page_title: Istro-Romanians
section_title: Literature and proverbs
hierarchical_section_title: Istro-Romanians / Culture / Literature and proverbs
caption_attribution_description: English: Title page of Calindaru lu rumeri din Istrie, the first book written in Istro-Romanian
context_page_description: The Istro-Romanians are a Romance ethnic group native to, or associated with the Istrian Peninsula. Historically, they inhabited vast parts of it, as well as the western side of the island of Krk until 1875. However, due to several factors such as the industrialization and modernization of Istria during the socialist regime of Yugoslavia, many Istro-Romanians emigrated to other places, be they cities in Croatia like Pula and Rijeka or areas such as New York City, Trieste or Western Australia. The Istro-Romanians dwindled severely in number, being reduced to eight settlements on the Croatian side of Istria in which they do not represent the majority.
  It is known that the Istro-Romanians are actually not indigenous to Istria, since the differences between the Istro-Romanian language and the now extinct geographically close Dalmatian are notable. In addition, they count several similarities with the Transylvanian Romanians and Timok Vlachs, suggesting that the Istro-Romanians originate from the current areas west of Romania or Serbia.
context_section_description: Literature written in the Istro-Romanian language is scarce and quite recent. The first book written in this language, Calindaru lu rumeri din Istrie, was barely published in 1905. Its two authors were Glavina, an Istro-Romanian who always advocated the education of his people, and Diculescu. In this book, they gather words, proverbs and stories of the Istro-Romanians. Glavina would publish more works later, such as I romeni dell'Istria (The Romanians of Istria) and L'educazione nazionale (The national education) in the early 1920s. However, these texts, although about the Istro-Romanians, are in the Italian language. After his death, his wife Fiorella Zagabria published Promemoria e lettere, a posthumous work in which Glavina's last texts are collected. The "Istro-Romanian hymn", showed below, is located there.
  The second book in Istro-Romanian, Lu frati noștri: libru lu rumeri din Istrie, was published in 1928. Its author was a Romanian, Alexandru Leca Morariu, who made a trip to Istria in 1927 and another one in 1928 to study the Istro-Romanians. The first Istro-Romanian newspaper, Scrisoare către fråț rumer, has been publishing cult literature, such as the poems of the brothers from Nova Vas Gabriela and Gabriel Vretenar of 1997. In 2011, the Istro-Romanian Antonio Dianich publishes Vocabolario istroromeno‑italiano. La varietà istroromena di Briani (Băršcina), a dictionary for Italian and the Istro-Romanian dialect of Brdo. In 2016, the picture book Šćorica de lisica ši de lupu (The Story of The Fox and The Wolf) was published by a group of enthusiasts and researchers led by Vrzić.
  The Istro-Romanians had many proverbs in the past. Today, they know less than before. Some of the best known proverbs are nu ie cårne far de ose ("there is no meat without bones"), lu Domnu și lu Drîcu nu se pote sluji o votę ("you cannot serve God and the Devil at the same
  time"), mora bure måcire și bovån ("the good mill can [even] grind rocks"), din cala lu omu bet și Domnu se dåie la o bande ("even God avoids the drunk") and cåsta lume făcuta ie cu scåle: uri mergu ăn sus, ål'ți ăn jos ("the world is made of stairs: some go up, others down").
caption: Title page of Calindaru lu rumeri din Istrie
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