Saturday 28th june 2025 h. 10:00 AM
Guardians of a Living Language:
Na-našo in Molise
Conversation with
Francesca Sammartino, Historical Language Minorities in Italy Prize
by: Mariona Miret
croatian language
Biography
Francesca Sammartino was born on 13 June 1994 in Larino (CB) and grew up in Montemitro (CB), in the Croatian minority of Molise, in a family active in the promotion and preservation of the Croatian-Molise language and culture. After graduating from high school in Vasto (Chieti), she moved to Zagreb in 2013 to study Croatistics and Italianistics at the Faculty of Humanities (University of Zagreb). In 2017, she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Croatistics and Italianistics and in 2020 a Master’s degree in Croatistics and Italianistics (teaching address). During her studies she collaborated with the Department of Italianistics (2016-2017) and was co-editor of the journal ‘Galeotto’ (2016- 2018) of Italianistics students. She later participated in Croatistica Department projects and student and scientific conferences and was awarded the Prize for Excellence in Studies of the Department of Italianistics (2017, 2020), the ‘Franjo Marković’ Prize of the Faculty of Humanities in Zagreb (2018) and the Rector’s Prize of the University of Zagreb (2019). She then taught Italian and Croatian as an L2 teacher. Since 2021, she has been an assistant professor of linguistics at the Department of Italianistics at the Faculty of Arts in Zagreb, and since 2020, a PhD student in Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at the same Faculty. She works on Italian linguistics, contrastive and contact linguistics, with an emphasis on morphosyntax and syntax. She participates in conferences in Croatia and abroad and in projects on language contact between Croatian and Italian (in standard and non-standard varieties) and on the relationship between language and dialect in minority contexts. One of her research topics is Croatian-Molisean language, which she has always dealt with on a cultural level. Since childhood, in fact, she has participated in numerous activities to safeguard and promote the linguistic and cultural heritage of her minority. Since 2010, she has been an active member of the folk group KroaTarantata (Montemitro) and since 2015 of the Agostina Piccoli Foundation (Montemitro). Since 2022, she has been president of the Agostina Piccoli Foundation, succeeding his father, the sadly departed Antonio Sammartino. For this Foundation, she directs projects for protection and promotion of Croatian-Molisan language and culture. She organises the Croatian-Molisean Evening in Montemitro, a cultural event that accompanies the “Piccoli Foundation” Literary Competition, and edited the seventh collection of literary compositions in Molise Croatian “S našimi riči/ Con le nostre parole” (Agostina Piccoli Foundation, 2023). She’s co-editor of the na-našo web-radio “Čujemo se”. She participates in international seminars and working groups for the protection of minorities in Europe. For her cultural engagement, she received the ‘Mini-Metron’ Award of the Croatian Centre in Vienna (with the group KroaTarantata, 2015) and the ‘Croatian Women of Influence’ Award of the Croatian Women’s Network (Toronto/Zagreb, 2022).
Motivation Prize
Francesca Sammartino is one of the most dynamic voices for the preservation of the Croatian-Molisean language and culture, Na-Našo. Raised in Montemitro, a small village in Molise, from a young age Francesca has been immersed in the traditions of her community, which she has helped to defend and promote with great passion. Through her academic training, which has led her to obtain prestigious awards, and her research on the language contact between Croatian and Italian, she has contributed significantly to the understanding and appreciation of the Croatian-Molise language, a cultural heritage that was in danger of disappearing. In addition to the academic sphere, as president of the “Agostina Piccoli” Foundation, Francesca has given new impetus to language protection and promotion projects, including the collection of literary texts and the organisation of the “Večera Na-Našo” (Croatian-Molisean Evening). Aside from continuing her parents’ dedicated and painstaking work with tenacity and patience, Francesca has become a reference figure for the new generations, managing to combine tradition and innovation, as demonstrated by her work with the music group KroaTarantata and the na-našo web-radio “Čujemo se”. The Ostana Prize is awarded to her for her extraordinary work as a researcher, cultural activist, musician and leader of strong determination, an award that we extend to the entire Croatian-Molisean language community for their dedication to revitalising and preserving Na-Naso, a true cultural miracle that is being carried forward as a beacon of hope for the present and the future.
PARTNERS
Comune di Ostana
The Ostana Prize celebrates the international support received
from the UNESCO International Decade of Indigenous Languages, and from two reference institutions in the linguistic field: the ELEN network (European Language Equality Network) and the NPLD network (Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity).
