On the initiative of the local Mixed Choir Milan Pertot, in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of Pertot’s death, in 1987, a memorial plaque was attached to his birthplace in Barcola, a neighbourhood of Trieste.
Milan Pertot
Slovenian teacher and choirmaster Milan Pertot (1900–1967) graduated from the Teacher Training College in Koper, where he studied piano. He was involved in the cultural activities of the Choral Society Adrija in Barcola (Slovenian: Barkovlje) and conducted its choir. He later served as a teacher in various places across the Slovenian Karst. After 1930, he taught in Štajerska (Styria) and in Litija. In Litija, Pertot formed the Trboveljski slavčki youth choir, together with conductor Avgust Šuligoj, and accompanied the choir on piano. He was also choirmaster of the Slovenian Teachers’ Choir. In 1941, he was deported to Serbia by the German occupational forces.
Returning to Trieste after liberation, he taught piano at the local Glasbena matica Music Society and conducted choirs of the Choral Society Škedenj in Barcola and the Prosek-Kontavel male choir. He also formed the Zarja Quintet, which was frequently featured in the programmes of Radio Trst A.
Pertot’s arrangements of Barcola folk songs were published by the Glasbena matica Trieste in the collection Stare tržaške narodne pesmi (Old National Songs of Trieste).
Maia Juvanc
