Stanislaus (Stannie) came to Trieste at James’s (Jim) insistence. The two brothers couldn’t be more different: unruly, chaotic and a spendthrift the first, restrained, sober and frugal the second. In Trieste, Stannie put his salary, energy, and patience at Joyce’s disposition to support him, Nora, Giorgio and Lucia. At home the atmosphere was often tense. Stannie was, as he wrote, a generous keeper of his brother, of his memory and of many of his letters and manuscripts. A great diarist, a deeply cultured and intelligent man, he was the first believer in his brother’s genius. In Finnegans Wake the figure of the dull Shaun the Postman, twin brother of the unruly Shem the Penman, is modelled on him. The two twins are antagonists in endless opposition/competition. Joyce’s very last letter was written to Stannie, in Italian. Instead of the habitual “Dear Stannie,” he begins with a very rare “Caro fratello”. The missive contains a list of people who might help Stannie during the tough war years. Two years later, Stannie will name is only son ‘James’. He will day in 1955, on 16 June, Bloomsday. As it has been cleverly observed, “it was almost as if his brother was calling him home”.
Notebooks of a Stannie student, 1934
The page on display shows Stannie’s meticulous red pen corrections. The exercise is presumably meant to teach the terms for different nationalities in English. The student inadvertently skips the sentence concerning the Irish nationality. Stannie implacably adds the missing line. Another example of offended national pride can be seen at the bottom of the page: Marconi’s mother was not English, but an Irishwoman: the correction is imperative
Stanislaus Joyce lecturer at the University of Trieste, 1930-40
Notebook of Paolo Cuzzi
