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Croatia - Austriaoverview of historical and cultural relations - a sketchDarko Zubrinic, 2005.Contents:
www.hr/darko/etf/et01.html Let us first give a very rough sketch of the main historical periods of the Croatia's past:
Croatia is a point of contact of very different cultures and civilizations. Across its territory or along its boundary
Aucune
frontière en Europe n'est
plus lourde d'histoire que celle qui sépare Rome de Byzance,
l'Occident de l'Orient.
One of the confluents to Don river near the region of Azov is called Horvatos (see [Pascenko], p. 87). The Croatian name can be traced to different sites in Ukraine, also around Krakow in Poland, in Bohemia, and Austria, thus showing migrations of the Croatian tribes to their future homeland. In the ``Bavarian geographon'' (written in 666-890) there is a description of various tribes in the north of Karpatian and and Sudetian mountains, where the Croats are also mentioned. In the region of northern Steiermark, Austria, (between Judenburg and Leoben) there is a place called Kraubat. The name appears many times in various charters of the 11th and 12th centuries, and is written as Chrowat (= Croat). In the region of Kärnten (old Karantia in the south of Austria) there is a place called Kraut, also derived from the Middle Age name Chrowat, mentioned in many charters of the 11th and 12th centuries. In Kärnten
(Karantia) there existed a Croatian parish
already in the 10th century. Old manuscripts call it pagus
Crouuati,
which is obviously derived from the Croatian name (= Croatian parish).
The name appears even in Royal charters. According to investigations of
Felicetti this parish of `pagus Crouuati' spread precisely along the
Gosposvetsko polje, where the earliest Slavic Dukes of Karantia had a
seat. It included also the region of today's Klagenfurt (Celovec),
capital of Karantia, together with the famous Church of Gospa Sveta
(Maria Saal, Maria in Solio, Maria ad Karanten), probably the oldest
Christian church in the region.
From 1102 the Croats had shared together with Hungarians a newly built state under common Hungarian and Croatian Kings. The Kings were crowned twice: with the Hungarian and the Croatian crown. From that time on, the Croats were dreaming about having their own independent state, and it was revived after almost nine centuries in 1991. During this very long period parts of Croatian soil were dominated by Venetians, Italy (in the first half of the 20th century), the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburgs. Among all the nations reigned by the Habsburgs (Czechs, Poles, Slovenians and others) the Croats are together with Austrians and Hungarians the only ones who have preserved an uninterrupted continuity of their state since the Early Middle Ages. Furthermore, as stated by one of best Croatian historians Vjekoslav Klaic, the Croatian Kingdom was the oldest one in the Habsburg Monarchy, older than Austrian, Hungarian, or Czech Kingdom. During many centuries the Croats had their bans (viceroys) and their assembly called Sabor. The oldest known Sabor was held in Split in 925 and in 928 (devoted more to religious than to secular questions), and in 1076 when Dmitar Zvonimir was elected the Croatian King by the "unanimous choice of the clergy and the people". The Croats preserved these important state institutions of ban and Sabor also when they decided to enter the Habsburg state (1527--1918). Today the Sabor has the meaning of the Croatian Parliament.
Very important personality in Croatian history is Ban Josip Jelacic (1801, Petrovaradin - 1859, Zagreb). We offer you quite interesting presentation of the Jelacic family (in French), written by a descendent of this noble family in France, Monsieur Michel Iellatchitch.
Little known but important personality for Croatia, in particular for its northern part Slavonia, is an Austrian Karlo Prandau (1792-1856). He lived in Croatia, and considered Croatia as his homeland. Several palaces and parks were built upon his initiative. He was benefactor of the poor, financial supporter of many projects, composer etc. He composed a march dedicated to his good friend Josip Jelacic. According to his last wish, he was buried in a small Croatian town Valpovo, although he died in Vienna. His brother Antun Gustav Prandau also contributed very much to material and cultural welbeing of Croats in Slavonia. See Faust Vrancic (by dr. Vladimir Muljevic, in Croatian) For example, the famous Verrazzano Narrows Bridge is the largest suspension bridge in the USA (New York, 1298 m), see also Historical Develpment of Iron and Steel in Bridges. See Vladimir Muljevic: Hrvatski znanstvenici Antun i Faust Vrancic, Encyclopedia Moderna, god. 14, II, Zagreb, 1993. I express my sincere gratitude to Professor Emeritus V. Muljevic for this information. Vrancic also described in his book Machinae Novae the first wind turbine:
Ignacije Szentmartony (1718-1793) was a Croatian Jesuit born in Croatian north (Kotoriba in Medjimurje), of a Croat mother and Hungarian father. After his studies in Vienna and Graz he lectured mathematics in Graz. In 1751 he went to Lisabon, where he obtained the title of royal mathematician and astronomer, and as such was designated to be a member of expedition for determining borders. In 1753 he sailed off from Portugal to the mouth of Amazon river for geographic research there. Only a small amount of his work is preserved to these days: two maps of the Amazon and Rio Negro. By the end of his life, upon return to Croatia, he wrote the first Croatian kajkavian grammer for Germans: Einleitung zur kroatischen Sprachlehre für Teutschen, Varazdin 1783. For more information see [Zoric]. Ludwig
(Ljudevit) Mitterpacher von
Mitterburg (Mitterburg = Pazin
in Istria, 1734 - 1814), was born in
Bellye (Bilje in eastern Croatia, near Danube river) and educated in
Austria. He studied mathematics and theology at Vienna University and
was appointed a teacher of religion in 1762. In 1777, Mitterpacher
became the first professor of the newly-established agricultural
faculty at the Pest University, a position he kept until his death. A
very popular lecturer, Mitterpacher also wrote several schoolbooks and
lecture notes. His most significant work was the three-volume Elementa
rei Rusticae, a comprehensive
study of agricultural science and
practice. Subjects included cultivation, plant-growing, horticulture,
vine-growing, forestry, animal husbandry and food processing. His books
originally written in Latin language were translated into several
languages and became important works of reference for contemporary
science. Mitterpacher became a member of the Academy of Sciences in
Bologna. Filip Vezdin or Wesdin (Paulinus a Sancto Bartolomaeo, 1748-1806), pioneer of European indology, was born in a Croatian village of Cimov (Hof am Leithagebirge) in Lower Austria in Burgenland (Gradisce). He completed his studies of philosophy and theology, Roman languages and English in Linz and Prague. Besides native Croatian he spoke Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese and English. As a Carmelitan missionary (with monastic name Paulin of St. Bartholomew) Vezdin was sent to India in 1776, where he learned Sanskrit and several Indian dialects. For more information see Filip Vezdin (in Croatian) Vezdin is the author of Sidharubam seu gramatica samscrdamica, the first printed Sanskrit grammar in Europe, published in 1790 in Rome. Extended edition was published in 1804 and entitled Vyacarana seu locupletissima samsrdamicae linguae instituio. He wrote numerous works on Indian culture, and in addition to Sanskrit also learned Malayalam, the Malabar coastal language, in which he wrote his works as well. At the request of a local ruler, he wrote an English-Portuguese-Malayalam grammar. His works are kept in Rome, Vienna and Uppsala. The first methodical study of connections between indoeuropean languages is contained in his work De antiquitae et affimitate lingaue zendicae, samscrdamicae et germanicae disseratio, Rome 1798.
For more information see Branko Franolic: Filip Vezdin, and [Zoric].
Franjo Domin (born in Zagreb, 1754-1819), studied physics and theology in Vienna and later became a dean at the Faculty of Philosophy and rector of the University of Budapest. He was among the first who cured various diseases by electrotherapy using static electricity.
In 1888 Josip Belusic
constructed the first electric
speedometer. Belusic was born in
the region of Labin in Istria, and was professor in Kopar. This
invention was patented in Austria - Hungary under the name of
"velocimeter."
Modern Slavic studies were founded by Vatroslav Jagic (born in Varazdin, 1838-1923), professor of philology at the Universities of Zagreb, Berlin, Vienna, Sankt Petersburg, Odessa. He was a full member of the Petersburg's and Austrian Academies of Sciences. A great importance for the development of slavistic philology had the journal Archiv fur slavishe Philologie that he founded in Berlin, and whose editor in chief he was during 45 years. He also initiated and organized the Seminar for Slavic studies in Vienna in 1887, which later grew out to the Institute of Slavic Studies. His scientific opus is enormous: if collected, it would occupy about 100 books.
