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| Painted wooden bust of Abate Giovanni Conia by unknown artist, Museo Diocesano Oppido-Palmi |
As a distinguished theologian, orator and scholar he was invited to join the Accademia Florimontana of Monteleone and Don Raffaele Potenza, its founder, welcomed him under the literary nom de plume Florisbo Elidonio. Conia’s seminal work on studying the language of Calabria and the writings in it, in addition to his own poetry, have caused many to maintain that he did for Calabrian what Dante Alighieri did for Tuscan.
At the height of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which invested heavily in cultural and scientific works, Conia published his Saggio dell’energia, semplicità, ed espressione della lingua calabra nelle poesie di Giovanni Conia which was dedicated to D. Nicola Santangelo, Secretary of State and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. (Naples, Faustino e Fratelli De Bonis Tipografi Arcivescovili, 1834)
Oddly enough, the controversial Veronese anthropologist and criminologist Cesare Lombroso known mostly for disparaging the peoples of the rest of the Italian peninsula, in order to show his esteem for the excellence of the Calabrian dialect and the skill of Calabrian poets, actually transcribed many poems by Conia, citing them as an illustration of the beauty of the language and historical culture of Calabria. The literary scholar Francesco de Sanctis, a native of Campania, was said to have memorized his favorite parts of Conia’s famous Canzone Faceta. Conia’s poetry has endured in Calabria due to the good natured humor and directness he brought to his work through his mastery of his native tongue.
Conia died on 7 February 1839 in Oppido Mamertina and was buried there in the Chiesa del Purgatorio, humbly without even a stone marker. Abate Conia was so well respected in his own day that his memory has been passed down the centuries and in parts of Calabria one still says, ‘u dissi puru ’abbati Conía (“Abbé Conia said it too”) to indicate wise advice or a good proverbial saying. Conia’s modern biographer Raffaele Sergio also sculpted a statue of him which has been on display in his native Galatro since 1974 and which was based on a wooden bust of Conia found in 1920 which is now in the seminary of Oppido.
Cantata per il Natale 1834 Song for Christmas 1834
Abate Giovanni Conia Abate Giovanni Conia
Vogghiu mu abballu: I want to dance:
Chi pretenditi? What do you claim?
No mi teniti: Don’t hold me:
Largu di ccà. Away from here.
Su menzu pacciu I’m half crazed
La testa fuma; My head is smoking;
Lu cori ajuma, My heart is ablaze,
Posu no nd’ha. There is no respite.
Minu li zumpi, I’m leaping,
M’a pedi fittu: But with heavy feet:
Vi ca vi mpittu: I’ll topple you:
Fativi ja. Back off.
Già sona e canta Already plays and sings
Tuttu lu celu: The whole sky:
Eu son su jelu: I’m not ice:
Su puru ccà. I’m here too.
Ntra menzanotti At midnight
Si fici jornu: It became day:
Tuttu ccà ntornu All around here
Scuru no nc’è. There is no darkness.
Chi notti è chista? What night is this?
Chi su sti vuci? What are these voices?
Comu sta luci How did this light
Cumpariu mo? Appear now?
Su di allegrizza Of merriment are
Sti canti e soni: These songs and sounds:
Nc'è cosi boni, There are good things,
Fortuna nc'è. Fortune is there.
Li petri juntanu Stones jump
L'omani abballanu Men dance
L'angeli cantanu The angels sing
La lla ra rà. La lla ra rà.
Mancu li griji Not even crickets
Stannu a lu pratu; Are in the meadow;
Nu nivolatu Clouds
pe ll'aria va. Scatter in the air.
Chi nc'è di novu? What is new?
Tuttu lu beni All goodness
Supra ndi veni: Rises up:
Ecculu ccà. Here it is.
Lu mundu è sarvu: The world is safe:
Lu Sarvaturi, The Savior,
Lu Redenturi The Redeemer
Cumparsi già. Has already appeared.
Eu sugnu mbriacu I am drunk
Pe tantu preju: With so much joy:
Cchiù non mi reju I no longer can stand
Ma chi nc'è ccà? But what is here?
Cotrari e serpi, Kids and snakes,
Surici e gatta Mice and cats
La fannu patta; Make a pact;
Mali non nc'è. There is no evil.
Ficiaru paci Have made peace
Lupi ed agneji, Wolves and lambs,
Farcuni e oceji; Falcons and birds;
La guerra und'è? Where is war?
Mo lu leuni Now the lion
Non irgi crigna, Doesn’t bristle its mane,
Mansa e benigna Tame and benign
La tigri sta. Is the tiger.
Chi su sti cosi? What are these things?
Vinni la paci: Peace has come:
A tutti piaci To all is pleasing
La carità. Charity.
Lu Ddeu di amuri The God of love
Figghiu divinu Divine Son
Nasciu Bambinu Was born an infant
Ecculu ja. There He is.
Dassa mu viju… Let me see…
Oh chi bejizza! Oh what beauty!
Oh chi grandizza! Oh what greatness!
Chi majestà! Chi majesty!
Bambinu caru! Dear Infant!
Sugnu stonatu: I’m bewildered:
Sugnu ajumatu I’m set ablaze
Di carità. With charity.
Quantu sì beju How beautiful are You
Caru Signuri! Dear Lord!
Vampi di amuri Flames of love
Minami ccà. Throw to me here.
Vogghiu mu ti amu: I want to love you:
Squagghia stu jelu: Melt this frost:
E poi a lu Celu And then up to Heaven
Portami Tu. Bring me.
Ja mu ti stringi There is gripped
Stu cori meu, This heart of mine,
Figghiu di Ddeu, Son of God,
Caru Gesù. Dear Jesus.
Si cca nascisti If you are born
Simili a mia, Similar to me,
Ja comu Tia Just like You
Speru mu su. I hope to be.
O cara Mamma, O dear Mamma,
Poi quandu moru, Then when I die,
Chistu trisoru This treasure
Mustrami Tu. You’ll show me.
Si chissu è fruttu If this one is the fruit
Chi tu portasti, That you bore,
Ndi assicurasti You assured us
L’eternità. Eternity.
Si pe lu Celu If you glimpsed
Tu ndi si scorta, Heaven,
Poi si la Porta: Then you are the Gate:
Trasimi ja. Let me enter there.
No, non si perdi No, don’t lose
St’anima mia: This soul of mine:
Gesù, e Maria Jesus, and Mary
Grazzia mi fa. Grant me grace.
Dunca dassatimi: So leave me:
Vogghiu sfurrari: I want to let loose:
Vogghiu abballari: I want to dance:
Largu di ccà. Out of the way.
*Translation and Notes by Cav. Charles Sant’Elia
Further Reading/Essential Bibliography
Giovanni Conia, Saggio dell’energia, semplicità, ed espressione della lingua calabra nelle poesie di Giovanni Conia, Naples, Faustino e Fratelli De Bonis Tipografi Arcivescovili, 1834
Giovanni Conia, Poesie complete, a cura di Pasquale Creazzo, Reggio Calabria, Società Editrice Reggina, 1929
Oreste Parise, L’Abate Giovanni Conia e la questione della lingua calabrese in Mezzoeuro Anno XII num. 9 del 2/3/2013
Mons. Giuseppe Pignataro, Poesie calabre del Canonico Conia, 1980 (reprint of the original 1834 edition)
Antonio Piromalli, La letteratura calabrese, vol. 1, Cosenza, Luigi Pelligrini Editore, 1996
Michele Scozzarra, Sull’Abate Giovanni Conia, 10 October 2017, online at: SULL’ABATE GIOVANNI CONIA - Michele Scozzarra Web Page
Raffaele Sergio, L’Abate Conia, Reggio Calabria, Edizioni Parallelo 38, 1980
