|
He attended elementary school in Trieste and high school (gymnasium) in Capodistria
(now Koper).
He then studied law in
Padova, Vienna
and Pavia,
where he received his degree. During his study in
Vienna
he traveled through
Hungary,
Croatia,
Stajerska and Lower
Austria. In
Trieste,
starting in 1826, he worked for the law firm Domenico Rossetti,
who established the
Trieste
municipality. There he helped in writing the first four issues of the
magazine Archeografo Triestino, then he worked in the tax
office in the
Trieste’s
city government.
His first works with Istria as their theme were
published in 1834 in the publication Osservatore triestino whose
collaborator he remained until the final days of this publication. He
initiated the publishing of the journal Atti Istriani, but due to
financial problems he managed only to publish two volumes about municipal
statutes of Pula and Poreč.
From 1842 until his
passing, Pietro was Procuratore Civico for the city of
Trieste.
His main activities consisted of collecting published historical and other
material about
Trieste and
Istria.
These included archeology, epigraphy, political/cultural and industrial
history, geography, linguistics, ethnology, demographic and industrial
statistics, as well as meteorology/climatology. In
Trieste,
he created an intellectual climate, which has in the mid XIX century
spurred the development of the science of history as well as general
culture.
In 1843, he issued
the Medieval Statute of Pula in Italian, in 1843, in 1846 that of
Porec, in 1849 that of
Trieste,
in 1850 that of Buje, and then Novigrad and Rovinj in 1851.
In 1845 he started publishing the
L'Istria
as a feuilleton (an extension) of the journal Osservatore triestino, later as an
independent weekly magazine
L'Istria from
1846 to 1852, which included a series of documents and articles
that became significant sources on Istrian history.
He corresponded with
many intellectuals of his time, as well as those from
Istria.
In 1851 he was appointed as an honorary member of the
Society for Yugoslav History and Antiquities
in
Zagreb.
He traveled through
Istria and the back
country around
Trieste
collecting information about the local residents and comparingtheir
information with source documents, and he also documented the geographic
and morphological characteristics of the area. He corresponded with
T. Mommsen about epigraphic information for Corpiis
Unscriptionum Latinarum.
He wrote for
magazines and newspapers -
La Favilla,
Oservatore Triestino, and
L’Eco di Fiume - under the
pseudonym Giusto Traibor. One of his most significant undertaking
was issuing a collection of books of diplomatic sources,
Codice Diplomatico Istriano, from 1846 till 1852
(published between 1853 and 1864) encompassing
material from Roman times until 1526 (republished in
Trieste
in 1987). Other important works included: Indicazioni per
riconoscere le cose storiche del Litorale (1855), an accumulation
of various historical sources about
Istria
and Trieste,
Notizie storiche di
Trieste
e guida per la citta'
(1851), Storia del
Consiglio dei Patrizi di Trieste dall'anno MCCCLXXXII all'anno MDCCCIX con
documenti (1858).
In 1863, he published
Storia cronografica di Trieste dalla sua origine sino all'anno 1695,
del Canonico D. Vincenzo Scussa Triestino, Cogli Annali dal 1695 al 1848 del
procuratore civico Cav. Pietro Dott. Kandler. Testi manoscritti che si
conservano nell'Archivio Diplomatico di Trieste, ora pubblicati per
graziosa concessione del manifico podestà Stefano Nob. de Conti. Prima
edizione Curata da F. Cameroni, Stab. Tipogra.-Litogr. di C. Coen
Editore, Trieste.
After that, came
La Provincia dell’Istria
from 1867 until his passing, with Kandler oftentimes writing
short polemics discussing history and contemporary life of Istria and
Trieste without signing his name.
 He was an honorary
Kaiser’s conservator for Primorje (Conservatore
Imperiale per Litorale)
and in this capacity he wrote small articles in
Trieste’s
weekly and daily papers in the epistolary form with very rich text in
history, archeology and epigraphy. He also left very rich archival texts
in the State Archive in
Trieste
and other places, which were issued posthumously in the following
monographs: Notizie storiche di Montona (1875),
Notizie storiche di Pola (1876), and
Pirano - monografia storica (1879). He also created very
important topographic/archeological maps of
Trieste
and
Istria.
Trieste’s
historical/political elite considered him an Austrophil and an enemy of
irredentism and because of that he was in a sort of intellectual isolation
towards the end of his life. However, the modern Italian historiography
recognized him as a dedicated and objective collector of rich and diverse
material about history and contemporary life of
Istria
and
Trieste,
which established the foundation for the development of the regional
historiography.
In Sir Richard Francis Burton's article entitled "Notes on the
Castellieri or Prehistoric Ruins of Istria", published in
Anthropologia in 1875, he quotes Kandler in his
introduction as follows:
The late Dr. Kandler, of Trieste,
concerning whom more presently,
describes his natal country as follows:—
"He who looks upon this region from the seaboard admires
tho regular and beautiful forms of the highlands, the feracity and the
glorious vegetation of the lowlands, the number and safety of the roads
and harbours; nor has he any difficulty in understanding the high praise
lavished upon it by Cassioderus, (Nat. circ. A.D. 468,) who wrote
from Ravenna. On the other hand, those who enter it from the interior,
compelled to traverse a succession of ground waves, whoso northern slopes
are not unfrequently naked and sterile; wearied and confused by the
multitude of tumultuous shapes, find every feature presented to the
worst advantage. Unable to perceive the general plan, they harsh-judge
the country; according to them, the coast, harbours, the rich vegetation
of the shores, the smiling fields, the frequent towns, and the monuments of
antiquity, are so many accidents which fortune has cast like waifs and
strays upon its coast." (3)
Pietro Kandler died in Trieste on January
18, 1872. There is a bust in his honor in the public garden Muzio de
Tommasini in Trieste.
Chronology of Works
Selected works:
-
Codice Diplomatico Istriano (excerpts) -
- 1861 - Excerpts from Raccolta delle leggi, ordinanze e
regolamenti speciali per Trieste:
Li aquedotti
- 1863 - Excerpts from Storia cronografica di Trieste dalla sua
origine all'anno 1695 del canonico Vincenzo Scussa triestino; cogli
annali dal 1695 al 1848 del procuratore civico:
Li Cici
- Collected writings from the journal
L'Istria, 1846-1852
-
October 21, 1848 -
Qualcosa sulla
lingua romanica
Letters -
Arsia (from
Codice epigrafico istriano)
1900 - Stridone: Patria di S.
Girolamo, Atti e Memorie
Landscapes and
People
Biographies and
commentaries:
Sources:
-
http://www.retecivica.trieste.it/triestecultura/biblioteche/bibciv/bookshop.htm
-
http://www.leg.it/Ebook/Lib_antiqua/tutti_i_libri_antiqua.asp?pag=35
- Image (Cicio costume) - courtesy of Fulvio Di Gregorio
|
ietro
Paolo Kandler was born in Trieste on May 23, 1804