David Schwarz, a Zagreb Jew (1852-1897), invented steerable metal airship that is today unjustly bearing the name of the German count Zeppelin. Indeed, Zeppelin bought the complete project from Schwartz's wife, shortly after his premature death. It is true that in 1897 the `Zeppelin' constructed by Schwartz fell down during its trial flight near Berlin, due to a small technical error in the propeller, having reached the height of 460 m. It was 47.5 m long and had 35 tons.
Photos from David Schwarz web site by Ante Sucur The American Israel Numismatic Association issued two nice plaquettes in honour of David Schwarz, see here.The Croatian Jews left truly remarkable traces in arts, music, science and architecture.
Many thanks to Mr. Vedran Joseph Nazor, USA, for help to collect data about Antun Lucic.
As a son of my homeland I feel it is my duty to help the city of Zagreb in every respect with my advice and work (Smatram svojom duznoscu da kao rodeni sin svoje zemlje pomognem gradu Zagrebu u svakom pogledu savjetom i cinom),
Technical Museum in Zagreb, about Tesla's inventions (rotating egg, Tesla's three phase generator, Tesla's transformer, Tesla's remote control boat, etc). The Supreme Court of the USA overturned Marconi's patent of modern radio in favor of Nikola Tesla in 1943, soon after his death.
It is interesting that in Bartol Kasic's dictionary of Croatian language (16/17 centuries) one can find the name of "tesla", meaning adze. The word tesla (adze) is without any doubt related to Croatian words tesar - carpenter, tesati - to trim (a log), to dress (a stone). One of grand-grandfathers of Nikola Tesla was Draganic (from the village of Ledenice near Novi), nicknamed Tesla. I owe this information to dr. Vladimir Muljevic, professor emeritus of the University of Zagreb. Eduard (Slavoljub) Penkala (1871-1922), born in Slovakia to a Polish/Dutch family, became naturalized Croat when after his marriage his family immigrated to Zagreb. He invented the mechanical pen and fountain pen which are bearing his name "penkala" and now they are in everyday use. His first invention was a resin bottle filled with hot water, called Termofor (hot water bottle), used in bed as "central heating" during cold nights. www.penkala.net Ivan Jagsic (1886-1956), born as a Burgenland Croat in Austria, studied cartography, topography and geology in Zürich. As a professor of University of Cordoba, Argentina, he lectured also meteorology and astronomy, and wrote numerous scientific books. The South American Oceanographic Institute in Brazil was named after him. Count Edgar Bourée de Corberon (1807-1861) was descendant of an old French noble family (born in Troissereux, dpt. of Oise), polyglot and interesting Croatian intellectual. In 1845 he arrived to Zagreb, and settled in Janusevac near Brdovec, the most beautiful Croatian palace at that time. He was a good friend to Ban (viceroy) Josip Jelacic. In his letters Corberon wrote about Croatia as his second homeland, about dangers of intensive magyarization (in his letters to the Hannover king Ernest August I written in French) in turbulent years around 1848. His generous material support of various Croatian institutions persuaded him to leave the palace of Janusevac, and to settle in Bisag, in Draskovic's palace near Komin. In 1851/52 he urged Ban Josip Jelacic to reestablish the University of Zagreb to full extent (in 1850 the Faculty of Philosophy was concealed), offering his help as a potential lecturer. As a witness of epidemic of typhus and cholera in Croatia in 1851 he asked the Austrian monarchy officials to open the Faculty of medicine in Zagreb, suggesting its precise structure. Unfortunately, the faculty of medicine was opened only in 1917., during the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. By the end of his life
Corberon wrote his Programm
für die Erweiterung der Königlichen Akademie Agram
[Zagreb]
to einer volständigen Universität,
but the sudden illness
and death prevented him from completing his work. According to his last
will, he was buried in Croatia in Bisag. How much he loved his new
homeland can be seen from the fact that (also according to his last
will) even obituary notices in his native Troisseraux in France had to
be printed in Croatian.
Professor Andrija Stampar (1888-1958) was our leading authority in the field of epidemiology and a pioneer in preventive medicine. As an expert of the League of Nations he spent three years (1933-1936) in China, developing the health service there. During the WW2 he was arrested by the German Nazis and kept in custody in Graz in Austria. He was one of the founders of the World Health Organization (WHO) and very active in promoting the health service in Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. He wrote the introductory declaration of the Statute of the WHO and was the first president of this organization. In 1955 he was awarded the medal of Leon Bernard, which is the most prestigious international acknowledgement in the field of social medicine. For more details see his book The first ten years of the World Health Organization, Geneva, 1958. Stefan Gelineo, Croat by birth, born in Starigrad on the island of Hvar (1898-1971), studied in Leipzig and Vienna. He was the professor of physiology at the University of Belgrade (capital of Serbia and former Yugoslavia). He is internationally known by his contributions to the study of hypothermia, i.e. the study of vital functions under low temperatures. Franz Leopold Jelacic (1808 Dorpat-Tartu / Estonia - 1888 Kazan / Russia) is a descendant of noble Croatian family of Jelacic (Russian branch). He studied in Vilnius in Lituania. After his specialisation in Berlin, Vienna, Paris and Munich, he founded The University Clinic in Kazan, for which he obtained felicitations from a minister in 1845. The oldest orthopedic institution in Croatia and one of the oldest in Europe, is the hospital for orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation "Dr Martin Horvat" in Rovinj, a lovely coastal town in Istria. It was founded in 1888 by Viennese physicians for children from Vienna. Karl Heitzmann (a German, born in Vinkovci, 1836-1896) was a histologist and pathologist and worked in Vienna and New York. He was the first who described hematoblasts. Emanuel Klein (1844-1925), a Croatian Jew born in Osijek, worked as a bacteriologist and histologist in London. He described many fine, until that time unknown structures of human body, and discovered Bacillus enteritidis sporogenes. He proved the streptococal etiology of scarlatina. Eduard Miloslavic (1884-1952) was a descendant of Dubrovnik emigrants to the USA, born in Oakland, California. His family returned to Dubrovnik in 1889. Ed studied medicine in Vienna, where he became a professor of pathology. In 1920 an invitation came from the Marquette University in Wisconsin, USA, to take the chair of the full professor of pathology, bacteriology and forensic medicine. In subsequent years "Doc Milo", as colleagues called him, inaugurated criminal pathology in the USA. As an outstanding specialist he was also involved in investigations of crimes perpetrated by al Capone gang. He was one of the founders of the International Academy for Forensic Medicine, member of many American and European scientific societies and academies, and also vice president of the Croatian Fraternal Union (CFU) in the USA. In 1932 he moved to Zagreb, where he was a full professor at the Faculty of medicine until 1944, when he moved again to the USA. He was lecturing also pastoral medicine at the Faculty of Theology in Zagreb, and was known as ardent adversary of abortion and euthanasia. In 1940 he was elected member of the prestigious"Medico-Legal Society" in London, in 1941 promoted the full member of the Tzarist Leopoldine Carolingue Academy of Natural Sciences in Germany, and doctor "honoris causa" at the University of Vienna, where he started his scientific career. For his 1943 investigation of the slaughter of 12,000 Polish officers perpetrated by Soviets in the Katyn wood in 1940, see here. By the end of 1944 he moved again to the USA (St.Louis, Missouri), where he was working until his death. It is important to note that after his initiative in 1941 the Faculty of Medicine in Sarajevo was founded in 1944 during the NDH regime. According to an article published in Vjesnik, December 27, 1992, due to his testimonies related to Katyn wood tragedy, Prof. Miloslavic was sentenced to death in absence by the ex-Yugoslavia.
When the University of Zagreb was founded in 1874, the Viennese government of the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not permit to open a medical school. Professor Drago Perovic (1888-1968), a Serb born in Herzegovina in Trebinje, who completed his studies in Vienna sub auspiciis regis, was one of the founders of the medical study at the University of Zagreb in 1918. He was one of our experts in the field of anatomy. He was one of important collaborators of Croatian Encyclopaedia, initiated in 1930s, and printed in part during the WWII in Zagreb (see his extensive article Anatomija there). He was editor in chief for basic medicinal sciences for the Croatian Encyclopaedia.
