Interview with Federico d’Errico, an “Italian Cossack”
Cared by Yulia Bazarova
- Mr d’Errico, please, introduce yourself and tell us in short your life.
- I was born in Bari on August 16th, 1949. I worked as a journalist for several national publications, such as the daily newspaper “Giornale d’Italia”, the “Roma”, the weekly magazines “Gente”, “Lo Specchio” and “Il Borghese”.
I was a war correspondent in the Spanish Sahara and in Lebanon during the civil war.
I served in the military as an officer of the First Parachute Regiment of the “Folgore”. In 1979, I started working for “Zanussi Elettronica” in Pordenone, where in a year I became Director of External Relations. In 1984, I was the coordinator of the “Studio Ambrosetti” in central and southern Italy. Since 1989, I have worked as a consultant in South America, then in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and Japan. Since 1992, I have been the sole administrator of Edico Ltd., a licensing company. In 1994, I managed a number of projects on behalf of the European Community, then for the Chamber of Commerce of Rome in Russia, Estonia and Latvia. In 2001, I was among the main organizers of an International Conference of the Cossack Communities in Rome. On that occasion, the Army of the Cossacks has made me an honorary member.
The following year, the Administration of the President gave me the second-class decoration “Cross of Merit for the Cossacks renaissance”.
In 2004, I was appointed General Manager of the company “Promex S.c.p.A.” and I carried out numerous projects in Central and South Russia, among which it is definitely worth mentioning the Business Center in Vladimir: a palace for the Italian-Russian collaboration, where currently there still is a garrison of Cossacks.
I am the author of numerous technical publications, among which: the first manual of marketing in Latvian language, and a book of tales about numerous stories and unique adventures around the world, entitled “La Porta” (The Door). In 2016, I published the book “Storia e Leggenda dei Cosacchi” (History and Legend of Cossacks), published by Mursia.
“History and Legend of Cossacks”
- How did you get to the idea to write the book “History and Legend of Cossacks”?
- The genesis of the book was rather complex: during my many trips to the regions of Russia, I realized that, especially during the 90’s, many publications were made by Cossacks, and in many cases they have reprinted some important historical works of the past. However, it was never written a complete history from its origins to the present day.
As written by the General Petr Deinekin in the preface of my book, I was greeted by the various Cossack communities as a brother, thus I felt a strong desire to reciprocate their feelings.
My paternal grandmother was of Russian-Cossack origins, and since I was a child she passed down to me something profound, that I then found again during my first trip to Russia, as I was the only one in my family to be returned to those territories after more than ninety years. An old Cossack proverb says: “Two Cossacks in the steppe will recognize each other“. That’s what actually happened. I collected a great deal of historical books and documents in Russia, Germany, France and Italy, and as soon as I had time, I began to sort them. But I did not limit myself to making a tedious treatise full of genealogies and academic observations. What interested me was mostly expressing the spirit of Cossacks, their mentality, and correcting certain unsubstantiated claims and numerous prejudices about the history of Russia and Cossacks, in recent centuries inextricably linked.
- When and how was the term “Kazachestvo” born?
- The term “Kazachestvo” has a very broad meaning and its interpretations are not always univocal. The origin of Cossacks can be identified between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, although their presence as organized communities, first as army and later as a true population, can be placed especially at the end of the sixteenth century, when the Cossacks of the Don and Zaporosky (Editor’s note: Cossacks of the semi-autonomous polity of “Zaporozhian Sich” or “Zaporoz’ka Sich”, in the south of present Ukraine) broke down in history like a “storm”.
Many times they were overtaken by events, almost annihilated, in a land where every blade of grass was fertilized by their blood. But every time they resurrected like the Phoenix; and when Russia was in danger, it could always count on their “shashke” (Ed.note: curved swords).
This is the case of the period of the disintegration of the USSR. In June 1990, between the 28th and 30th, in a large rally in Moscow, the Army of the Cossacks, that practically had been destroyed in 1919, has been reconstituted. The Cossacks had survived, even used by the Soviet government in the most difficult moments of the World War II.
President Putin, with a statement which reported the preface of my book, spoke about the role of the army of Cossacks and its function in the future.
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Are you the only Italian who became a Cossack? I do not think it is easy to become one! Are there rules or a code to follow to get into what in Russian is called “Kazachestvo”?
- I’m not the only Italian who was accepted as a Cossack: my illustrious predecessor, Count Ranieri di Campello, commanded a Cossack unit during World War II and, to my knowledge, was acclaimed as an Ataman ( note: The highest rank in the Cossack army).
Rules in the Cossack Army, as well as a code of honour and loyalty to it, exist even at present. Obviously, to gain their respect it is essential to prove to be skilled in using weapons, but, above all, one’s respect towards elders, women and the Church. In any Krug (Ed. note: Assembly of Atamans and Cossacks) each speaker utters the phrase: “At the service of the Cossacks”. This means that the most meritorious deeds are those in the interest and for the success of the Cossack people.
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You said that you have been several times among the Cossacks in Russia. What struck you the most about their life and traditions?
- I have travelled many times in the regions of Russia. It’s hard to say what impressed me more of their life and traditions; I have tried to express many things in all pages of my book.
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What are the differences between the families of the Cossacks and the traditional Russian families?
- Not a few differences there are between families of Cossacks and Russians. I have the impression that the Cossack spirit is more impenetrable to many of the degenerations of the modern world. Some of the Russians “new rich” seem to love money more than families and traditions. In a sense, Cossacks seem to maintain their role as border guards, also cultural ones, by preserving moral principles which are constantly challenged by the “politically correct”. I think they are far away, in time and space, from the Americanized models which are bringing indelible disasters throughout the West.
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In what regions of Russia do Cossacks live and how many are they now?
- It is particularly important to clarify what it means being a Cossack. Nowadays many of them are of mixed descent, but it is not logical to make distinctions about the amount of pure blood flowing in the veins of each member of the “Kazachestvo”, otherwise you might start to question even the membership of the greatest Atamans, such as Bogdan Chmelnickij. Cossacks exist throughout Russia and some communities originated from their military garrisons deployed in all critical areas. Today the largest concentrations are in Kuban, along the rivers Don and Terek , on the Ural Mountains, in Astrakhan and Siberia. The number of them is very difficult to determine. Some statistics made during the Soviet epoch indicated an approximate number of just over 5 million. Currently it is very difficult to give a number with a minimum of reliability, considering the great diasporas of the October Revolution and during the World War II, as well as the division occurred during the period of disintegration of the USS.
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Where is it possible for our interested readers to buy your book?
- Readers interested in my book “Storia e Leggenda dei Cosacchi” (History and Legend of Cossacks), published by Mursia, can find it throughout Italy at Feltrinelli bookstores, as well as in some Mondadori bookshops; locally at the bookshop Cicero in Rome, in Piazza Colonna, And from anywhere, of course, through websites of sale of books.
Yulia Bazarova
