Family History
Genealogy
![[Capras]](capras.gif)
Cosulich
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This page compliments of Marisa Ciceran Created: Friday, May 03,
2002;
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 |
It
was with Capt. Antonio F.Cosulich that
shipping activities took a start in 1857, when the bark Fides of 500 tons
was built in a yard of the nearby island of Cherso. The family expanded
its fleet in the subsequent years, purchasing also steamships and setting
over in Trieste, the leading harbour of the Austrian Empire, in 1889.
Callisto
Cosulich succeeded in the leadership of the family and merged his activity
with other partners by constituting a joint venture called Austro-Americana
which started regular passenger and freight services from Trieste to South
and North America. A shipyard was also set up at Monfalcone near Trieste
by his brother Alberto Cosulich. During World War I, a part of the fleet
was lost and the shipyard was destroyed as well.
Shortly after the war,
the Cosulich family, under the leadership of Callisto's son, restarted
the shipping activities with the trade name of "Cosulich Line",
and rebuilt the Monfalcone Shipyard. Several new buildings and purchased
vessels entered the services to North and South America again, amongst
them the well known Saturnia (see below) and Vulcania (24.000 GRT),
built 1927, and the Neptunia and Oceania (19.500 GRT) built 1930. As a
consequence of the Italian Government policy enacted in that period, the
Cosulich Line, as all other Italian shipping enterprises, was nationalized
in 1935. The nationalization of the shipyard of Monfalcone followed shortly
thereafter. 
After World War II, in 1945, the Cosulich family restored the
shipping business. A new company called Fratelli Cosulich (Cosulich Brothers)
was established with head office in Trieste and branch offices in Genoa,
Naples, Palermo. Freight services run by its own and chartered vessels
as well as husbanding of indipendent liner Companies to South America,
Red Sea and Mediterranean ports have been the prominent activities from
Trieste. The operation of passenger vessels, plying between Genoa and North
and South America, Caribbean, Australia, on behalf of Home Lines, Gdynia
America Line and other owners has been carried out successfully from 1947
for almost two decades.