The white marble from the island of Brac, near the town of Pucisca, is highly appreciated among sculptors. It was also used in the building of
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(that is, Present and past of the fabulous Peru) in
Tijekom Krekoviæeve prve izložbe u Beèu (ne kasnije od 1925., u vrijeme dok je bio još student na "Akademie der Bildenden Künste"), njegov rad su s najveæim pohvalama ocijenili poznati likovni kritièari A.F. Seligmann i Dr. Ankwicz-Kleehoven. S
predsjednikom Austrije dr. Schaerfom, 1957.
na izložbi u Beèu Sina i Kristian Krekoviæ s kraljicom Sofijom, 1981. S papom Pavlom VI. tijekom privatne audijencije www.mallorca.de/tourismus/museen informs us that Kristian Krekovic was born in Wiener Hof! (2001?-2003) Dusan Dzamonja (1928) is an avant-garde sculptor whose monuments can be seen, besides Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, also in public areas in Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, the USA, and in the new Yugoslavia. As a means of expression he uses iron, glass, concrete etc. In 1998 he had a great retrospective in Paris (Place Vendome).
Many beautiful Croatian Baroque paintings and illuminations can be seen on the walls of the churches in north-western Croatia (Lepoglava, Strigova, Varazdin), created by Ivan Ranger (1700-1754). On the photo: St. Luka (Strigova). The Baroque art in the Croatian north is described by a famous Japanese photographer [Keiichi Tahara]: Quand un ami française m'a conseillé d'aller voir les églises baroques en Croatie...je n'ai pratiquement rien trouvé sur ce sujet. Cela m'a paru étrange, et j'ai cédé à la tentation... Outstanding writer and illuminator of glagolitic liturgical books was Bartol Krbavac, born in Lika in the 14th century. His preserved books are kept in the National Library of Vienna (Roc Missal, 15th century), in the State Library of Berlin (Berlin Missal, 15th century):
in the National and University Library of Ljubljana (Beram Missal, around 1425), and in Zagreb. Frano Laurana, known also as Francesco Laureano (1420 - 1502), a Croat born near Zadar, was a sculptor in Italy (Naples, Messina, Palermo) and in France (Aix, Marseille, Avignon, Le Mans, Tarascon). In France (Provence) he worked at the Court of Bon Roi René, and married a daughter of a French painter in Avignon. His portrait busts of women represent the highest achievement of the Quatroccento sculpture. They can be seen in galleries in Palermo, Vienna, New York and Paris (Louvre, Musée Jacquemart - André). His disciple was the famous Donato Bramante. See [Gregory Peroche], p. 72. GEORGIVS JVLIVS CLOVIVS CROATA His grave is situated near Michelangelo's Moses in the the church of S. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome, and bears an inscription "Pictor de Croatia". For more information see Julio Clovio Croata, protector del Greco Foven by Branko Kadic, an article by Marjana Vucic published in American Croatian Review, [Julije Klovic], and [Fontes Clovianae] Andrija Medulic (Andrea Schiavone, Andrea Meldola de Hiadra), (~1500-1563), a painter born in Zadar or Nadin, started his artistic career in Sibenik and continued in Venice. His works of art are scattered throughout Europe: Zadar, Sibenik, Zagreb, Venice, Milano, Florence, Naples, Torino, Verona, Paris (Louvre), London, Oxford, Richmond, Dublin, Amsterdam, Vienna, Dresden, St. Petersburg, Belgrade. Medulic influenced Tintoretto, who stated that any true painter must possess at least one of his masterpieces. As Klovic, he also influenced El Greco, a famous Spanish painter of Greek origin. Medulic's paintings in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen German Ungar. Bohemiae. Dalm. Croat. Rex. Portrait of Antun Vrancic
by outstanding Croatian painter
Contemporary Croatian architects contributed to urban shaping of several important European cities with their projects:
Ivana Brlic Mazuranic (1874-1938) is a very well known name among Croatian children. She wrote beautiful books of Croatian fairy tales, the most famous being Price iz davnine (Tales of Long Ago) that appeared in Zagreb in 1916. It was translated from Croatian into English by F.S. Copeland under the title:
and published in 1924. in London by George Alen & Unwin Ltd (260 pp, hardcover). These stories have become popular worldwide due to recent fantastic flash-art presentations, initiated by Helena Bulaja, Zagreb. See for example Neva, music and animation by Ed Beals. Books of Ivana Brlic Mazuranic were translated into all major world languages (more information in Croatian). Except in English, there exist also translations into
CROATIAN LATINISTS, HUMANISTS AND ENCYCLOPAEDISTS The grand Library of Paulists in Lepoglava has been confiscated after the Austrians canceled the Paulist order in 1786. This was a tremendous loss for Croatian culture. Julije Bajamonti (1744-1800) was medical historian, writer, translator, encyclopaedist, historian, philosopher, and musician. He composed the first opera in Croatia (performed only once), wrote the History of Split (unfinished and unpublished). Bajamonti helped Alberto Fortis with his journey round Dalmatia, and with his discovery of Hasanaginica. His wife was a Split commoner Ljuba. After the fall of Venice in 1797 he urged that Dalmatia should be annexed to Croatia (and Austro-Hungary). In his speech in 1797 he said that Austria was the successor of the old Croatian state. Like many other Croatian intellectuals along the Croatian coast, Bajamonti wrote most of his works in Italian. Despite this, he certainly felt himself a Croat (or Illyiran, as they said at the time). He was very interested in the Croatian language, national costumes and tradition, economic and cultural progress. See D.Keckemet, E. Stipcevic: Julije Bajamonti, Croatian P.E.N Centre, Zagreb - Split, 1997, p 16. Nicolo Tommaseo claims that there was no one in Italy writing better than Bajamonti in his time. The voluminous Wurzback's Biographic Lexicon of Austrian Kingdom, prepared in 60 volumes between 1856 and 1891, comprises 24,200 biographies. According to investigations of dr. Igor Gostl as many as 1050 of them refer to the Croats. Safvet-beg Basagic (1870-1934) was outstanding Muslim-Croatian poet, orientalist, historian and lexicographer. He studied oriental languages and history in Vienna, where he defended his thesis in 1910. His most important work is "Znameniti Hrvati Bosnjaci i Hercegovci (The famous Croatian Bosniaks and Herzegovinians), published by Matica hrvatska (Matrix Croatica) in Zagreb in 1931. In this lexicon he presented nearly 700 biographies. He occupied the position of curator of the Zemaljski muzej in Sarajevo (1919-1927), and was also vice-president of the Sabor (Parliament) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the 15th century Luka Pozezanin and Juraj from Cazma were lecturing on mathematics at the University of Vienna. At the same institution Valent from Koprivnica was lecturing on natural philosophy, Ladislav from Pozega was lecturing on astronomy, etc. The court of the king Mathias Korvin was a strong European humanistic center, to which the Croats gave a deep imprint. Thus the tutor of Mathias Korvin was Ivan Vitez (1405-1472), a Croatian latinist, who also had the merit to open the University of Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) and the Academy and library of Budim (part of today's Budapest). He was a cardinal and occupied the position of the king's chancellor. In his speech in Vienna he asked for help to stop the penetration of the Turkish Ottoman Empire to Croatian lands. Antun Vrancic (lat Antonius Verantius, hungarized name Antal Verancsics, born in Sibenik in 1504) studied in Padova, Vienna and Krakow. After spending almost 20 years as a secretary and diplomat at the court of Ivan Zapolja, he continued his career at the court of Ferdinand I Habsburg in 1549. As the king's envoy he had a delicate task to negotiate with the Turks (he spent altogether 6 years as a diplomat in Turkey). Together with a Flamish diplomat Busbeck he discovered the Ankara plate (Monumentum ancyranum, held in the National Museum in Vienna), which is quite important for understanding the history of the Roman Empire, especially during the time of the Emperor Augustus. As a diplomat he traveled to France, Italy, Poland, England (on a diplomatic mission to the court of King Henry VIII), Turkey etc., and was exchanging letters with Erasmus of Rotterdam. In Krakow, Poland, he published two collections of poetry in the Latin language ("Elagiae" and "Otia"). Portrait of Antun Vrancic by
outstanding Croatian painter Antun Vrancic, that is, Antal Verancsics, is in Hungarian literature usually described as Hungarian, which is no surprise. The same for Faustus Verancsics, his very famous relative. It is little known that the famous Venetian painter Tizian portrayed Frane Vrancic - father of Antun Vrancic. Croatian language was taught in all church Universities in the 17th century as one of six world languages:
