Jan Batista Alton
Regarded as the giant of Ladin literature, Alton was the first person to study Ladin at a university level. He studied classics and French at the University of Innsbruck and taught in Trento, Prague, and Vienna, where he graduated in romance studies and was a private tutor. Following this, he studied in Paris and became director of the KUK Gymnasium in Rovereto in Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy. He was murdered there in 1900. His works include Rimes ladines (1885), and Stóries e chiánties ladines (1895), accompanied by an Italian translation and Ladin-Italian glossary. His works give us an insight into 19th century Ladin culture and thought.
La Gana dĕ Val dĕ Mesdí
1.
Chianté ves chianti şëgn dě bèla gana;
Ël’ abitā l plú gian anticamënter
Val dě Mesdí, dormiva tě na tana,
– Inscí fageova troeč da vèdlamënter –;
Les rṓs, dě bèl pavé ghél dlonc corides,
Ē só confórt, da tan’ d’atri mal’dides.
[...]
4.
Tanina – këš l’inom dě nósta gana –
Ně dē plů a mënt ad áicia ed a carëzes;
Crůž tě só cụr scognṓla e pëna grana,
Kirī da n pèz incá d’i crëp altëzes,
Stē dís intīrz sůn pič scèc incantada,
Vérs la valada in jů fita l’odlada.
J.B. Alton, 1895, Stories e chiánties ladines
Funtana: R. Bernardi, P.Videsott, 2014, Geschichte der ladinischen Literatur; bu,press, Bolzano