Mladen Lovrić a founder of the SUVAG Center in Njerjungri, Yakutia in 1990, the first one in the Russian Federation


Darko Žubrinić, 2011


The SUVAG Center in Njerjungri, Jakutija (or Republic of Saha) has been founded in 1990 due to the efforts of professor Mladen Lovrić of the SUVAG Center in Zagreb. It was the first such center in the Russian Federation. Since then, in just five years, that is, in the period of 1990-1995, as many as 35 such centers in 29 cities of the Russian Federation had been opened.

In 2010 the 20th anniversary of  the SUVAG Center in Njerjungri, Jakutija in East Siberia, has been celebrated. Honoring this event and applications of Verbotonal Method by Croatian scientist Petar Guberina, a conference has been organized entitled "Contemporary problems in complex rehabilitation of children with restricted possibilities of health. Experiences - Problems - Prespectives", from 9th to 11th December 2010.

Among distinguished guests of the Conference were
  • Nikolaj Nikolaevič Degtjarev, minister of Labor and social development of the Russian Federation
  • Nebojša Koharović, ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Russian Federation, Moscow
  • Vladimir Viktorovič Koževnikov, responsable of the administration of the Njerjungri region, with his collaborators
  • dr. Adinda Dulčić, director of the SUVAG Polyclinic in Zagreb, Croatia
  • professor Ivanka Jurjević from the SUVAG Polyclinic in Zagreb
  • professor Mladen Lovrić, president of the Fund for development of Verbotonal method
  • ing. Valentin Vsiljevič Rudčenko, director of the Fund for development of Verbotonal method

The conference has been attended by 198 participants from the following cities:
  • Moscow
  • Sankt Petersburg
  • Irkutsk
  • Blagoveščensk
  • Novosibirsk
  • Habarovsk
  • Jakutsk
  • Ulan-Ude
  • Njurbe
  • Mirny
  • Zagreb
  • Njerjungri
Due to participation of guests from Croatia, the conference had international character. Altogether 39 scientific and practically oriented reports have been presented.

Also, the bust of academician Petar Guberina, the father of the Verbotonal method, has been solemnly unveiled during the Conference. It was a gift of the Fund of development of Verbotonal method, brought from Croatia's capital Zagreb. Also, a film "In memoriam of Petar Guberina" has been shown, prepared by Croatian Television.


Solemn unveiling of the bust of academcian Petar Guberina at the SUVAG Center in Njerjungri, Yakutia.
From left to right Mladen Lovrić, Adinda Dulčić, Zinaida Semenovna Maksimova and Nebojša Koharović. 
Photo by the courtesy of  Katarina Todorcev Hlač, Zagreb.


The Round table of the Conference issued a Resolution aiming to further advance the development of the SUVAG Center Njerjungri. This Center is the most important one not only in the Republic of Saha (Jakutija), but in the enormous region from Ural to Vladivostok. Mr. N.N. Degtjarev, minister of Labor and social development, announced that a new SUVAG center is planned to be opened in Jakutsk, with affiliated institutions throughout the Saha (Jakutija).

A very rich cultural program has been shown to participants of the Conference by children attending the SUVAG Center in Njerujungri, and an exhibition of costumes inspired by the folklore of Jakutija. The SUVAG Center of Njerjungri has about 100 employed of various specialities. For comparison, the Zagreb SUVAG center has about 260 empleyed persons.



The representatives of the state and local leaders have expressed their great satisfaction with remarkable achievements of the Njerjungri SUVAG Center, and praised highly the importance of their work, not only for the local community in Jakutija, but also for the whole East-Asian part of the Russian Federation, connected with institutions in the world which apply in their work the Verbotonal method of academician Petar Guberina. Their endevours also contributed to better ackqwaintance of the citizens of Saha with cultural, economic and social development in other countries of the world.

