The Defranceschi who won the Istrian rural communes, 1879

In the summer of 1879 a Defranceschi beat the Croatian national candidate in the rural communes of Istria, and two newspapers are still angry about it. «Galeb» (Bakar), 15 July 1879: «U našoj posestrimi Istri izabran je dr. D. Vitezić, dočim je drugi narodni kandidat dr. Klodić u seoskih obćina podlegao Talijanu Defranceskiju.» — «in our sister Istria dr. D. Vitezić was elected, while the other national candidate dr. Klodić was defeated in the rural communes by the Italian Defranceski.» (doc.) «Naša sloga», 16 August 1879 returns to it at length and without charity, naming the men of the Poreč district who went over «dušom i tijelom za Defranceskia» — body and soul for Defranceschi — and calling them odpadnici, renegades. (doc.) This is the name in politics, on the Italian side, against the Croatian national movement — and it is the first time this archive has held a Defranceschi as a candidate rather than as a subject of administration. ⚠ Which Defranceschi is not established. The obvious candidate is Carlo de Franceschi (1809–1893), the Istrian historian and politician, who was seventy in 1879 and whose own page already carries 1879 — as the year of his «L'Istria», and nothing about an election. That is not evidence, only proximity. The province held other men of the name, and this page will not put a face to the surname until a source names one. (open.) Found 28 September 2026 on the Portal Stare hrvatske novine. © Portal Stare hrvatske novine, Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica u Zagrebu, 2009.