Matteo Martinolich (10 February 1860 - 23 December 1934) was an American master

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

. He was the first to use Mississippi pine in the building of seagoing vessels, which was approved by the Marine Underwriters. Born in

Mali Lošinj Mali Lošinj is a town in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, on the island of Lošinj, in western Croatia. At the time of the 2021 census, there were 7,537 inhabitants, of whom 86% were Croats. The town of Mali Lošinj itself had an urban populat ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

(at the time part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

), the son of Francesco Stanislao Martinolich and Maria Dominica Merlo, he initially studied

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...

and received training in

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

at the Austrian naval shipyards in Pola (present-day Pula, Croatia). At that time, Pola was the chief naval base of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He arrived in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the age of 23, landing in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

with his brother Francesco (Frank) Martinolich. They settled shortly after in

DeLisle, Mississippi DeLisle () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,147 at the 2010 census. History Pierre Le Moyne d'Ibervill ...

, where Matteo worked for local shipbuilder Antonio Pavolini, originally from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Matteo married Antonio's oldest daughter, Johanna, in 1885. From 1907 to 1911, Martinolich also worked with the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

on the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. There he built dredge boats for their dam building projects. Through World War I and until his semi-retirement and closing of the business in about 1922, Martinolich built and designed hundreds of ships and boats; some still ply the seas today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinolich, Matteo Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States 1860 births 1934 deaths People from Harrison County, Mississippi People from Mali Lošinj Naturalized citizens of the United States