This hitherto completely unknown fact has been published in a monograph by academician Stjepan Krasic, Pape i hrvatski knjizevni jezik u XVII. stoljecu, Zagreb - Citluk, Matica hrvatska, 2004. (Academician Krasic is professor of history at Papal University of St. Thomas Aquines in Rome). Andrija Jamometic, a descendant of noble family from the town of Nin on Croatian littoral, was born between 1420-30, and died around 1486. He obtained excellent education in Padova, and later became outstanding diplomat in the service of Pope Sixto IV, tsar Friedrich III, and free cities like Nürnberg. In the Dominican convent in Udine (Italy) there was his portrait (now lost), with the following inscription: Brother Andrija, Croat, member of Udinese convent, famous for his knowledge of theological science and connoisseur of foreign languages. Pope Sixto IV appointed him Archbishop of Granea in Greece. He was deeply involved in Ecumenical questions related to delicate relations between Eastern and Western Christianity. He also insisted on the necessity to save Constantinople and Eastern Europe from Turkish onslaughts. In his letter written in 1482 to many European rulers, Jamometic sent an appeal to organize the Third General Church Council to discuss ecumenical questions, and to continue the unfinished Basel Council. He also sent an appeal to many universities, for example, to theological faculties in Vienna, Paris, Köln, Louvain, Krakow, and other similar institutions throughout Europe. His tragic destiny was similar to that of Thomas More about 50 years later. A Croatian theologian, ecumenist panslavist and musicologist Juraj Krizanic (1618-1683) was trying to initiate the dialog on the unification of the Russian Church with Rome. He dreamed about an open and peaceful dialog with Orthodox Christians. His major works are "Politika" (in Russian), written during his 15 year exile to Siberia and the panslavic grammatical book "Gramaticcno iskazanie ob ruskom jaziku" (Tobolsk, 1665), as well as "Razgovory ob vladatelstvu", written in panslavic esperanto that he invented. He also spent some time in Ukraine, where he had close ties with some of leading scholars. Krizanic wrote "Historia de Siberia" in 1680. It is known that during his sojourn in Rome he supervised a publication of musical works of the Portuguese king D. João IV. According to Krizanic's systematization of science, music should be regarded as a part of mathematics. He wrote his "Asserta musicalia nova" in 1650. Krizanic died near Vienna while participating in its defense against the Turks in the Ukrainian troops that adjoined the troops of the Polish king Jan Sobiesky. A Croatian Jesuit Nikola Plantic (born in Zagreb, 1720-1777) studied in Zagreb, Graz, Vienna and Trnava in Slovakia. He was teaching logic and philosophy at the Jesuit University in Cordoba in Argentina. In some books we can read that Plantic allegedly had an important role in the formation of the unique Jesuit Kingdom in Paraguay, established for the well being of native Guarani Indians. It is true that the Jesuits managed to organize prosperous economic and cultural life, including printing in the Guarani language. It is well known that Jesuits led a rebellion against Portuguese conquistadors who wanted to exploit Paraguay and use Guarani's as slaves. This was too much for great forces, since this Jesuit-Indian Republic had shaken the existing "world order." The rebellion was put down in 1767, which led to the tragedy for Guaranis. The "international community" managed to achieve interdiction of the Jesuit order in 1773. But the claim that N.Plantic organized the rebellion is false. Some sources even claim that the Jesuit Republic was led by Plantic, and that allegedly a coin was issued with his figure in the Netherlands. Plantic was never in Paraguay, and never met Guaranis in their homeland. I owe this info to Mr. Joza Vrljicak, director of Studia Croatica, Buenos Aires. The only Croat known to have participated the famous Paraguay mission was Ivan Krstitelj Marchesetti (or Marqueseti, 1704-1767), born in Rijeka in a noble family having Italian roots, later Croatized. See [Zoric, pp. 49-51].
Most of his writings
contain small dictionaries of the
Croatian (which he calls Slavonian), Turkish, Persian and Hungarian
languages. As a part of his "De afflictione...sub Turcae" (1544) he
wrote the first known Croatian - Latin dictionary (with the basic
prayers: Our Father, such as Hail Mary, Credo), which is also the first
known dictionary among the Croats. He is also the author of the
practical Italian - Arabian - Hebrew - Chaldean dictionary, added to
the description of his pilgrimage to Yerusalem when escaping from the
Turkish slavery. It was written in Italian: "Specchio della
peregrinazione delli piu notabili luoghi della Terra Santa", and the
author signed it as Georgievicz de Croatia. He also mentioned a
Croatian Script, which is "different from any other script in the
world" (Glagolitic).
He indicates that the
Croatian language is spoken among others on the Constantinople court of
Turkish sultans. Gyurgieuivits' works are also of interest for the
study of Islamic
music. He was not only
the first Croatian author, but also the first Slav author whose
writings were popular throughout Europe. For more information see [Zoric]. The Englishman Hugh Goughe wrote "The Ofspringe of the House of Ottomane" (1570) which is a translation of Gyurgieuits' book "De origine imperii Turcorum". In Goughe's book there is a dialogue in Croatian with a parallel English translation, alongside with two prayers in Croatian (Our father and Hail Mary). Gyugyieuits himself is called the "first Croatian lexicographer" in this book. Regarding early dictionaries of the Croatian language, let us mention a German knight Arnold von Harf (1471-1505) who visited the Croatian lands along the coast during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1496-1499. His book "Die Pilgerfahrt des Ritters Arnold von Herff von Cöln", published in Köln in 1860, includes a short conversational dictionary of the Croatian language containing 56 words and basic expressions. He also visited the beautiful, strong and freedom loving city of Dubrovnik (as he says), for which he states to be in the Croatian Kingdom - in den Koenynckrijh van Croatijen. Another Turkish captive was Juraj Hus (Hosti), contemporary of the above mentioned Bartol Gyurgieuvits. After the defeat of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in the battle with the army led by famous Croatian statesman Nikola Jurisic in 1533 (the aim of Suleyman was to occupy Vienna), and after his retreat through Croatian lands, Juraj Hus was taken to slavery from his village (Rasinje) to Constantinople. Since he did not want to renounce his Catholic faith, he managed somehow to be educated as a Turkish military trumpeter. As a musician he visited many lands: India, Egypt, Holy land. He described his visit to pyramids near Cairo, where he was playing his trumpet on the top of a pyramid, while soldiers below were measuring the volume of the pharaoh's grave. After many years he managed to escape, and reached Genova, and then Rome, where he was accepted in the Croatian Collegium of St. Jerome. In his village in Croatia he did not find any of his relatives, and died in Pozun (today's Bratislava in Slovakia) around 1566. He left the description of his pilgrims in his manuscript entitled Descriptio peregrinationis Georgii Huszthii. One version of the manuscript is held in the Vatican library, and the other in the National Library in Vienna. For more details see [Zoric]. Related to the famous Paulist convent in Lepoglava is Hilarion Gasparotti (1714-1762), born in the lovely town of Samobor near Zagreb. As a Lepoglava Paulist he wrote an encyclopaedic masterpiece Czvet Szveteh (The Flower of Saints) in 4 books on as many as 3,800 pages (982+923+987+896), published in Graz (written as Gradecz there, which reveals the Croatian origin of the name of Graz: grad - town) in 1752, and in Vienna in 1756, 1760 and 1761. In these books he wrote biographies of numerous saints in the beautiful kajkavian Croatian language, which he calls simultaneously slovenski jezik and horvatcki jezik. As we see, at that time Slovenian and Croatian languages were identified. On the front page Gasparotti stated that he consulted sources written in Spanish, Latin, French and German (see [Sekulic, pp 412-415]). Of course, he had at his disposal a magnificent library of the Lepoglava convent. The library and the valuables of the convent have been robbed by Austrian officials after canceling the Paulist order in Croatia in 1786. This top monument of Croatian culture served as prison during the Yugoslav communist period. Josip Voltic (Voltiggi, 1750-1825), an Istrian writer and lexicographer, published the Illyrian (Croatian)-Italian-German dictionary in Vienna in 1803.
The Missal of Prince Novak from 1368 is considered as a rare and valuable monument of Croatian Glagolitic cultural heritage. It is held in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The book was written in Krbava (now a part of Lika). Many specialists say that this is the most beautiful Glagolitic book. Facsimile edition is planned to be published in the near future in Austria.
