Gorizia and Gradisca
Rusjan was born in Trieste, then the major port of Austria-Hungary (now in Italy). His parents were both natives of the Gorizia and Gradisca region: his father, Franc Rusjan, was a Slovene, and his mother, Grazia Cabas, was Friulan. Rusjan spent his childhood and adolescence in Gorizia, in the suburb of Rafut.