Carle Felix Gana

Carle Felix Gana
Gana in the 1910s
Born	Carle Macelé (1873-10-11)11 October 1873 Zira, Provinzia Passeier
Died	19 April 1954(1954-04-19) (aged 80) Viestfurćia near Pescosta, Provinzia Inn
Resting place	King's Rest, Sass dla Porta
Occupation	Author academic folklorist historian
Alma mater	Sancta Pietre, Maran
Genre	Fantasy legend history literary criticism
Literary movement	Neo-Rhaetic
Notable works	Lijëndes Ladines
Spouse	Maria Gana (m. 1900; died 1953)
Children	Andris Carle Felix Margreta Trebo
Military career
Allegiance	Kristian II
Branch	Royal Rifles
Years	1890–1893
Rank	Aucleutnante
Unit	Royal Wergal Rifles
Battles	Tiroler Civil War White War Defence of Marmoleda Black Wednesday Caporin Offensive  (POW)

Carle Felix Gana (born Carle Macelé, 11 November 1873 – 19 April 1954), sometimes known as CFG, was a Tiroler writer, historian and folklorist. He was the author of the Lijëndes Ladines.

From 1898 to 1906, Gana was the Professor of Rhaetian History at his alma mater, Sancta Pietre, and a member of congregation for the University of Maran at large.

Gana is widely regarded as the father of Rhaetian mythology, as author of the first known written collection of the Ladin sagas, codifying the oral legends of the Ladin communities of the Dolomita. The Lijëndes Ladines and his later works are considered seminal sources in the study of folklore in Tirol according to the Department of Rhaetian Studies at the University of Maran. The Istitut ladin Micurá de Rü hails Gana as creating the most significant work of Tiroler cultural history since the Aquila Tirolensis.

Biography

Ancestry

Gana identified himself as Tiroler, with immediate ancestry in the Provinzia Passeier, then the Archduchy of Passeier. Although his father, Hugo Macelé had been affluent, his paternal grandparents had been miners in the Schwaz Gold Mines, and he firmly believed he was of working class heritage. His earliest recorded paternal ancestor is Albrecht Macelé, recorded as a member of the Trënt Merchants Guild in 1712.

His mother, Margreta was from the noble dla Featte family, under the Kingdom of Tirol this afforded substantial respect, Andris Gana stated in a 1969 interview that his grandmother [Margreta] had been estranged from her family due to her marriage to Hugo, but had still retained a stipend by which to sustain herself. His earliest recorded maternal ancestor is Andreas de Nord, Margrave of Adesc (1422 – 1471), although the dla Featte family claim lineage from the 6th century Albrec dis Persenù of the Kingdom of Adesca.

Gana's surname by birth, "Macelé," is believed to be derived from ancient Rhaetic words: "mace," meaning 'great,' 'mighty,' or 'powerful,' and "lés," meaning 'guardian' or 'protector.' The combination of these words gave birth to the name "Macelé". It is likely that this originated from the elder, or leader of a small settlement.

Gana created his own etymological interpretation, which, though entirely fictional, he propagated in the foreword to Lijëndes Ladines:

"Macelé" is said to have originated during a time of great hardship and bravery in the Ladin-speaking valleys. According to the local legends, centuries ago, a powerful and fearsome dragon had taken residence in the heart of one of the valleys. This dragon, known as "Macelé," was said to have terrorized the villages and prevented the local communities from thriving.

The villages in the region united to face this common threat, and a group of brave Ladin warriors embarked on a perilous journey to confront the dragon and bring an end to its reign of terror. After a fierce battle that lasted for days, the warriors managed to defeat the dragon, but not without significant sacrifice. The victory marked a turning point for the villages, as they were finally able to prosper without the constant threat of the dragon's attacks.

In honour of their bravery and unity, the surname "Macelé" was adopted by the descendants of these warriors and their families. It became a symbol of courage, resilience, and the ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. The name served as a reminder of the community's shared history and the importance of standing together in the face of adversity.