On one of the last pages of the famous Klimpeh Missal (Burgenland - Gradisce), printed in 1501 in Ostrogon, there are several inscriptions in the Glagolitic, Latin and Cyrillic, that the earliest Croatian priests there wrote between 1543 and 1563. These are also the oldest known written documents of Croats in Gradisce (Burgenland) in Austria, see [Krpan, p. 214 and facsimile on p. 224].It is little known that a rescript of Austrian-Hungarian King Ferdinand I (1515-1564) granted the Burgenland Croats in Austria, who had to escape before the Turks, the right to choose their own priests who practiced God's service in Croatian vernacular language, and with holly books written in the Glagolitic. This privileges had been cancelled after his death, and since 1569 the Glagolitic was officially forbidden in Croatian parishes in Burgenland in Austria (Gradisce). See Miroslav Vuk-Croata: Hrvatske Bozicnice, HKD Sv. Jernoma, Zagreb 1995, p. 167. Austria: Vienna, Innsbruck, Schwarzau, Linz, Güssing, Graz Germany: Berlin, Kassel, Weimar, Wertheim, Stuttgart, Magdeburg, München, Frankfurt am Main, Trier, Tübingen, Bamberg Blaca, a lonely convent built on cliffs on the island of Brac, is indeed a fascinating place. It was founded by Croatian Glagolitic hermits, who fled here from the Turks in the 16th century. The last Glagolitic hermit was Don Niko Milicevic, who was also an astronomer of international reputation, with his published works in such prestigious journal as "Astornomische Nachrichten" in Vienna, and with rich international correspondence. After his death in 1963 the place was transformed into museum. The Arabica was also in use among the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was in fact the Arabic script used for the Croatian language and it constitutes the so-called Adjami or Aljamiado literature, similarly as in Spain. Its first sources in Croatia go back to the 15th century. One of the oldest texts is a love song called Chirvat-türkisi (Croatian song) from 1588, written by a certain Mehmed. This manuscript is held in the National Library in Vienna. Except for literature Arabica was also used in religious schools and administration. Of course, it was in much lesser use than other scripts. The last book in Arabica was printed in 1941.
Baromic breviary, 1493 incunabulum printed in Venice (one copy in Schwartzau in Austria, München in Germany, Sibiu in Roumania, two in Zagreb) Roc, by Bartol Krbavac, 1420 (National Library, Vienna, Austria) Güssing fragment of breviary (now in the Nat. Library in Vienna) Copenhagen missal, 14th century (Royal Library in Copenhagen, until 1839 in the Royal Library in Vienna) A professional binder of Glagolitic books was Grgur Kraljic from Senj, working in the Senj printing house. Between 1497 and 1502 he lived in Istria, near Pazin (in Roc, Beram and Hum). We know that in Istria he rebound five Glagolitic books, among them the Vitus of Omisalj breviary (written in 1396), which is now held in the National Library in Vienna, Austria. Blaz Baromic started his typographic career in Venice, where he published a breviary in 1493. Today we call this incunabulum Baromic's breviary. In the colophon we read that this book represents "brevijal hrvatski" (Croatian breviary). Two copies are held in Croatian capital Zagreb, one in München (in Germany), one in Schwarzau (in Austria), and one in Sibiu (in Romania). Cithara Octochorda is the most significant old collection of Latin - Croatian Church songs, published in 1701 in Vienna, reprinted in 1723 again in Vienna, and in 1757 in Zagreb. This impressive, monumental book contains 235 Croatian songs in the Kajkavian dialect. The songs were a part of the so called Zagreb church service, that was cancelled in 1878. A very nice web-page devoted to this jewel of Croatian culture is provided by the British Library, London. The Pharos Cantors (Hvarski kantaduri) sang their very old Lenten chants in Czechia, Great Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Germany, Spain, the USA, the Netherlands, Austria, etc. Ivan Mane Jarnovic (Italianized name Giornovichi, 1740-1804) was an outstanding Croatian violinist and composer of the 18th century, probably from Dubrovnik. He had a true European career - playing, composing and conducting in France (Paris), Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Scandinavian countries, England. Also played the first violin in the orchestra of the Russian empress Katarina II. Jarnovic composed about 50 chamber instrumental pieces, 22 violin concerts (17 preserved), and is known for having introduced the romanza as a slow movement into the structure of the violin concert. His life is described in a novel Jarnowick by G. Desnoisterres - Le Brisoys, Paris 1844, and in a collection Scènes de la vie d'artiste by P. Smith (Une leçon de Jarnovic, Paris, 1844).
Sir William Henry Hadow, renowned English scholar and musicologist (1859-1937), lecturer in Oxford, editor in chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Music (1901-1905), and a leading influence in English education at all levels in the 1920s and 1930s, wrote a booklet entitled in 1897 in London (published by Seely and co. limited; reprinted in 1972 by Freeport, New York). This and other references related to Joseph Haydn can be found at The Library of Congress Citations:
Here we reproduce the concluding paragraph of Haydn's short biography presented by MusicaClassica:
A distinguishing trait of Haydn's works was his frequent use of Croatian folk music for his melodic material. Wrote W. H. Hadow: "The Croatian melodies are bright, sensitive, piquant, but they seldom rise to any high level of dignity or earnestness. They belong to a temper which is marked rather by feeling and imagination than by any sustained breadth of thought, and hence, while they enrich their own field of art with great beauty, there are certain frontiers which they rarely cross, and from which, if crossed, they soon return." Even many of Haydn's original melodies are characterized by typical rhythmic and melodic qualities to be found in the Croatian folk songs. However, as Franze Bellinger has added, "Haydn's speech, like that of every genius, was not only that of his race, but of the world." To these Croatian characteristics, Haydn added his high inspiration and sensitivity, and produced a type of melody which, for the most part, is unmistakably his.
Haydn is a common Croatian family name. In the Croatian telephone book you can see the names of Hajdin, Hajdina, Hajdinjak, Hajdinac, Hajdinovic: 63 families in the Zagreb county, 91 families in Medimurje and Varazdin counties, 65 families in Primorsko-Goranska county; and altogether 320 families in the whole Croatia (1999). There is a village of Hajdine near Vrbovsko in Croatia, on the main road to Rijeka. The name Hajdin (= hajda's) is derived from hajda = buckwheat. Parents of Franz Joseph Haydn are Mathias Haiden and Anna Maria Haidin, as can be seen on their grave in the Rohrau cemetery even today. This is stated by outstanding Croatian musicologist academician Lovro Zupanovic in his afterword to the book of [Kuhac, pp 305-306]. Academician Zupanovic stated also the following:
For those who can read Croatian, here is what academician Zupanovic wrote (see [Kuhac, pp 305-306]):
Let us add that the melody for the German national anthem, composed by Joseph Haydn, is based on a very old Croatian folk song ("V jutro rano se ja stanem, rano pred zorom...", see the Oxford Music Dictionary). It is also significant that Haydn himself named the song Volkslied, before it became the anthem. Compare the Croatian folk song with the German national anthem: See also sheet music taken from Austrian - American Magazine, March 2002. For more details see Hadow's analysis from his monograph A Croatian Composer; notes towards biography of Joseph Haydn (London 1897). The verses for the Austrian national anthem "Land der Berge, Land am Storme", were written by Paula von Preradovic (1887-1951), Austrian writer and poetess, grand-daughter of the Croatian poet Petar Preradovic (1818-1872), with the music of W.A. Mozart.
She wrote a lot about Croatia, its people, history and nature, for example "Kroatishe Königs legende".
A lovely parade march called the Jelacic March (Op. 244), composed by Johann Strauss the Elder, was played by the composer and his orchestra in Vienna in 1849, one day after Josip Jelacic was proclaimed an honorary citizen of the city. A total of eight marches and one waltz were dedicated to J. Jelacic by various Austrian composers. Ivan Padovec (1800-1873), born in the beautiful baroque town of Varazdin (known for its festivals of baroque music) was a guitar virtuoso, who gave concerts in Zagreb, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Hamburg, London, in Poland, Russia etc. He constructed a ten string guitar. Also, he published his Teoretish - praktische Guitar - Schule in Vienna in 1842. Illma de Murska (born as Ema Puksec in the town of Ogulin, 1834 - 1889) was an opera diva of international fame. She sang in Italy, Spain, Hungary, and her most fruitful period was in Vienna, Austria. She also sang in Berlin, Hamburg, Paris and London, and had tours in Australia, Russia, USA and New Zealand. The prima donna Ilma di Murska on the London stage Joseph
Angster (1834-1918) was
born in Jagodnjak (Kacsfalu) in eastern Croatia (near Danube river),
famous church organ constructor. His organs can be found in many
churches in Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Serbia & Montenegro, Poland, in Rome -Italy, Romania
and
Ukraine. He participated in organ construction for Cologne-castle,
Notre-Dame church in Paris and for St. Trinity church organ.
