Argentina and the Jakins
Kozana immigrants, Stanislav (“Estanislao”) Jakin, his wife Luisa Prinčič, and their Argentine-born daughter Hilda Nelly, 1947
1925
Argentina is a key part of the history of the Daniel's maternal family, Jakin. Daniel's maternal grandfather, Rudolf, worked in Argentina for a number of years in the 1920s and 1930s and if things had gone the way that he wanted his family would have moved there permanently. Three of Rudolf's brothers, who also went to Argentina, did stay on. So an Argentine connection to the Maurice remains to this day.
Like the Mavrič family, the history of the Jakins is rooted in the Slovene village of Kozana located in the district of Brda, adjacent to the Italian border town of Gorizia.
But Argentina also played a key part of the history of the Jakin family and if things had gone the way that Daniel's maternal grandfather, Rudolf, wanted the family would have moved there permanently.
In the 1920s Rudolf worked in Argentina for a number of years. He only reluctantly returned to Slovenia when his wife, Livia, refused to follow him to that country. But three of Rudolf's brothers, who also went to Argentina about the same time, stayed on. So an Argentine connection to the Maurice family remains to this day.
The story of the journey of the Jakin brothers reflects political and economic developments in both their Slovene homeland and in Argentina during this turbulent period.
Argentina
In the early part of the 20th century Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. Already a major agricultural producer Argentina boomed further when oil was discovered in 1918 around Plaza Huincul, in the Province of Neuquén about 1,200 km south west of the capital, Buenos Aires. This attracted many foreign workers, eager to take advantage of the jobs and money the oil boom promised.
There have long been cultural ties between Argentina and Italy. Slovenes had started to immigrate to Argentina from about 1875, then a second large wave of Slovenian emigrants occurred between 1923 and 1929. This mainly involved peasants from the border districts such Brda.
The 1920s immigration was driven largely by the increasingly hostile policies of the Italian Fascist government. After gaining control of this part of Slovenia in the wake of WW1, Italy stripped the local Slovene population of political and cultural rights (see Old Kozana: Village and Family History Intertwined for more details). Many Slovenes left without formal permission from the Italian authorities, who generally were happy to see them leave.
The Jakin Family
Andrej Jakin (1862-1911) was married twice, fathering ten children in total. Four of his boys travelled to Argentina in the 1920s: Rudolf (1901-1961), Stanislav (1903-1967), Bogomir (1904-1979) and Karol (1908-1965).
Rudolf Jakin
Whether driven by economics or politics Rudolf Jakin went to Argentina twice. He first arrived in Buenos Aires on 1 September 1925 on the ship Belvedere which sailed from the Italian port of Trieste. On the same ship was another member of the Jakin family, listed as "Giachino". This man was possibly a cousin although we have no further information on him. Rudolf is described in the Argentinian immigration records as an “agricultural worker”.
Argentine immigration records, showing the arrival of the Jakin family members between 1925 and 1929. Rudolf visited Argentina twice, in 1925 and again in 1929.
Letter from Slovene oil workers in Argentina, which appeared in the Brda newspaper, Goriška Straža, 1927
Rudolf went to work in the oil industry. A brief article appeared in a local Brda newspaper, Goriška Straža, in September 1927 provides confirmation. That article states:
Letter from our expatriates
"Slovenian young men who work on oil wells in the south of the Republic of Argentina are sending their warmest regards to the Goriška Straža to their friends and girlfriends and especially to their native villages -- Rusijan Anton, Srebernic Ciril, Rusijan Jakop, Toros Dionizij and Filej Evgen from Medana; Leopold Reja, Jožef Reja, Rudolf Jakin and Franc Reja from Kozana
(Editor's note: Donations of Lire 182 and 30 cents in total were given away in accordance with your wishes. Thank you very much. God Bless!)”
Rudolf must have returned to Slovenia soon after the article was published as just a few months later, in February 1928, he married Marjia Eliza ("Livia") Reja in Kozana. By coincidence Ivan Mavrić, the future husband of their first daughter, was an altar boy at their marriage mass.
Report of the marriage of Rudolf Jakin and Livia Reja, 1928
The marriage of Rudolf and Livia is also recorded in the Goriška Straža, on 22 Feb 1928 as follows:
Kozana
"Last Saturday we celebrated two marriages at the same time. Mr Karol Jakoničić, from a good house (Zefove*) to Miss Christine Feri; and Mr Rudolf Jakin from a reputable house (Kuraževe)* to Miss Livia Reja. We wish the newlyweds good luck in their new status, and call on God to give them Long Life!"
* Zefove and Kuraževe are "house" names, not surnames. See Old Kozana: Village and Family History Intertwined for an explanation of these names.
Despite his marriage Rudolf returned to Argentina just a few months later. He arrived back in Buenos Aires for a second time on 3 January 1929. This was less than a month after his first child, Daniela (always known as "Danila") Amalia Jakin, was born in Kozana on 10 December 1928. Rudolf did not even see his daughter before he left.
