Printed and Manuscript Legacy in the Giovanni Antonio Martinuzzi Memorial Library

Abstract

Giuseppina Martinuzzi (Labin, 1844 – Labin, 1925), Labin-born pedagogue, schoolteacher, poet, social and political worker, expressed in her will in 1897 a desire to leave her material legacy, composed of a large number of books, newspapers, maps, notebooks and manuscripts all forming the Giovanni Antonia Martinuzzi Library, to her hometown of Labin. After Giuseppina’s death in 1925, her wish was granted and the library remained in Labin, but at the end of World War II, due to inadequate storage conditions, part of the library was moved to today’s University Library in Rijeka, while the other part remained in Labin. In 1961, the Labin holdings were moved to the Labin National Museum and have remained there to this day. At the initiative of the National Museum of Labin and the City of Labin and with the consent of the University Library in Rijeka, a request was sent to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia in 2018 to return the Rijeka portion of Giuseppina’s library to Labin, which was granted in July 2019. The material from the University Library in Rijeka, composed of folders holding various contents, was transferred to the National Museum of Labin in November 2019, so that the Giovanni Antonia Martinuzzi Library regained its original form and became a whole as originally envisioned by Giuseppina Martinuzzi.