In 1836, Nemeskéri Kiss Pál (1793 – 1863) arrives from Hungary as the governor of the city of Fiume (former name of the city of Rijeka). The new governor brought with him his progressive, socially active wife Nemeskéri... [ view full abstract ]
In 1836, Nemeskéri Kiss Pál (1793 – 1863) arrives from Hungary as the governor of the city of Fiume (former name of the city of Rijeka). The new governor brought with him his progressive, socially active wife Nemeskéri Kiss Pálné Csapó Ida (1807 – 1856). Ida Csapó has previously publicly expressed her philanthropic ideas, and upon arrival to Rijeka wrote about her experience of the situation in Rijeka in a letter to her parents. Writing to her father, she states her concern about the great poverty, misery, especially because of torturous childhood diseases and high mortality rate among children (Kurucz, 2000).
Residents of the city of Fiume were mostly Italians then, but apart from a few merchants and nobles, they lived in dire poverty. The population barely sought food, and around the Governor's Palace children were begging daily. At that time the city was devastated by a variety of children's diseases, e.g. twisted bowel, rickets, and skin infections and eczema. Csapó Ida decided to help those children. She assumed all care about starting the charitable care of poor children. She found the donors and under the name "Asilia di Carita per l' infanzia" opened a full-day stay for them. She founded a women's organization that officially opened the first children's shelter under the protection of the Hungarian crown on the 13th of April 1841. On a rented floor the Benzoni family (near the Church of St. Vitus), 30 children between 2.5 and 6 years were settled. The children at the facility wore dark clothing with stripes, and before they went home, they changed their clothes. They had three meals a day. Reception was open from 6 am to 8 pm. The educational program comprised of a series of daily activities.
Keywords: Csapó Ida, poverty, donators, Benzoni Palace.
