近日在揚州開館的馬可?波羅紀念館引出了一個頗具爭議的話題：馬可?波羅到底是哪國人？參加開館儀式的克羅地亞前總統梅西表示，馬可?波羅出生地為科爾丘拉島，雖然當時該島處于威尼斯公國的統治之下，但如今地屬克羅地亞境內，因此馬可?波羅當屬克羅地亞人。對此，意大利方面表示強烈不滿。意大利一家報紙稱克羅地亞的此番說辭是歪曲歷史事實，極為“荒謬”且具“挑釁”意味。該報紙指出，19世紀意大利的復蘇運動英雄加里波第出生在法國尼斯，卻從未有人聲稱他是法國人；同時指責意大利駐華外交官員忽視了一個在中國如此知名的人物，可能會使兩國商務及旅游業交往受到影響。

An image of Marco Polo. Widely thought to have been from Venice, Croatia is now claiming him.

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".

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(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）