One of the more prominent members of Toronto's community of Istrian, Fiuman and Dalmatian exiles was Luigi (Gino) Russignan, native of Isola d'Istria. The company bearing the Russignan family's nickname - Caffè Barzula - is Canada's best-selling brand of espresso coffee, and a fixture in the homes of Toronto's half-million Italian-Canadians. Gino's great-grandfather was nicknamed "Barzula" - in reference to a large pork chop (Istro-Venetian: "briziola," Italian: "braciola") eaten by the elder Russignan to celebrate the successful sale of a herd of beasts.
Born March 11th, 1933 at Isola d'Istria, then part of the Kingdom of Italy, along with approximately 350,000 other Italian natives of Istria, the Quarnero and Dalmatia, Russignan's family was forced into exile by the communist government of Josip Broz Tito. The Russignan family, again, like so many other exiles, settled in Trieste, which was then under Allied military occupation.
In April of 1960, Gino Russignan and his wife Gigliola departed for Canada: they arrived at Halifax's Pier 21 on May 1st, and from there proceeded by train to Toronto. During the train journey, Gigliola asked for a cup of coffee: unthinkable as it may seem today, at the time espresso coffee was completely unknown in Canada, and all Gino was able to procure for her was a cup of tea. According to Gigliola, from this experience was born the idea of starting the first coffee roasting company in Canada, and thus, in 1964, in a small location on College Street, in Toronto's first "Little Italy," was born Caffè Barzula.
(photo: Voce Giuliana)
It would seem that Russignan inherited his business savvy, as well as his interest and expertise in coffee. In Isola d'Istria his grandmother had run a grocery store, his father had been a wine dealer, while his grandfather had been a coffee importer and roaster.
For his work not only as a pioneer in Canada's coffee industry, but also for his involvement in the Italian-Canadian community and philanthropy, Russignan was granted the title of Commendatore of the Italian Republic, and was also recognized and granted honours by his adopted country, Canada. Gino "Barzula" passed away on Oct. 23, 2016 at the age of 83.
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