEPs for Italy 1979–1984 MEPs for Italy 1989–1994 Italian male writers Italian journalists Italian male journalists Italian newspaper founders Italian newspaper editors Italian anti-communists Premio Campiello winners Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic