One Portrait's Mystery: Giorgio Edmondo Pons

Who was
Giorgio Edmondo Pons
(1861–1922)?

During his lifetime G. E. Pons was described by journalists and critics as “giovane intelligente, colto, gentiluomo perfetto” [an intelligent, cultured youth, a perfect gentleman] (L’Eco di Pola, 12. settembre 1896, A. XI, N. 555, p. 2).

He was not forgotten upon his death, when the following was written about him: “Brillava per genialità e coltura, Giorgio Edmondo Pons, poligrafo, gran divoratore di libri, che saltava con la massima indifferenza dal palcoscenico al comando delle guardie municipali e da questo alla direzione della Biblioteca civica. Prodigo con tutti delle sue cognizioni, affabile, compitissimo, ma nervoso all’eccesso, pigliava cappello per ogni inezia, adombrandosi perfino delle allusioni più innocenti.” [Giorgio Edmondo Pons, a prolific and versatile writer, avid reader, brilliant and cultured, moving utterly unperturbed from the stage to the command of the municipal guard,and thereafter to the municipal library. A generous font of knowledge to all and sundry, affable, most courteous but excitable to excess, offended by the slightest trifle, taking umbrage even at the most innocent allusions.] (L’Azione, 23. agosto 1924, A. VI, N. 202, p. 3).

No confirmation was found in the registers for his place and date of birth (Pula, 1861) as given in the register of burials, and on the metal plate affixed to his portrait.

The father, Giovanni Rodolfo Pons, a Frenchman, was born in Trieste in 1832. He served in the Austrian navy, first in Venice, later in Pula. Having moved to Pula,likely at some time around the year 1860, the Pons family was first hand witness to the explosive growth of the city that saw it morph from a provincial town to the powerful primary naval port of the Habsburg monarchy and a modern urban hub. In Pula he founded in 1867 a branch of the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (“Technical Establishment of Trieste”), of which he was a partner and a director. Having left the military service, he found employment in the Pula municipality as a councillor and municipal advisor (Sezione edile, agiunto tecnico, 1887), and was best known as the inspector and first commander of the Pula fire brigade, from its founding in 1878 through to his retirement in 1897. He penned what was at the time a most useful book titled Il Pompiere (“The Fireman”), published in 1884. He died on the 28th of February 1898 at the age of 66.

He was married to Bartolomea Luigia née Gianoni († 11 Mar. 1919, aged 85). According to the available data in the registers they had ten children, of which four survived to adulthood: Edoardo (born in Venice, died 3 Feb. 1907 at the age of 49), Giorgio Edmondo, Giovanna Emilia (married Borovicka, born 18 Jun. 1864, † 21 Aug. 1893),and Amalia Maddalena (married Löbenhöfer, born 21 Mar. 1867, † Grado, 7 Jul. 1947).

Their first known residence was in the area of what is now Flanatička street (then No. 143 Via Campo Marzio, 1869), then at what is now Danteov square, likely in the building that housed the headquarters of the municipal fire brigade during the time that Rodolfo served as its commander (the Piazza Alighieri, “ex abitazione”), and in Flaciusova street, on the first storey of the Fabro house (the Via dell’Arsenale, 1889/1890).

They built their own villa at No. 16 Preradovićeva street (then No. 16 Via San Michele) in the Svetog Mihovila quarter (then the Sobborgo S. Michele), at the time a suburb of Pula. The design for the house on cadastral plot No. 1033 (now designated plot No. 1253/zgr) by the architect Angelo Meÿer was slightly modified due to its proximity to the Sveti Mihovil military fort. A certificate of occupancy was issued in May of 1890 for a building with a ground floor and a loft. The house survives to this day.

We have no data concerning the education received by Giorgio Edmondo. He led an active life centred on his work and studies of history. He served with dedication as a municipal councillor, and was a member of multiple associations active in the fields of culture, education, and entertainment. In all aspects he favoured those associations and institutions that promoted class equality, unity, and the well-being of citizens

Fig. 3 The core of the city in the early 20th century; the building housing the municipal museum and the municipal library is second from the left, demolished in 1936/37 (AMI)

He served as an inspector for the municipal security force (“ispettore delle Guardie municipali di sicurezza”) (1891), founded in 1869 with the task of maintaining the peace and discipline on the streets, and was for a period the chief inspector of the municipal police (1893). In his capacity as head of the competent municipal department he penned a manual titled La sicurezza publica: Un libro d’istruzione, published in 1895.

In December of 1893 he was appointed to serve as director and treasurer of the municipal pawnbroker (the civico Monte di Pietà), a charitable society headquartered at No. 1 Vicolo del mare (now No. 13 on the Forum). He is cited in this role in the directories for Pula for the years 1894, 1901, and 1905.

He was active in drama and music societies, and as an actor, holding the membership of an amateur dramatic arts society (the Società Filodrammatica) (from 1878), performing in plays staged at the Politeama Ciscutti theatre, where he worked his way up to the post of drama instructor, in all ways encouraging amateur stage plays (1910)

He led the Giovanni Gargano (Compania Gargano) operetta company (1884), and was active in a fatherland society (the Pro Patria association) (1887), whose primary objective was the “wise defence of our beautiful fatherland and its serene mother tongue” guided by the principle of “the defence of Italianism”, where he was chosen to serve as its secretary (April 1888).

He was a correspondent of the Trieste daily newspaper Il Mattino, for which he wrote under the pen name Monoculus (1890). We know of one of his poems, titled Truchi de Pola (1891), and he is cited as having penned the verses of the piece Le fanciulle di Leibniz-Wagna (1917). He was a corresponding member of the imperial & royal central commission for the study and preservation of cultural monuments (1908).

