Distinct personalities
Much like the country makes people big, people make the country big as well. The relatively small Vodnjan area produced some renowned figures in various fields of activity. Let us remember some of them.
Antonio Smareglia (Pula 1854 – Grado 1929) was a renowned composer whose father had roots in Vodnjan. Smareglia is fondly remembered by the people from Vodnjan because he immortalised Vodnjan’s folklore, customs, tradition and autochthonous dialect in the opera Istrian Wedding (Nozze istriane). It was during his stay in Vodnjan in 1894 that he created this well-known lyrical drama in three acts in collaboration with Luigi Illica. Istrian Wedding is his most performed opera with well-known characters like Marussa, Bara Menico, Biagio, Lorenzo and Nicola. Upon his return to Trieste, he devoted himself to the creation of the new movement called “theatre of poetry”. Although the Italian public did not always like his ideas, he nevertheless created some of his best works there, blind at that. He dictated his scores to his sons and students, collaborating with the greats like Toscanini, Lehár, Strauss and James Joyce.
Pietro Marchesi (Vodnjan 1862 – 1929) was an important resident of Vodnjan, an industrialist and founder of the local electricity distribution company. Considered to be a pioneer of mechanical production machines with which he equipped mills, oil mills, a distillery, a vinegar and pasta factory. He introduced the first steam-powered machines for threshing and grinding grains and an olive press, for whose operation he used electric energy in 1883. He was the first in Istria to have introduced electric energy into Vodnjan’s houses in 1889. In addition to his industrial innovations, Marchesi was also a painter, musician and writer. His landscapes, marinas, portraits and altarpieces of great artistic value are widely known. It was he who created the scenography for his friend Smareglia’s opera Istrian Wedding.
Erminio Vojvoda (Vodnjan 1902 – Pula 1991) was the most prominent shoemaker in Vodnjan. His name was well known beyond Vodnjan and Istria for he made shoes both for the residents of Vodnjan and for ladies and gentlemen from all parts of Europe. This artisan was the famous creator of many high fashion models of the time. His sketches and drawings are found in most important European fashion magazines published in Paris, London, Vienna and Milan. Today, traces of his life like hand tools, lasts, blueprints, shoes, pictures, plaques and magazines are exhibited at the Ecomuseum Istrian de Dignan situated on Vodnjan’s Narodni Trg Square. In addition to being a master of his craft, he was also a master of his hobby – cycling, so that his name is also found on the trophy for the winner of the first Istrian cycling race – Giro Ciclistico dell’Istria meridionale.
