揭秘:马可·波罗的真正国际国籍

近日在扬州开馆的马可·波罗纪念馆引出了一个颇具争议的话题：马可·波罗到底是哪国人？参加开馆仪式的克罗地亚前总统梅西表示，马可 波罗出生地为科尔丘拉岛，虽然当时该岛处于威尼斯公国的统治之下，但如今地属克罗地亚境内，因此马可 波罗当属克罗地亚人。

对此，意大利方面表示强烈不满。意大利一家报纸称克罗地亚的此番说辞是歪曲历史事实，极为“荒谬”且具“挑衅”意味。该报纸指出，19世纪意大利的复苏运动英雄加里波第出生在法国尼斯，却从未有人声称他是法国人；同时指责意大利驻华外交官员忽视了一个在中国如此知名的人物，可能会使两国商务及旅游业交往受到影响。

Italians have reacted with fury to an attempt by Croatia to claim the legendary explorer Marco Polo was one of their own.

The outcry came after a museum dedicated to the Venetian explorer in the Chinese city of Yangzhou was opened not by Italian dignitaries but by a former president of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic.

The exact date and place of Marco Polo's birth are unknown but most scholars believe he came from Venice. It has been argued by some historians, however, that he was born on the island of Korcula on the Adriatic coast, in what is today Croatia.

According to this theory, his father was a merchant from Dalmatia named Maffeo Pilic, who Italianised his surname to Polo when he established himself in Venice.

The museum was built in Yangzhou because Marco Polo was an official there from 1282 to 1284. Inaugurating the museum this month, Mr Mesic described Marco Polo as a "world explorer, born in Croatia, who opened up China to Europe".

Italy's leading broadsheet newspaper, Corriere della Sera, described the Croatian claim to Marco Polo as "ridiculous" and a "provocation".

"Attributing Croatian nationality to Marco Polo or anyone else born on the island at that time, just because it is now part of Croatia, is stretching historical facts too far," the paper said.

It pointed out that Garibaldi, the hero of the Risorgimento movement to unite Italy in the 19th century, was born in Nice but was never described as French.

The paper criticised Italian diplomats in China for allowing "someone as incredibly famous among the Chinese as (Marco Polo) to slip through their fingers, to the possible detriment of friendly relations, commerce and tourism".