Finis Transilvaniae

Language

English
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Author(s)

Eva Mairovitz: Author

Summary

The “Finis transilvaniae” passage, included by the jury among the “special awards” in the “Narrating Europe” competition, is a selection from a longer autobiography deposited in the Archivio Diaristico Nazionale di Pieve Santo Stefano (National Diary Archive).

A short fragment of the story

What does it mean to be Central European? It means many things which you realize when you leave. Why? Because you know and understand more about the continent of Europe and you speak at least two languages. In short: you’ve got a multi-ethnic culture. This does not mean, however, that you feel less attached to your birthplace – if anything, it’s the contrary. Central Europe is a cultural reality. Its territory is furrowed by long rivers, various types of mountain chains; it is rich in forests. It is home to peoples of various origins – the descendants of Germans, Slavs and Hungarians (Ugro-Finns, to be exact, who do not belong to the Aryan family) – each with their own language, customs and traditions and belonging prevalently to the Christian faith (Catholic, Greek-Orthodox, Lutheran, as well as Hebrew and rare Islamic groups in the Balkans).

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Why this story is important

These types of documents and the organisations which conserve them, are becoming more and more important for learning – both by scholars and common people – about aspects of our history and contemporary times at national and European level. This involves not just the possibility of acquiring information which – usually – escapes the attention of macrohistory, but it is also an opportunity to enter into social, cultural and historical realities through the vivid nature of first-person narrations, to experience and learn about history and contemporary times through the lens of personal accounts.

How this story was created

This story is part of the stories selected as winner for the "Telling Europe!" Award, created within the "European Memories" project, Grundtvig Multilateral Project - 2008 - 344 / 001-001, created by UNIEDA-Italian Union of Education of Adults (coordinator), ADN - Fondazione Diaristico Nazionale-Onlus, European Information Center (BG), Danish School of Education, University of Arhus (DK), Community Development Foundation (ES), SL- sozial.label eV (DE), VIDA - Association for Intergenerational Enhancement and Active Development (PT).
It is an autobiographical narrative.

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