As generations passed, the true origin of the name "Macelé" became intertwined with the legend of the dragon, and it continued to be passed down as a proud ancestral name, carrying with it the spirit of bravery and unity that defined the Ladin people.

Childhood

The Royal College of Innsbruck, where Gana was a pupil (1884 – 1889)

Gana was born as Carle Macelé on 11 October 1873 in the village of Zira in the Archduchy of Passeier, Kingdom of Tirol (now Provinzia Passeier, Free State of Tirol) to Hugo Frances Macelé, a Tiroler academic, and Margreta Juli Maria dla Featte, married in 1862 in Franconia, Quebecshire. Gana was their only child. His childhood was mostly spent between the village of Zira and Maran, where his father worked. During his early childhood, Gana frequently explored the University of Maran, meeting and subsequently befriending the royal scholar, Battesta Caruso.

On 15 March 1884, when Gana was eleven, his father died suddenly. His mother, now wholly dependent on stipend from the dla Featte family, was required by the Archduke of Adesc to place Gana into the Royal College of Innsbruck. His tutor noted that he was an "intelligent but resentful pupil". He excelled in particular in history, and geography. Within his first year in the college he had studied the full Aquila Tirolensis. His tutor noted that he had, shortly after his first year, developed a keen interest in eugenics.

Education

In October 1889, at seventeen, Gana attained a scholarship to study History and Ladin at Sancta Pietre College, Maran. He thus returned to the university, establishing a close personal friendship with Caruso.

Tiroler Civil War

During the Tiroler Civil War, Carle Felix Gana became an active participant by enlisting in the Royalist Army alongside fellow Maran University students. Gana's enlistment took place in Wergal, near his familial home in Zira, where he joined the Royal Wergal Rifles as an officer.

White War

The Bridge of Sighs in the Marmoleda Glacier, where Gana was deployed. 1891

In the initial stages of the war, in June 1890, Gana's regiment was deployed to the Western Front spanning between Sëlva and the Marmoleda. Gana's role centred on the defence of Marmoleda, a pivotal location in the conflict known as the White War due to the dominance of the Marmoleda Glacier. Gana noted that during winter, the Royalist troops feared avalanche substantially more than they feared the Republican attacks. Gana himself suffered severe frostbite in the winter of 1890–1891, and was given three weeks medical leave to recover.

Caporin Offensive

In June 1892, Gana partook in the Caporin Offensive, in the initial stages, Gana was garrisoned in the Costa region, including in the town of Pescosta. The period was the first time Gana was exposed to the oral mythology of the Aut Dolomita, expanding far beyond the contents of the Aquila Tirolensis. In diary entries from the time he notes the huge well of knowledge held only by the oral traditions of the region, though he did not begin to codify these stories at this point. In July 1892, during the advance, Gana, whilst on leave, visited the Lech Braies, then known as Lech Gran Daora. He noted that the lake seemed "as of legend" though did not yet argue that it was associated with the Ladin sagas.

Capture and imprisonment

During the collapse of the Caporin Offensive in late 1892, Gana and his section were captured in a failed reconnaissance mission in Costa Comune. He was captured by the №22 Battalion Trentin Volunteers, which was composed primarily of Statists, as a result he and his section were placed only under house arrest in Pescosta, and Gana was treated in accordance with his rank.

Whilst imprisoned, Gana was broadly afforded freedom to pursue his interest in the local traditions, although these were partly restricted. He was not allowed to access newspapers and was not allowed to contact anyone without a guard present, he was allowed walks on the grounds of Pescosta and car trips into the surrounding countryside. Later, he had access to newspapers and other reading materials and he wrote letters and journals, though as with all communications on in both armies of the Civil War, the letters were subject to censoring. Gana's letters were left broadly uncensored as most were academic or cultural in nature. It was during this period in which Gana ceased using his birth surname Macelé, in favour of Gana, the ancient Ladin for wolf.

Gana was ultimately released on 5 March 1893, when the news of the abdication of Kristian II reached Pescosta. He stayed in the town for two weeks before journeying back to Maran.

