Giacomo Vuxani ( Arbanasi, July 20, 1886 –

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 ...

, April 7, 1964) was an Italian politician and patriot born in the Arbanasi village of Borgo Erizzo (now Arbanasi), a suburb of

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

. After attending classical grammar school, he enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The unive ...

in 1910, and from 1916 to 1918 he was assigned to the command of operations of the

Austro-Hungarian army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

where he performed the functions of interpreter. In May 1919, he took up service in the Prefecture of Zadar and in that same year he participated in "

Impresa di Fiume Impresa (full name: IMPRESA Sociedade Gestora de Participações Sociais SA) () is a Portugal, Portuguese Mass media, media Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Paço de Arcos, in Oeiras Municipality, Portugal, Oeiras municipal ...

" as a volunteer. In 1937 he was awarded the title of Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia. The Italian government sent him to Albania in 1940 on an organizational mission and in 1942 he took on the duties of Permanent Councilor at the "Ministero delle Terre Liberate", governed by

Eqrem Vlora Eqrem Bey Vlora (1 December 1885 – 30 March 1964) was an Albanian lord, politician, writer, and one of the delegates to the Assembly of Vlorë, which proclaimed the Albanian Declaration of Independence on November 28, 1912. He is described as T ...

. On April 16, 1943, he resumed service at the Prefecture of Zadar. When the Anglo-American air bombings of December 16 and December 30, 1943 razed a large part of the city to the ground, Vuxani remained in his place as Prefectural Commissioner to the Municipality and took care of the population. On October 28, 1944, Prefect Coceani from the Trieste commune sent a telegram to Zadar, in which the Ministry of the Interior of Salò ordered the Head of the Province Serrentino to abandon the city. Vuxani remained the last Italian authority in Zadar when it was occupied by the Yugoslav troops on 31 October 1944. Arrested the next day on 1 November, he was put to trial several times and sentenced to death, but in the end the partisans decided to free him by delivering him on Christmas Eve to his son-in-law Giovanni Minak. After being freed, against all caution, he continued to care for the Italian population and, following his courageous interventions, repatriated about 950 Italians from Zadar from January - June 1947. In 1948 he obtained the decree of Italian citizenship and, following the options provided by the

Treaty of Peace A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surren ...

, he returned to Italy bringing with him the "Gonfalone di Zara". After a brief period in the refugee camp of Massa, he resumed service at the Prefecture of Ferrara, and later at the Prefecture of Trieste until 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuxani, Giacomo 1886 births 1964 deaths Italian politicians Arbanasi people Politicians from Zadar People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia University of Graz alumni Italian people of Albanian descent Italian irredentism Italian Austro-Hungarians Albanian Austro-Hungarians Italian government officials Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy)