Giuseppe Viscovich

Giuseppe Viscovich was a Venetian count. He was the Captain of the town of Perasto (now in Montenegro), the last territory of the Republic of Venice to surrender to the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte.

On August 23, 1797, the Venetian citizens of Perasto gathered to bury the flag of the Venetian Republic under the altar of the cathedral, to prevent it falling in unworthy hands. Before the kneeling crowd, Giuseppe delivered an emotional speech in the Venetian language, the "Discorso de Perasto", still well known to Venetians.

Contemporary chroniclers tell that Giuseppe said to his young grandson, present at the ceremony, "Inzenocite anca ti Anibale, e tientele ben a mente ste parole par tuta la vita." ("You too kneel down, Annibale, and remember these words as long as you live.")

Whilst Captain Viscovich's impassioned speech is often cited as an expression of the loyalty which many Slav subjects of San Marco felt, uprisings did occur against centuries-long Venetian rule in Dalmatia and the Montenegrin littoral.

External links

* [http://www.colonialvoyage.com/viaggi/montenegroperasto.html Travelogue about Perasto]