Maja Strozzi-Pecic (1881-1962), Thomas Mann wrote about her in his Dr. Faustus ("...she is probably the best soprano of both hemispheres"), while Igor Stravinski devoted his four compositions to her. A famous opera singer Tino Pattiera (1890-1966) was born in the lovely town of Cavtat near Dubrovnik. His career started in Croatia, in the Opera of Osijek, where he sang as baritone. Pattiera was teaching singing in the Prague and in Vienna (Academy of Drama and Music). He is also buried in his native city. Berislav Klobucar (1924), one of the greatest Croatian conductors, born in Zagreb, student of Lovro pl. Matacic, started his impressive career leading the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.
Vjekoslav Sutej (1951), a renowned conductor (for four consecutive years conducted the Viennese Symphonic orchestra during Christmas concerts held in Vienna, with the participation of such famous singers like Jose Carreras - concert in Arena di Verona in 1995, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, the event being transmitted worldwide), from 1990 to 1993 musical director of Teatro La Fencie in Venice, conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Sevilla (Spain) from 1990 to 1996, and the Houston opera orchestra (the USA) from 1992 to 1997, conducted Carmen in Arena di Verona, Any admirer of classical music certainly knows the Zagreb Soloists, conducted by maestro Tonko Ninic (until 1997). Viktor Vidovic (1973) and Ana Vidovic (1980), brilliant guitarists (brother and sister); Ana has won the 1998 International Guitarist Competition "Francisco Tarrega" in Benicasim, Spain, among forty competitors up to the age 32, see Toutes les qualités d'une jeune virtuose at Societé luxembourgeoise de guitare classique. She also won first prizes at "Albert Augustinum International Competition" in Bath, England, at the "Ferdinando Sor Competition" in Rome. She had concerts in London, Paris, Vienna, Salzburg, Rome, Budapest, Warszaw, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen, Tronto, San Francisco, Houston, Austin, Dallas, St Luis.
Mia Slavenska (born in Slavonski Brod, 1914-2002), became ballerina of the Zagreb Opera (1930-33), studied also in Vienna, and joined the Paris Opera in 1933. In London she danced with Anton Dolin before joining the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1938-42). She later formed her own company, Ballet Variante.Iin 1953 she established the Slavenska-Franklin ballet company with Frederic Franklin. In 1950's she was primabalerina of the Metropolitan Opera. By the end of her career she was teaching in Los Angeles, California. Slavenska starred in a wonderful French film, La Mort du Cygne (1938). Zvjezdice (Little Stars), all girs' choir, founded in 1985 in Zagreb, conducted by Mr. Zdravko Sljivac, became two-times world champions of the Llangollen International Music Festival of choir music ((Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod)), Llangollen, Wales, UK, in 2001, and Outstanding Prize at Sligo Choral Festival in Ireland. They are often compared with the Vienna Boys Choir. Little Stars were elected as Cultural Ambassadors of the European Union Parliament. They had very successful concerts in Norway (Oslo, Stavanger), France (Paris, Nantes, Auxerre), Italy (Milano, Riva del Garda), Switzerland (Zürich), Germany (Füssen), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo), Austria (Salzburg), USA (New York, Pittsburgh, Dayton, Northern Kentucky, Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago), etc. You can listen to their singing at Croatian Christmas Songs. Maestro Zdravko Sljivac conducted also the World Children Choir in Paris. Tamburica links in Austria:
It seems that "Sidi Mara..."
is
the origin for the melody of ALOHA
OE
(Farewell to Thee), famous
Hawaiian song and the national anthem of
Hawaii. Its
words were written by Her Majesty Queen
Liliuokalani around
1877. Possible
Croatian origin for the melody of ALOHA OE is indicated in an article
written
by John Berger in HAWAII MAGAZINE, August 1996, p. 41. Very close
relation between
the melody of "Sidi Mara..." and ALOHA OE has been indicated
by Branimir Vidmar,
Timmins, Ontario, Canada, 1978. Vidmar also
indicated
that the melody is close to American gospel "How Great
Thou Art," composed by K. Hine. It is also worth noting
that "Sidi Mara..." has
Austro-German version called Die
Träne, and
the English version is The Tear
(this can also be seen from
Vidmar's sheet
music). As stated in Ripley's Believe
it or
not, Hawaiian music is the
creation of a German
bandmaster captain Henry Berger
(1844-1929), invited to Hawaii
by King
Kamehameha V in 1872. Berger composed the
first Hawaiian songs which "he adapted from German folk
tunes." He composed 72 famous Hawaiian songs, including ALOHA OE and
the Hawaiian
national song. We can be pretty
sure that the "German tune" adapted to Hawaiian ALOHA OE was in fact
Croatian
song "Sidi Mara...", which Berger obviously
knew as "Die Träne." www.hr/darko/etf/et02.html#jurisic In 1526 the disastrous
defeat of Hungarian and Croatian army
took place in the Mohac field
in southern Hungary. Let us
mention by the way that since 1991 this area has offered refuge to
45,000 exiles, mostly Croats from Serbia and occupied parts of Croatia. Here is a document depicting cut off heads of Croats killed after the battle at Petrinja near Zagreb in 1592: The 1592 defeat of Croatian-Habsburg army near Brest was celebrated in Constantinople by showing 29 chariots with 172 captured dignitaries, 600 cut off heads, and 23 captured flags. A legendary Croatian military commander Nikola Jurisic (born in the town of Senj, 1490-~1545) managed to stop sultan Sulejman the Magnificent (or Great) in 1532 near the town of Köszeg (Güns) at Austrian and Hungarian border. Nikola Jurisic had about 700 Croatian soldiers, the Turks about 32,000 people. The Turkish onslaughts lasted for three weeks. The aim of sultan Sulejman was to occupy Vienna. It is interesting that two years earlier Nikola Jurisic visited sultan Sulejman in Constantinople as a deputy of King Ferdinand. It is interesting that, while in prison from 18th April 1670 to 30th April 1671, Fran Krsto Frankapan translated Molier's "George Dandin" into Croatian, written in Paris in 1669, ie. only two years earlier. This was was its first European translation. Frankopan is the author of very famous Croatian verses Navik on zivi ki zgine posteno (Forever he lives who dies honorably). Petar Zrinski was also very educated, being a statesman, poet, composer, polyglot. He presented his legendary sword to the town of Perast in Boka kotorska during his sojourn there in 1654. The letter sent by Petar Zrinski to his wife Katarina (in Croatian) just a day before his death is one of the most deeply moving texts ever written in the Croatian language. It was very soon translated and published in
His wife Katarina, also an outstanding poetess, was imprisoned by general Spankau in a monastery in Graz, where she went insane and died in extreme poverty. Even the son of Peter and Katarina - Ivan Antun, the last of the Zrinski's, was imprisoned in Graz, solely because he belonged to this outstanding noble family. He died after 20 years of prison in Schlossberg in Graz out of pneumonia. These six centuries old noble Croatian families died out and their property was robbed. It should be stressed that both Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankapan went to Vienna voluntarily, where they have been arrested. During the trial they defended themselves claiming that only Croatian Parliament (Hrvatski Sabor) can try them. In their bourgs they had a considerable collection of books and works of art, which after confiscation are held in Austria (many of them in Austrian National Library). A period of the influence of the absolutistic Viennese politics had started. Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan (1825-1871), by Dr. Vinko Grubisic Even today some descendants of the Zrinski family (Sdrin, Sdrinias) live in Greece. See an interesting article by Dionisis pl. Sdrinias (Greece). CROATS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The Serbs living in Bosnia came with the Turks mostly as assisting Turkish troops. It should be emphasized that these Bosnian Serbs were originally Valachies (Vlachs) from Montenegro and northern Albania. In fact they were non-slavic nomads - Protoromans and romanized Balkan Celts and Illyrians, who accepted the Serbian Orthodox faith (there were also Catholic Valachies in Croatia, croatized after 16th century). Later, under the influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Bosnia, they became Serbs. They had been fighting on the Turkish side until the decline of the Turkish Empire started. Their enclaves in present day Croatia follow roughly the border of the Turkish Empire in the medieval Croatia. These migrations led to further complications. Counting on these Serbian settlers as a military aid, the Austrian kings supplied them with privileges. This meant that parts of the Croatian territory were not completely under the Croatian jurisdiction and the Croats felt them as intruders within their state. This was the beginning of the so-called Krajina (`Military Frontier'; "Bosnian Krajina" appeared much later), whose complete and systematic ethnical cleansing from Croats and from everything reminding on their existence was finished during the Serbian aggression 1991-1995. Here we see the beginning of the drama in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Krajina region in Croatia has been liberated during the Flash and Storm operations in the summer 1995. Franz Jelacic de Buzim Extrait du Dictionnaire Universel Larousse, 1866-1879. Baron, général autrichien, né à Petrinia en 1746, mort en 1810.