Mr. N. Koharović, the ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in the Russian Federation, stressed the importance of the SUVAG Center of Njerjungri as a bridge connecting Russia and Croatia, opening possibilities for fruitful collaboration in many respects. He also stressed impressive positive results in Njerjungri which resulted from applying successfuly the Verbotonal method of academician Petar Guberina.

Mr. Predrag Mićović, a representative of the Adriatic tour, Croatia, in Moscow, said that his tourist company will organize at its expense the sojourn 10 deaf children from Jakutija in Croatia, at the Adriatic Sea, marking in this way the 20th anniversary of the SUVAG Center in Njerjungri.

Dr. Adinda Dulčić, director of the SUVAG Polyclinic in Zagreb, Croatia, invited all the participants at the forthcoming conference in Zagreb on 19-21 May 2011, to be organized on the occasion of 50 years of existence of the Polyclinic in Croatia's capital. This is the leading center for Verbotonal method in the world. The method has been developed in this instituion, and spread throughout the world, on all five continents, during the past several decades.

Professor Zinaida S. Maksimova

Director of the Njerjungri SUVAG Center is professor Zinaida Semenovna Maksimova, on the above photo.


Mladen Lovrić with his colleagues from Croatia and Russia at the SUVAG Center in Njerjungri, Yakutia  in Russia.
The bust of academician Petar Guberina, brought from Zagreb, is on the table.
Note the Russian and Croatian national flags on the photo left below. Photo by the courtesy of  Katarina Todorcev Hlač, Zagreb.

Njerjungri

V Njerjungri pribyl posol Respubliki Horvatii

Novosti g. Njerjungri

Nacional'naja asociacija organizacij po reabilitacii detej-invalidov

Naši deti dolžny slyšat'!



In 2010 the following book has been issued in the Russian language, dealing with the verbotonal method for the treatment of problems of deafness of children, due to distinguished Croatian scientist Petar Guberina:

L.I. Rulenkova: Kak naučit' gluhogo rebenka slušat' i govorit' na osnove verbotonal'nogo metoda, Paradigma, Moskva 2010

that is,

L.I. Rulenkova: How to Teach a Deaf Child to Listen and Speak on the Basis of Verbotonal Method, Paradigma, Moskva 2010.



The book has 192 pp, 14.5 x 21.5 cm, softcover, with figures, photos and numerous drawings and diagrams

It has eight chapters:

Preface by the author

Chapter 1. On the author of verbotonal method of academician Petar Guberina, 7-9

Chapter 2. Introduction to verbotonal method, 10-15

Chapter 3. Diagnostic treatment of children, 16-37

Chapter 4. Technical equipment for verbotonal method, 38-48

Chapter 5. Rehabilitation of children with problems of deafness, 49-165

Chapter 6. Organization of teaching on the basis of verbotonal method, 166-170

Chapter 7. Cochlear implant, 171-188

Chapter 8. Verbotonal method in Russia, 189-190

Literature, 191

Among thirteen selected references and books in the literature,  as many as six are by Croatian authors: Ljubomir Borković, T. Marušić, Marija Paškvalin, Ivana Herljević, Petar Guberina i Mladen Lovrić.



On p. 5 the book has the following dedication:

Akademiku Petaru Guberine
posvjaščaetsja

that is,

Dedicated to Academician Petar Guberina


page 5 of the book by L.I. Rulenkova, containing the dedication to academician Petar Guberina.
On page 6 the author thanks in particular to the SUVAG Center in Zagreb, to professor Mladen Lovrić who did so much for spreading the Verbotonal method in Russia, and to Mr. Vladimir Kozina from Zagreb for his work on technical development of acoustic electronic devices.


Photo of distinguished Croatian scientist Petar Guberina in Chapter 1.
The title of this chapter is "About the author of Verbotonal method academician Petar Guberina".

Namely, the verbotonal method which is described in the book, for the rehabilitation of deaf children, has been developed by Academician Petar Guberina in Croatia, in a specialized institute of SUVAG. The SUVAG is a short-hand for "System Universelle Verbotonal d'Audition de Guberina" (in French).



