Vortrag bei der Rätischen Vereinigung für Familienforschung

Linard Candreia: Back to Marmorera

On the short life of the emigrant and seasonal worker Flurin Lozza (1870–1919) and his time
At the age of sixteen, Flurin Lozza from Marmorera became an emigrant: like so many Graubünden residents at the turn of the century before last, he found hardly any work or wages outside the valley and the canton, moving first to Spain, then to France. There he worked his way up in the hospitality industry, became a waiter and dreamed of having his own café – but success was denied him. Again and again he is exploited and harassed, loses his jobs, is unemployed and ill, returns home for a while, until family disputes, village confinement and financial hardship pull him away again. Eventually, he marries a local woman and settles down, but the struggle for the growing family's livelihood does not stop.
The book is based on the meticulously kept diaries that Flurin Loz-za left behind. Linard Candreia quotes from it and enriches the records with anecdotes and historical reminiscences – the result is a biographical-historical mosaic about the fate of a Graubünden "guest worker".
Linard Candreia, who grew up in Casti, now lives in Laufen BL, where he taught history, German, French and Italian as a secondary school teacher. He writes in the Romansh idioms Surmiran and Sursilvan as well as in German – including short stories, columns and the "Im-puls" for Radio Rumantsch. He was awarded the Recognition Prize of the Canton of Graubünden for his literary work.