Dictionnaire Universel Larousse, 1866-1879 Liens:
Josef Jelacic de Buzim Extrait du Dictionnaire Universel Larousse, 1866-1879 Baron, général autrichien, ban de Croatie, fils du précédent [Franz Jelacic de Buzim], né à Peterwardein (Slavonie) en 1801, mort à Agram [Zagreb] en 1859. En sortant de l’école militaire de Vienne, en 1819, il entra dans l’armée autrichienne avec le grade de sous-lieutenant de dragons, cultiva la poésie dans ses loisirs de garnison et publia, en 1825, un recueil de vers. Nommé capitaine-lieutenant en 1830, major en 1837, puis lieutenant-colonel dans un régiment-frontière du Banat, il était colonel depuis 1842, lorsqu’il eut à combattre les bandes bosniaques qui infestaient les frontières de la Croatie. Il fit preuve, dans ces circonstances, d’autant de décision que d’habileté (1845), et acquit une grande popularité en Croatie par l’énergie avec laquelle il mit un terme aux déprédations de ces brigands.
Le nouveau ban, au comble de ses vœux, se trouva néanmoins en présence de nombreuses difficultés. " D’abord, dit M. A. d’Héricourt, les Croates n’étaient pas tellement unis que l’on ne pût craindre des divisions excitées par des chefs jaloux. En outre, l’un des ministres de l’empereur (Bathyani) était Hongrois, et il était probable qu’il emploierait son influence à renverser un ban que ses connaissances militaires devaient rendre redoutable à ses compatriotes. Jellachich triompha, mais non sans peine, de tant d’obstacles. Il alla sans armes trouver les Croates mécontents et réunis, leur expliqua ses projets, et fut reconduit par eux en triomphe. Sommé par le ministère de rendre compte de sa conduite, il vint à Vienne à la tête d’une escorte nombreuse, refusa de s’expliquer en présence du ministre hongrois et obtint une audience publique de l’empereur, avec qui on redoutait qu’il n’eût un entrevue secrète. Il parla modestement de ce qu’il avait fait, déclara qu’une population aussi importante que les Slaves ne pouvaient être sacrifiée aux intérêts d’une poignée de Hongrois, et ajouta qu’il venait resserrer plus étroitement que jamais les liens qui unissaient la Croatie et l’empire, dont le salut n’était qu’à ce prix. Son discourt persuasif et éloquent eut un succès complet : l’empereur fut ému, des applaudissements éclatèrent, et l’archiduc Jean vint serrer Jellachich dans ses bras. On convient que le ban conserverait son autorité, mais que l’édit qui l’en dépouillait ne serait pas encore rapporté. Le soir, la population de Vienne se pressait sous ses fenêtres ; il prononça une nouvelle harangue et la termina par ces mots : " Je veux, mes frères, une Autriche grande, forte, puissante, libre et indivisible. Vive notre belle patrie ! Vive l’Allemagne ! ". Comptant sur les promesses de la cour, Jellachich se tint prêt à commencer les hostilités contre les Hongrois ; il parcourut la Croatie et les autres provinces slaves de l’empire, recueillant partout de nombreuses preuves de patriotique sympathie ". Cependant le faible Ferdinand, craignant une rupture avec la Hongrie, hésitait encore à reporter l’édit qui privait le ban de sa dignité ; mais celui-ci, sûr de l’approbation tacite de la cours, continuait ses armements, obtenait des diètes slaves des subsides et une armée de 40 000 hommes, recevait de l’administration autrichienne des munitions et de l’artillerie ; enfin un édit du 4 septembre 1848 lui rendait, en récompense de ses services, ses dignités et ses fonctions. Cinq jours plus tard, Jellachich déclarait la guerre à la Hongrie et commençait les hostilités. Battu près d’Ofen, après un sanglant combat, il conclut un armistice pendant lequel il opéra sa retraite de façon à faire sa jonction avec Windischgrätz, marcha avec lui sur Vienne ; où venait d’éclater une révolution, et pris une part active à la prise de cette ville insurgée (2 novembre). Bientôt après, il pénétrait de nouveau en Hongrie avec Windischgrätz. Il remporta quelques succès, fut nommé général d’artillerie, reçut l’ordre de descendre la rive droite du Danube et de protéger, contre l’insurrection magyare, les provinces méridionales de l’empire, força Bem de se replier devant lui, mit garnison dans Bacska, puis fut complètement battu par Bem à Hegyes le 14 juillet1849. Il s’occupait de réorganiser ses troupes lorsque la Hongrie succomba devant l’intervention russe et surtout par la trahison de Goergei. Lorsque la lutte fut terminée, Jellachich retourna à Agram, en qualité de gouverneur civil et militaire de la Croatie et de la Slavonie. En 1853, il reçut le commandement d’un corps d’observation envoyé par le gouvernement autrichien sur la frontière du Monténégro. Enfin, en 1855, il reçut de l’empereur François-Josef le titre de comte. Jellachich, dans sa carrière brillante et mouvementée, a montré plus d’habileté, de finesse et de décision politique que de grands talents militaires. En 1851, il donna une édition de ses poésies, parmi lesquelles on remarque ses chants patriotiques et une piquante satire du vieux système militaire, intitulé : Chanson de garnison, qui obtint un grand succès. Liens:
Vers 1740, Franz ou Franz-Luka (°1720 à Vienne / Autriche- après 1776 à Moscou / Russie) partit s’installer à St Pétersbourg, en Russie. Il y étudia la médecine et fut diplômé en 1743 à l’hôpital général de St Pétersbourg. Il participa en tant que médecin à trois expéditions en Chine (1747, 1754-1756 et 1757-1764). En 1756, il fut chirurgien à l'hôpital principal de Moscou, puis en 1764 chirurgien à l’hôpital général de St Pétersbourg.
Croatian coats of arms can be seen on the
ceiling of the Stadtrichter Zeller Haus (Herzog Friedrichstr. 35)
Wappenturm
(i.e. the Coat of Arms Tower) of
Hofburg is on the left on the above photo.
Many thanks to Ivan and Aleksandar Szabo for kind help.
From
the bell in Schwaz near Innsbruck, 1503 Dalmatie and Croacie on the top, from a bell in Schwaz near Innsbruck, Austria, 1503
Croatian
coats of arms (Dalmatien, Croatien)
drawn by Albercht
Dürer (1427-1528), Since his election in 1519 Charles V predominantly used the following title in official documents: "Carl der fünffte, von Gottes Gnaden Römischer Kayser, zu allen Zeiten Mehrer des Reichs, König in Germanien, zu Castilien, Aragon, Leon, beyder Sicilien, Hierusalem, Hungarn, Dalmatien, Croatien, Navarra, Granaten, Tolleten, Valentz, Gallicien, Majorca, Hispalis, Sardinien, Corduba, Corsica, Murcien, Giennis, Algarbien, Algeziren, Gibraltar, der Canarischen und Indianischen Insulen und der Terrae firmae des Oceanischen Meeres etc, Ertz-Hertzog zu Oesterreich, Hertzog zu Burgundi, zu Lotterich, zu Braband, zu Steyer, zu Kerndten, zu Krain, zu Limburg, zu Lützenburg, zu Geldern, zu Calabrien, zu Athen, zu Neopatrien und Würtenberg etc."
Kingdom
of Croatia (Austrian-Hungarian Imperial
civic heraldry)
The artist Hans Burgkmair (1473-1531) included
Croatian and Dalmatian coats of arms
One of truly fascinating exploits in which Croatian mariners participated is related to ARCTIC EXPEDITION in 1872-1874, organized by the Austrian-Hungarian state. Mirna Jukic, Croatian swimmer in Austria (born in in the town of Vukovar, destroyed during Greater Serbian aggression on Croatia), was elected the 2002 Sportswoman in Austria for her results in breaststroke swimming.
![]() In 2002, at the Winter Olympic Games held in Salt Lake City in the USA, Janica Kostelic became the first Alpine skier to win as many as four Olympic medals at a single Game: three gold medals and one silver. This was a result of many years of painstaking work undertaken already at her tender age by her father Mr. Ante Kostelic and the whole family. As stated by Mr. Kostelic, this success would not have been possible without free Croatia.