Professor Rulenkova wrote in her very interesting handwriting the following dedication on an empty page, see on the above photo:

Našemu ljubimomu učitelju i drugu prof. Mladenu Lovriču.

Blagodarja Vašej energii i predannosti delu, v Rossii stali ispol'zovat' verbotonaljnyj metod. Rossijskie roditeli i pedagogi detej s narušennym sluhom vsegda budut pomnit' o Vaših zaslugah v Rossii.

Želaem zdorov'ja, neisakomoj energii i dolgih let žizni.

Ljudmila Rulenkova

Here is its translation into Croatian:

Našem dragom učitelju i prijatelju prof. Mladenu Lovriću.

Zahvaljujući Vašoj energiji i predanosti radu, u Rusiji se počela rabiti verbotonalna metoda. Ruski roditelji i pedagozi djece s narušenim sluhom uvijek će se sjećati vaših zasluga u Rusiji.

Želimo zdravlja, neiscrpne energije i dugih godina života.

Ljudmila Rulenkova

And in English the dedication reads as:

To our dear teacher and friend professor Mladen Lovrić.

Thanks to Your energy and dedication to work, the verbotonal method started to be exploited in Russia. Russian parents and pedagogues of children with disturbed hearing will always be remembering Your merits in Russia.

We wish You health, inexhaustable energy and long years of life.

Ljudmila Rulenkova

On p. 10 of the monograph professor Rulenkov stressed the following little known fact: until the year 2010 more than 500 verbotonal centers were known to exist in 70 countries on all continents. Verbotonal method has been introduced and developed by Croatian scientist Petar Guberina.

On p. 129 of her book professor Rulenkova wrote the following: ... Mladen Lovrič prekrassny profesional, horošo ponimajuščij i čustvujuščij rebenka. On rabotaet tvorčeski, virtuozno, postojanno menjaja priemy raboty, nahodja podhod k ljubomu, daže samomu tjaželomu rebenku (...Mladen Lovrić is an excellent professional, with good understanding and feeeling for a child. He works creativley, virtuously, continously changing methods of work,  finding approach to any, even the most difficult child.)


Photo of professor Mladen Lovrić in section 5.6 Pictographic Rythmics (pp 128-152).
Pictographic rhytmics is a method that he introduced at the SUVAG Center in Zagreb, Croatia.

On p. 189 of the book we found out that the Moscow Pedagogical State University introduced a course for students entitled "Verbotonal method", dealing with the method developed by Croatian scientist Petar Guberina, now widespread throughout the world.

The author of the book, dr. Ljudmila Ivanovna Rulenkova, is the pedagogue specialised in the treatment of deaf children (surdopedagogue; in French sourd - deaf), director of the Center of the Psychologic-Pedagogic Rehabilitation and Correction "Logoton" in the city of Moscow. She is a holder of important awards and recognitions of the Russian Federation and of the city of Moscow. Trained in verbotonal method in the Center "Suvag" in Croatia's captial Zagreb, she exploited it over many years in the rehabilitation of children with problems of deafness.

The book is addressed to teachers of defectology and to parents.






Taras Belej: Prof. Mladen Lovrić, an expert for Verbotonal method at the SUVAG center in Zagreb, 
Mr. Taras Belej from Ukraine attended the SUVAG School of rehabilitation in Zagreb as a small deaf child.
He now speaks four languages, including Croatian. Taras Belej completed his studies at the Academy of Art in Kiyiv.
Taras Belej painter from Ukraine: Croatia in my heart




Mladen Lovrić, a gallery of Ukrainean works of art

Mladne Lovrić i Vladimir Vladimirovič Šuvaev iz Vladivostoka

Suvag polyclinic in Zagreb, with emphasis on Ukraine

Croatian medicine

Croatia - overview of History, Culture and Science