(de) Giorgi
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Country | |
Estate(s) | Palazzo Giorgi, Dubrovnik |
Cadet branches |
The Giorgi or Zorzi were a noble family of the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Ragusa.[1]: I: 54 [2]
Tradition links the Zorzi to the origins of the city of Venice. In 1817, Antonio Longo wrote that they came from Moravia and Silesia; entered Italy in 411 AD and took up residence at Pavia; and after the invasion of Attila in 453 AD were among the founders of Venice.[3]
The Almanach de Gotha[4] enumerates it among the eleven oldest native families of the Republic of Ragusa,[5][6] and members of the family were still living in the city in the 19th century.[7]
The first documented mention of the family dates from the tenth century: in 964 Gregorio di Andrea de Georgii was bishop of the island of San Pietro di Castello, formerly known as Olivolo, in the Venetian Lagoon.[2][8]
It has been suggested that the Giorgi came to Ragusa either from Rome[9] or from Kotor.[1]: I: 58
The island of Curzola has been a fiefdom of the family since 1254.[10]
Over the centuries, the Giorgi were divided into several branches in Italy and abroad, merging with other noble families of Dubrovnik and continental Europe. A branch of the family joined its name and arms to those of the Bona family, creating a new branch as Giorgi-Bona.[1]: III: 71
The Giorgi were among the important families of the Republic of Ragusa, serving in the 14th and 15th centuries in 6.50% of all major public offices.[11]: 51 Between 1440 and 1640 the Giorgi had 109 members of the Great Council, representing 4.95% of the total.[11]: 54 In the two hundred years, they also count for 203 senators (6.21%), 163 rectors of the Republic (6.84%),[11]: 60 173 representatives in the minor council (6.33%) and 41 guardians of justice (4.99%).
Members of the family include:
The Ragusan poet Ignjat Đurđević (Ignazio Giorgi) did not belong to this family, but to another ennobled a few years before his birth in 1675.[12]: 145
Various coats-of-arms of the family. The last one is the branch of House of Bona-Giorgi. |