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Emigration from Friuli to France between 1820 and 1970
1820-1914 – Mosaic workers, terrazzo workers and bricklayers in France.
Matteo Ermacora
The first to arrive in this transalpine republic at the beginning of the nineteenth century were small groups of mosaic workers and terrazzo workers from the right bank of the Tagliamento river, who devoted themselves to the restoration of ancient Roman mosaics and to the decoration of public and private palaces, using innovative techniques. The urban sprawl which occurred at the end of the century further attracted bricklayers and stone masons from the mountain areas and nearby valleys; in any case the migratory flows towards France were considerably fewer compared to those directed towards the neighbouring Empires of Central Europe.
1. The origins. A possible destination, but a secondary one Until the years after the First World War, France was an exceptional destination for Friulian workers compared to the migration flows to the Central Empires. According to official statistics, in the period between 1876 and 1915 the overall number of emigrants headed for France was 19,713, rather meagre (equal to 2.2%) when compared to the streams directed towards Germany and Austria. From the start emigration in this country remained limited to small groups of terrazzo workers and mosaic workers from the right bank of the Tagliamento River who, after having worked in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, moved over to France to carry out decoration works in public and private palaces. Around the middle of the nineteenth century the finding of mosaics dating to Roman times attracted workers from Sequals for the restoration works in Montpellier, Béziers and Nîmes.
This presence of skilled workers strengthened gradually: the ministerial inquiries carried out in the years 1884-1885 and 1888 signalled the presence on the other side of the Alps of terrazzo workers and furnace workers from Fanna, of road workers from Aviano, of mosaic workers, stonecutters and terrazzo workers from Sequals and of stone masons from Travesio. The skilfulness of these workers was recognised and appreciated, to the extent that during this period some groups started to head for Germany, Holland, Denmark and the United States.
The dynamism of the Friulian mosaic industry in France during the second half of the nineteenth century is without doubt related to the entrepreneurial success of Gian Domenico Facchina; born in Sequals in 1826 and educated in Trieste and Venice. Around the middle of the century Facchina moved to Montpellier where he devoted himself to the restoration of antique flooring, experimenting an innovative technique– which meant a considerable lowering of production prices and a rapid execution of the work that guaranteed him an increase in orders. His skill in putting together Roman, Venetian and Byzantine artistic techniques and traditions allowed him to work in the French capital, where, after having taken part in the world exhibition of 1867, he was commissioned the decoration of the Opera House. Up to 1904, the year in which he died, Facchina divided his time between his workshops in Venice and Paris, and thus represented one of the driving forces of emigration for mosaic workers and terrazzo workers towards France, many of whom – like the Odorico brothers – after a period of apprenticeship, set up their own businesses working in other French towns. The expansion of the sector of mosaic decorations spurred the establishment of many family businesses during the last decade of the nineteenth century and broadened the area from where specialist workers left, including the areas of Pordenone, Sacile and Spilimbergo.
The seasonal flows of terrazzo workers, mosaic workers and decorators intensified in the course of the first decade of the twentieth century, as demonstrated by the enquiry carried out by Guido Picotti, Inspector of Employment, in 1909. However, at the turn of the century these experts were joined by teams of bricklayers and stone masons from the mountain areas of Pordenone and Carnia. In fact, stonecutters from Forni di Sotto left in the years 1898 and 1899 for the mines of Lorraine and Paris, where they built the metro stations. The reports by the parish priests of the Diocese of Udine in the period between 1911 and 1914 confirm that by then emigration towards France had also involved builders from the areas situated at the foot of the mountains (Venzone, Pioverno, Montenars, Alesso) and from Carnia (Verzegnis-Chiaicis, Lauco, Ampezzo, Raveo, Enemonzo). As well as these “traditional” professions, the parish priest of Ampezzo mentioned the migration in 1911 of tailors headed for Marseille and Paris, while some groups of furnace workers from Artegna and Buja and Central Friuli headed for Alsace-Lorraine, travelling along the much disputed border between France and Germany and Austria.
Therefore, between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries France established itself as one of the possible destinations of Friulian emigration, but it mostly remained a transit area for those who, having reached the French ports, set sail for Canada. In spite of this, news of what was happening in this country the other side of the Alps reached Friuli, leaked out by the press or by those few workers who went there. Just to mention a few: the rise of the French trade union movement, the episodes of xenophobia against the Italian workers in Aigues Mortes in 1893, and furthermore the many cases of exploitation of glassworkers.
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