Page 128 - Upland Families, Elites and Communities

Aleksander Panjek and Miha Zobec

name Učerinovi), as his ‘universal’ heir (pang, 939, 2, Testament 1850).
Yet before his death, his father appointed Anton as his representative in
all matters (pang, 939, 5, Vollmacht 1838).
Thanks to the functions he held, Anton managed to rise to an enviable
financial position. Although we have no direct evidence, Černe’s political
career was so long (from 1839, when he first became mayor, to 1876, when
he ceased to be a regional deputy), that we can assume it provided him
with a springboard for accumulating his fortune. It also gave him access
to important positions in Austrian politics, i.e. the State and Regional As-
semblies, which provided him with an excellent platform for strengthening
hisposition,alsomaterially.TherumourswentthattheHungariangovern-
ment bankrolled Černe 60,000 Gulden in exchange for lobbying in favour
of cutting the Hungarian contribution to the common state military bud-
get (Kjuder 1972, 150; Hadalin 2011, 735). Considering that Černe was a
member of the Austrian parliamentary delegation for solving the issues
of dualism within Austria-Hungary, gossip recorded by Albin Kjuder (who
acted as parish priest in Tomaj between the two world wars), might not be
unfounded. After all, in the parliament Anton Černe fraternized with the
Slovenian politician Lovro Toman who was known to have profited from
the railway construction in his native region Gorenjska (Melik 2002, 683).
Rumours aside, the fact that Anton Černe purchased vast swathes of
land, as documented by the sale contracts stored in his legacy, testifies
to the assumption that he managed to accumulate immense wealth. Fur-
thermore, like his predecessors, most notably the mayor Ivan in the mid-
eighteenth century, from the 1860s on Anton Černe pursued a money-
lending business. Last but not least, the testament specifying the amounts
of moneyand property Černegavetohisdaughters, aswell as themarriage
contracts, attest to Černe’s fortune. Later, in his will, Anton left houses
to each of his daughters: Jožefa, married to the landowner Andrej Koc-
jan from Žirje, was given a house in Sežana; Luiza (Aloysia), married to
Mihael Delles, a merchant from Trieste, was given half of a house in Tri-
este; Amalia, married to the centurion Franko Černe from Tomaj, a home
and half of (another) house in Trieste; Vincenca received five houses in
Trieste; and lastly, a house in Trieste for his grandson Emil Artur. In ad-
dition, Vincenca received a dowry of 6000 Gulden, the same amount was
given to Aloysia, while Jožefa got 2500 Gulden.⁷ Yet despite the wealth An-

⁷ pang,939,b.4,Testament,26.September 1889;ibid., contract (convenzione)between An-
ton Černe and Vincenza Sclemba by notary Qurantotto in Trieste, 1 June 1882; Ehepact,

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