According to daughter Danila many years later Rudolf tried repeatedly to convince Livia to join him in Argentina. She refused. Rudolf finally returned to Kozana about 1934. During his time in Argentina Rudolf had earned good money, enough to buy land back in Kozana. He built a house in the village (at number 24) where the family lived thereafter.
Later in her life Danila also recounted the story many times of her first meeting, at the age of six, with her father. Danila recalled running from the room, crying, "this man is not my father!" During Rudolf's long absence Danila's own maternal grandfather, Anton Reja, had been her father-figure and it must have been a traumatic experience to be told to accept Rudolf as her dad.
A sister to Danila, Vida, was born in 1935 but she died the same year. Then in 1938 Rudolf and Livia had a son, Milan. Milan still lives in Kozana today with his wife Milena and son, Valter.
Rudolf, Danila and Livia Jakin. Probably taken soon after Rudolf's return to Kozana in 1936. It is likely that Rudolf would have sent these photographs to his brothers who had remained in Argentina
Stanislav (Estanislao) Jakin
We do not know exactly when Rudolf’s brother, Stanislav Jakin, arrived in Argentina. It seems he may have entered at the small port of La Boca which at that time did not keep immigration records. In Argentina Stanislav went by the Spanish version of his name, Estanislao.
Estanislao, like his brother Rudolf, worked in the oil industry at Plaza Huincul. But Estanislao had more success than Rudolf in getting his Slovenian sweetheart to follow him. His future wife, Luisa Prinčič, also a native of Kozana, arrived in Argentina about 1936 and went direct to Plaza Huincul to meet Estanislao.
But soon Luisa became ill. She found the climate harsh, with conditions acerbated by severe drought. As a result Estanislao decided to move to the La Plata Province of Buenos Aires. Even so Luisa’s health remained poor throughout the rest of her life. She died in October 1953.
Estanislao and Luisa had one child, Hilda Nelly, born in 1937. Hilda married in 1956 to Hector Pedro Scrignar. Hector died in 1970 in an accident. But Hilda is still living in Buenos Aires. She is now in contact with Daniel and, though him, also with her cousin in Kozana, Milan Jakin.
L to R: Carlos Jakin, his wife Gregoria, Estanislao, Hilda and her husband Hector Scrignar at their marriage, 1956. The couple on the far right are probably Hector Scrignar's mother and father.
When first contacted in 2012 Hilda expressed great happiness at finding her “lost” Slovene and Australian relatives. She said she had always felt the absence of relatives, being an only child and with neither of her Argentine uncles having had children of their own.
Hilda has two children, Juan Carlos and Marcelo. Juan Carlos is a lawyer, now retired and living in La Plata, near Hilda. Marcelo is a former football (soccer) player and now a director in the Argentine football administration.
According to Hilda her father Estanislao told her that his father, Andrej, had red hair. Hilda says that both son Marcelo and grand-daughter Renata regard their own similar hair colouring as a “Jakin trait”.
L to R: Juan Carlos' daughters Ludmila and Abril, his son Juan Pedro, Juan Carlos and Hilda herself, 2014
Hilda’s son, Marcelo and his daughters, Julieta (L) and Renata (R), 2014
Bogomir Jakin
A third Jakin brother, Bogomir, arrived in Buenos Aires on 1 February 1929 on the ship Principessa Maria from Naples. His profession in the Argentinian immigration records is given as “stonemason”. Bogomir also worked in the oil industry in the Plaza Huincul district for many years as a metal worker.
Believed to be a picture of Bogomir Jakin taken in Kozana just before he left for Argentina, 1929
According to Hilda, Bogomir was a very private person, but he did visit Estanislao’s family in Buenos Aires each year.
On retirement Bogomir moved to the city of Cosquín in the province of Cordoba (700 km west of Buenos Aires). A neighbour looked after Bogomir in his old age and it is believed that the two married few months before Bogomir's death in 1972. However Hilda never met Bogomir's wife and we have no information of her whereabouts or fate.
Karol (Carlos) Jakin
A fourth Jakin brother, Karol, arrived in Buenos Aires in February 1929 on the same ship as Bogomir. His profession in the Argentinian immigration records is given as “day labourer”. In Argentina Karol used the Spanish version of his name, Carlos.
L to R: Carlos Jakin, Gregoria (wife of Carlos), Hilda and her husband, Hector Scrignar holding their son Juan Carlos. Taken at the house of Carlos in Bahia Blanca, 1958
Carlos did not go into the oil industry. Instead he moved to Patagonia in central Argentina (1,500 km south of Buenos Aires), where he worked in radio broadcasting at Radio Belgrano.
Carlos married a local Argentinian, Gregoria (maiden name unknown), but they had no children. Carlos died in 1965 in the town of Bahía Blanca where he and Gregoria had lived for many years.
What might have been
The story of the Mavrič and Jakin families would have been completely different if Rudolf had been able to convince Livia to follow him to Argentina. Ivan and Danila would never have married. Danila would have grown up in Argentina. Daniel and Rick would never have been born. Daniel and Margie would never have met.