Joseph Zupicich (October 1893 – April 11, 1987) was a crewmember on the when survivors boarded the liner after being rescued on April 15, 1912 from lifeboats by the ''Carpathia'' crew.

Early life

Zupicich was born in 1893 in

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Career

Zupicich worked as a steward foreman on the , a

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermu ...

passenger liner that sailed the North Atlantic. ''The Morning Call'' quoted a 1982 interview of Zupicich with the '' Shamokin News'' on the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Zupicich and other stewards were playing cards on the night of April 14, 1912, when Carpathia Captain

Arthur Rostron Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, KBE, RD, RNR (14 May 1869 – 4 November 1940) was a British merchant seaman and a seagoing officer for the Cunard Line. He is best known as the captain of the ocean liner RMS ''Carpathia'', when it rescued hund ...

summoned the crew on deck. According to Zupicich in the article, the captain told the crew, "We are in danger. I am risking your lives. The Titanic is in trouble and is sinking and we have to go help them." Zupicich described to the paper how the Carpathia, 50 miles away, picked its way through the icebergs to reach Titanic lifeboats. His daughter, Marie Zupicich, in 1968 wrote down an eight-page accounting of the five hours that her father and fellow crew members spent rescuing Titanic victims and taking them aboard the Carpathia. She mailed it to newspaper man William C. LeVan, and he published the story, along with a photo of Zupicich. After 22 trips across the Atlantic as a ship steward, Zupicich worked as a miner in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. He died in 1987 at 94 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zupicich, Joseph 1893 births 1987 deaths American sailors People from the Margraviate of Istria People from Shamokin, Pennsylvania RMS Titanic Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States