The Austrian Connection of the Maurič family
Klagenfurt, Austria
1911
Austria has a long shared history with Slovenia, the homeland of Ivan Maurič and Danila Jakin. To this day the Mavrič family has an ongoing Austrian connection through the Schumnik family of Ivan's sister, Ernesta, and to the city of Klagenfurt, where the Schumnik family still lives. Klagenfurt is located about 200 km north-east of Kozana, the birthplace of Ivan and Danila.
Slovenia's connection with Austria
Slovenia formed part of the Holy Roman Empire for nearly 1,000 years. In the mid-14th century it fell under Habsburg rule of the Austrian empire. By the mid-19th century much of Slovenia (called then the “Duchy of Carinthia”) was absorbed into Austria-Hungary, a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. Austro-Hungry became the largest and most powerful empire within continental Europe.
Following the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of World War I, a new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs emerged, (renamed in 1929 as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). At the end of WW1 Slovene volunteers even managed to occupy the city of Klagenfurt to Slovenia's north-west for a few months before it was eventually returned to Austrian control.
Early family connections with Austria
Kristina Čadež taken in Goisern Austria (about 1912) & Bogomir Mavrič (early 1920s?)
Ivan’s mother, Kristina Čadež, was born in Austria 1891, in the town of Bad Goisern, located close to Salzburg. It may be that the Čadež family was in Goisern to sell fruit, a common practice for farmers from Kozana at that time. Kristina herself spoke fluent German, no doubt reflecting that it would have been the language used in Slovene schools then and useful when visiting Austria.
Kristina married Bogomir Mavrič in Kozana in 1911. Their first daughter Ernesta (called "Nešta" by her family) was born in 1912 in Bad Goisern, like her mother. This suggests that the Mavrič family may have regularly visited Austria. Possibly this was the result of Bogomir's search for work, or it may have been the result of political upheaval impacting Kozana at the time.
Marriage of Anton Schumnik and Nešta Mavrič, 1938
Ernesta at her fruit stall in Klagenfurt central markets, mid-1950s.
The Schumniks: Anton, Edwin & Ernesta, with her niece Emma, at their stall, mid-1950s
The Schumnik Family
About 1938, Nešta married an Austrian national, Anton Schumnik in Klagenfurt. Their only child, Edwin, followed in 1939. During WW2 Anton spent time in a Prisoner of War camp in Texas, USA before eventually being repatriated back to Austria.
Twice Nešta came to the rescue of other family members. Following the death of their father, Bogomir, in 1938 Nešta nursed her teenage sister, Alma, back to health after Alma became seriously ill and their mother, Kristina, was unable to cope. Twenty years later she took in her teenage niece, Emma (daughter of her sister, "Tine") who had been unable to find work in Slovenia. Emma remained close to the Schumniks all her life.
The Schumniks ran a fruit stall in the central Klagenfurt markets for many years. When Ivan, Danila and Daniel travelled to Europe in 1957 they visited Nešta, bringing fruit from Kozana to sell at her stall.
Nešta and Anton eventually separated. In 1959 Nešta visited Australia (see Life with Ivan - The Fishmonger who became a Builder). She died in 1967 in Klagenfurt.
Nešta’s son, Edwin, and his wife Zivka continued to live in Klagenfurt. Edwin died in August 2016. According to one of their grandchildren, Nicolas Schumnik, Edwin maintained the family fruit stall at the central market after the death of his parents for a number of years. Over time he expanded the business into a chain of pizzerias, coffee shops and bars. For many years after he retired Edwin was known for his “gastronomic” achievements in the city.
Today Nicolas is a top chef working in Zurich, Switzerland. He visited Australia in August 2017, happy to make contact with his Australia relatives.
Photo Right: Nicolas Schumnik (in coat) with Daniel Maurice in August 2017. The photos was taken in the same spot under the Sydney Harbour Bridge where Nicolas' great-grandmother, Nešta (centre, left photo) stood when she arrived in Sydney in 1959 on her visit. In in the 1959 photo Daniel is crouching in front of Nešta, who is flanked by her brother, Ivan & his wife, Danila