Writing career

In the aftermath of the Tiroler Civil War, on his return to Maran, Gana began compiling his notes into a collection of volumes, having been persuaded by Battesta Caruso to do so. His early works on the subject were academically focused examining the historiography of the Ladin Sagas, and their relations to the contemporaneously known events of the Rhaetic period. In 1928, Frederic Marzia, then chairman of the Carador Publishing House read some of these works, and suggested to Gana that he write up the stories in prose, offering to publish them individually. Gana, dubious of the appeal offered instead to write one work, a compilation of these stories as short novellas. Gana later said in a 1949 interview that he had no intention to write the stories, and when approached sought the minimum possible distraction from what had then been his primary interest and career in academia and historiography.

Family

Gana met Maria Bavier in 1896 at the Sancta Pietre commemoration ball. Bavier had been working as a research assistant in the University of Maran's school of alchemy. The pair would go on to marry in 1900 and have two children: Andris Carle Felix Gana (February 1904 – 3 March 1944) and Margreta Trebo Gana (14 April 1906 – 1 December 1991).

Retirement and death

King's Rest Chapel, where Gana's burial site is located

Gana retired in 1944, following a period of prolonged leave for the death of his son. During his retirement, Gana received increasing literary fame and public attention. He and Maria moved to the Costa Comun where he continued his historiographical work and also worked on a second edition of Lijëndes Ladines. The second edition is known only through his diary entries as the script was never found following his death in 1954. On 19 April 1954, Gana died in his home in Viestfurćia, eight months after his wife Maria had died.

He was offered a state burial in honour of his advancements in Tiroler cultural heritage, but this was rejected by Margreta, his daughter, who chose to bury him in King's Rest, where Gana had believed the last peaceful King of Fanes to have been laid to rest under the Sass dla Porta. Shortly after Maria was exhumed from the graveyard in Viestfurćia to be buried alongside him.

Views

Religion

Gana was a devout Catholic, and was always clear that despite his interest in the Rhaetic Pagan roots of Ladin mythology, they had not effected his firm belief in God. He encouraged frequent reception of Holy Communion. In the last years of his life, he struggled more with his faith, particularly after the death of his son in 1944 unable to resolve theodicy. Despite this he continued to attend church in Viestfurćia until he became too infirm to do so. The village's priest issued his last rites.

Race and eugenics

Gana had a keen interest in eugenics from a young age, emerging first during his time at the Royal College in Innsbruck. Several academics have taken a critical stance towards Gana's academic works as attempts to seperate population of Tirol into a pure and native Rhaetic population and foreign populations.

Quebecshirite political scientist, Francois Boulanger, argued that Gana was likely a white supremacist, noting the frequent negative depictions of non-white individuals in his diaries. The Gana Foundation, established by Gana's daughter rejected this notion, claiming he had been critical of many individuals.

Politics

Gana was a firm monarchist, and remained to be so beyond the end of the Civil War. He actively supported the Red-White Alliance until its dissolution in 1903 and was a supporter of the League Party until his death. He opposed trade unionism and organised volunteer efforts to break rail strikes in and near Maran.

Writing

Gana has produced many academic works, but only produced three literary works. The most successful of these, Lijëndes Ladines is the most sold mythological work in Tirol. Besides this he produced two standalone works: the Story of Sancta Catolina and L Rëgn, a fictional account of a king in the Tiroler Pentarchy.

His academic works amount to over 150 papers, including literary criticisms of mythological works, his own etymological theories and a number of other historiographical topics.

Artwork

Isle of the Blessed as illustrated in the Kingdom of Fanes

Gana produced artwork for many of his mythological works, though modern editions are given updated illustration. His has been attributed a part in the neoclassical revival in Tirol, however he viewed himself as nothing more than an amateur.

Arms

Coat of arms of Carle Felix Gana

Escutcheon A loup Argent on bars Vert and Argent. Motto ONOR Y VIRTÜ