He was active in the Armonia Club (1889), where he held the post of president, and he founded and held the post of president of the Rosa Club (1896), which entertained its membership by staging plays, concerts, dances, and the like, gathering at the Apollo Hall.

He was the long-standing president of the Pula Orchestral Society (the Società orchestrale polese) from its founding in 1906. This musical society was founded to promote music and to organise symphonic concerts, events, and charitable concerts.

He was especially prominent in his role as a member of the advisory board of the municipal archaeological museum (the Civico Museo Archeologico) and library (the Biblioteca Civica), where he served for many years as librarian. These two institutions were brought under a single roof, housed at No. 3 Clivo Santo Stefano (now Uspon svetog Stjepana) near the Arch of the Sergii, a well-known antique period monument.

The first session of the advisory board (“curatorio”) of 3 March 1902 appointed G. E. Pons, then director of the municipal pawnbroker, to the post of librarian. The library (with the attendant reading room) was granted the use of modest premises on the ground floor of the municipal museum (opened on 3 August 1902) and opened its doors on 1 January 1903. As the sole staff member of this library G. E. Pons was dogged in advocating for improvements to its operations and the conditions available to library visitors, and in increasing the municipal grants provided for the procurement of books. Just months following its opening he pointed to the need to relocate the library to more appropriate premises, remaining unsuccessful in this effort through to his death. His reports on the operation of the library from its founding to 1904 were published in volumes I, II, and III of the Atti del Museo Civico della Città di Pola.

He held the post of museum manager (“gerente provvisorio”) for a few months in 1906, and again from 1912 to 1917. At the time of his death the municipal library held some 13 thousand volumes.

G. E. Pons never married. He died on 15 July 1922, with angina pectoris given as the cause of death in the register. His body was laid to rest two days later in the family tomb at Pula’s Monte Ghiro municipal cemetery. Witness to his excellent standing in society were the numerous townspeople who attended his funeral, including representatives of all the city’s associations. In his honour the funeral procession passed through the Arch of the Sergii, a monument Pons dedicated one of his published works to.

The G. E. Pons Bibliography

La sicurezza publica: un libro d’istruzione, Pola, 1895 (Pola: Tip. Editrice C.
Martinolich)
A practical manual on regulating local security in Pula aimed at protecting the life, family, honour, property, and liberty of its inhabitants. The volume closes with a brief glossary, an alphabetical index of terms, and a table of contents.

Nell’Istria: uno studio, Milano: Tipografia Capriolo & Massimino, 1901 (Milano:
Tipografia Capriolo & Massimino)
A drama centred on the tragic love of an Istrian woman and a man from Italy,
shattered by the great jealousy of a young local enamoured of the lady.

Antichità polesi: i fregi d’arme sull’arco dei Sergi in Pola, [Pola] : [s.n.], 1910
(Pola : Fratelli Niccolini)
His best-known work, it presents his studious research of the historical, architectural, and cultural significance of the Arch of the Sergii, a major monument in the heart of Pula, raised to honour the Sergii family. The author provides a detailed list and description of all of the types of weapons depicted on the arch’s frieze, and discusses the everyday scenes from the military campaigns, the mythological motifs, and the symbols of power and protection depicted on friezes. Lavishly illustrated and meticulously written, it was published on the occasion of the first provincial fair in Kopar, staged in 1910, where Pons wished to showcase his research and contribution to our understanding of the history of Pula and Istria as a whole.

Pola antichissima, Pola: Stabilimento Tipografico Francesco Rocco, 1922
This modest volume presents a history of Pula focusing on the various theories of its origins. The author considers various historical hypotheses, lays out his own conclusions, rejects theories proposing a Greek origin of the name “Pola”, and claims that the first settlers of the area were peoples from the Mediterranean or Africa associated with the Pelasgian culture. Mindful of the dearth of solid historical evidence he left the question of the origins of Pula open to further discussion. Given that the work was penned in the 1920s it reflects the scientific approach of the time, and Pons’ research presents in great detail deep insights into Pula’s past and its significance in the Roman sphere

Fig. 4 Opere pubblicate di G. E. Pons. Fig. 5 A letter written by G. E. Pons from the AMI archives

1. Portrait of Giorgio Edmondo Pons
Unknown author
Pula, 1922
photograph, black & white, cardboard
61.8 × 46.6 cm, frame 76.2 × 61.2 cm

Half body photograph of an elderly man, head at three-quarter profile to the left, moustachioed, with neatly combed hair. Wearing a white shirt, black jacket, and bow tie. Neutral background.
Signature in the lower left corner: FMelloli (?) / Pola 1922.
Plain rectangular wood frame. Metal plate affixed at the middle of the lower part with an inscription: 
GIORGIO EDMONDO PONS / POLESE / FONDATORE DELLA BIBLIOTECA E BIBLIOTECARIO / NATO 
NELL' ANNO 1861 MORTO NELL' ANNO 1922.

Unpublished. Kept at the Archaeological Museum of Istria. Conservation and restoration work performed in 2024.

2. Inv. no. 14551 (holdings of the University Library of Pula)
La sicurezza publica: un libro d'istruzione / G. E. Pons. – Pola,
1895. (Pola : Tip. Editrice C. Martinolich). – 192 pages; 22 cm

3. Inv. no. P 65/2016 (holdings of the AMI Library)
Antichità polesi: i fregi d'arme sull'arco dei Sergi in Pola / G. E. Pons. – [Pola]: [s. n.],
1910. (Pola : Fratelli Niccolini). – 33 pages; [2] sheet with illustrations; 30.5 cm