Pisinota family - "Antonio e Bianca Pesle" Study Prize

"Antonio e Bianca Pesle" Study Prize

For an academic paper at university level on the history and culture of the Italian communities expelled from Istria, you will receive a one-off award of 2,000 EUR. Istria is a peninsula on the Adriatic Sea from which many Italians left after the Second World War. The prize is awarded by the ‘Famiglia Pisinota’, an association in Trieste affiliated with the ‘Unione degli Istriani’. It comes from the estate of Antonio Pesle, in memory of him and his wife Bianca.

Who can apply

• Your work: You are submitting a literary or academic piece of work at university level – for example, a dissertation, an essay or a research paper – on the history and culture of the Italian exile communities in Istria.
• Level: You are currently a student or have just completed your degree. Bachelor’s, Master’s, single-cycle and degrees under the old system all count.
• Field of study: Your work falls within the field of the humanities or the political and social sciences.
• Citizenship and background: You are an Italian citizen and come from an Istrian family.
• Age: You must be under a certain age limit, which changes with each round. In the 2013/2014 edition, for example, you had to have been born after 31 December 1985.

How to apply

Please post your work to the Famiglia Pisinota in Trieste by 15 September. You must provide proof of your date of birth, Italian nationality and academic qualification. A jury will assess the entries. The winner will be notified in writing and will receive the prize in Trieste in December.

How realistic are your chances?

The eligibility criteria for this prize are very strict. You must be an Italian citizen from an Istrian family, meet the age requirement and submit a complete university-level thesis on a specific topic. As a result, the pool of eligible entrants is small, meaning that a compelling entry that is well tailored to the requirements will stand out particularly well. No further editions have been documented since the 2013/2014 round; you should therefore check whether the prize is currently being awarded before counting on it.