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And Janica's brother, Ivica Kostelic, stunned everybody with his win in the 2001 World Cup slalom in Aspen, Colorado, USA, at the age of 22. He skied out of the 64th position in the first run, then was fastest in the second run to win in 1 minute, 38.81 seconds. It was the latest starting position for a slalom winner in World Cup history and third latest in any event. Ivica is also known as the best blues and rock guitarist among skiers, and at the same time the best skier among blues and rock guitarists.
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1. Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 1 minute, 38.81 seconds. 2. Giorgio Rocca, Italy, 1:38.93. 3. Mario Matt, Austria, 1:39.00. 4. Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Norway, 1:39.43. 5. Jure Kosir, Slovania, 1:40.00. 6. Lasse Kjus, Norway, 1:40.03. 7. Michael Von Gruenigen, Switzerland, 1:40.09. 8. Kalle Palander, Finland, 1:40.15. 9. Jean-Pierre Vidal, France, 1:40.17. 10. Alan Perathoner, Italy, 1:40.18. In 2003 Ivica and Janica Kostelic both won the title of world champions in slalom. They became the first siblings to win gold medals in the same event at the world's. The life of the family of Kostelic is unique in the history of skiing sport (and may be in the history of sport in general). When Janica and Ivica were very young, they used to travel with their old Lada (Russian car), and also to sleep and eat in the car. At the same time other children stayed in a hotel, sleeping in their warm beds. Kotelic's were sleeping also in a small mountain tent, sometimes at the temperature reaching -20 degrees Celsius. They were not able to pay for their trainings, so they used to wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning, to wash their faces with snow, and train at dawn (free of charge) with their worn up gloves, while others were still sleeping or having breakfast.
Captain Marko Vekarich, Master of the Austro-Hungarian Barque "Isaac", received the following letter from the Government of Canada for saving the shipwrecked crew of Canadian ship "Angle" in the Atlantic (the letter is kept in the town of Orebic, Peljesac peninsula near Dubrovnik): OFFICIAL SEAL
In 1861 captain Jozo Sunj from Orebic (Peljesac peninsula), Master of the Barque "Nicolo Despot", obtained official recognition and gold chronometer with engraved dedication from Abraham Lincoln, president of the USA, for having saved the crew of the USA sailor "Homer" in the Atlantic. Society for building and exploitation of long range navigation vessels (later Maritime Society of Peljesac) in Orebic was founded in 1865. In 1873 the Society had 90 great and nice vessels with total weight of 45000 tons, with 2000 employed, out of which 250 were captains. The Society existed until 1891.
Croatian mariners in the ARCTIC EXPEDITION in 1872-1874© by Darko Zubrinic, Zagreb (2000)Many Arctic expeditions in the 19th century ended with shipwrecks. Probably the best known is Franklin's expedition (1845) which had tragic human losses: as many as 120 people died. Twenty expeditions were organized in order to find and save them, but in vain. The Austrian-Hungarian state, which at that time included also Croatian coast, planned expedition to NE of Novaya Zemlya, and to find the so called North East Passage. This led to the discovery of Franz Josef Land in 1873, a collection of about 85 islands in the Arctic Ocean, now a Russian National Park called Zemlya Franca Iosifa. The ship named Tegetthoff was built up in the German port Bremen using a special new technology, in order to endure extremely low temperatures and dangerous ice pressure (32 m long, 7 m wide, 220 tons). The crew was composed of 24 persons, members of Austrian-Hungarian marine in the Adriatic sea. It is interesting that the Croats were predominant in the crew. It was composed 9 Austrians, 1 Hungarian, 1 Moravian Czech, 1 Italian (?), and as many as 12 Croats from various parts of Croatian coast (Rijeka, Cres, Bakar, Volosko, Lovran, Plomin, Mali Losinj, Brac, Hvar). The names of these Croatian mariners are:
In his diary Julius Payer includes Ante Scarpa from Trieste into Slavonic (Croatian) group, see [Kunicic], p. 40, and according to Kunicic the Croatian crew had 13 members (see p. 2), not 12. Also every Sunday the Croats read parts of Evangel in Croatian (scavet), which belongs to glagolitic tradition, see [Kunicic] p. 38. On Christmas they sang a well known song "U se vrime godista", and remember their customs. The crew had a small library with about 400 books, half of them scientific. And a part of books was in Croatian. For the complete list of names and other details related to this expedition, see here. There were some objections addressed to Karl Weyprecht, captain of the ship, why he chose so many Croats, instead of Tyrol Austrians. He answered that he counts on endurance, discipline and experience of Croatian mariners, and the fact that they do not drink. Very important for success of this carefully planned and dangerous expedition was the presence of eight dogs. The expedition led to the discovery of Franz Josef's Land in the Arctic. In 1872, when the expedition sailed off from the port of Bremen, weather condition and temperature were particularly severe. A result of ice movement was that the sailboat became wedged in the mass of ice for two years! At that time it was not possible to communicate with the rest of the world as it is today. During these two years the crew, although in extremely difficult situation, performed numerous scientific investigations. The preserved log-book testimonies about very serious and well organized everyday life and work. As the ice moved slowly northward, the mountains emerged, that they named Franz Josef's Land. It had been decided to leave the location of the ship, and carry three auxiliary saving ships on sledges, tugged with dogs and people. In dramatic 800 kilometers that they covered mostly on foot under very difficult conditions, they discovered numerous new interesting places. So today we have places like the Cape of Fiume (= the town of Rijeka, on Croatian littoral), and the Cape of Klagenfurt (a town in Austria). One of participants of this adventure was Eling Carlson from Norway, connoisseur of northern seas. Unfortunately, one member died due to sickness: Oton Kriz from Moravia (today in Czechia). After about two years of stay in the Arctic the ship Thegetthoff was left by the whole crew in the ocean of ice, and 23 people set off back to Europe in three small saving ships. For almost three months people and dogs had to tug boats on sledges, and then during next nine days they had to row until they finally met two russian fishing boats near Novaya Zemlya. As stated in [Kunicic], p. 122, there is no king in the world that would be accepted with such hospitality and joy as those totally exhausted people were accepted by Russian mariners. It is very probable that Croatian mariners were able to communicate with Russians, since Croatian and Russian languages are relatively close. Among all members of the expedition only Petar Lusina (from the island of Cres) knew Russian. Besides his native Croatian, he also spoke English, French and Italian. Members of the expedition learned many news that have happened in Europe during two and a half years of their expedition. The two boats took them to Vardoe in Norway, for which russian mariners have sacrificed four days of their fishing, plus four days for the return. Upon successful arrival to Europe, with help of Russian and Norwegian navy, members of expedition reached Hamburg. In Vienna a glorious welcome was organised, and all of them obtained honorary citizenship in Austrian-Hungarian state. A grand "banchetto" was organized in the Croatian town of Volosko near Rijeka. The overall expenses were such that the expedition ended with +17.61 forints, which we know from a very detailed and pedantic final account. Among numerous financial supporters of this daring exploit was Dora Pejacevic, a Croatian composer. It is interesting that experiences of this expedition were important in the preparation of Amundsen's expedition to Arctic about 30 years later. Croatian descent of half of the crew was not even mentioned in the existing literature available in German, English, and Italian. In Croatia itself, the expedition was described by Eugen Kumicic. It also worth mentioning that in 1882, as a part of the First International Geophysical Year, another very ambitious and successful expedition had been organized to the region of Greenland (in the part which is north of Island). Also in this case, in the crew composed of 12 half of them were Croats. Their names are Ivan Samanic, Josip Baretincic, Anton Mikacic, Anton Lukinovic, Jakov Succic, Tomas Diminich. For the remaining names of the crew and other details see here. References:
Croatian soldiers served in many European armies since the seventeenth century. So in the French army in the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XIII, there was a cavalry composed exclusively of the Croats, called Royal - Cravate, which existed in the period of 1664-1789. These soldiers gave the world something that is today unavoidable in fashion: the tie, called la cravate by the French and by the Germans die Krawatte - the expression was coined from the Croatian name, and mentioned for the first time in 1651. The name entered also
and many other. So when you wear a tie, remember its Croatian origin. A part of Vienna, capital of Austria, at Spittelberg (7. Bezirk), was since 1609 known as Krawattendörfl or Krowottendörfl, according to different Austrian dialects. It is insteresting that Austrian general Isolano, (Johann Ludwig Hektor Isolano, 17th century), had three houses there, and his troups were composed of Croats that brought the cravate to the world. Many thanks to Mr. Mijo Juric, Vienna, for this information. It is interesting that the Croatian town of Slavonski Brod on river Sava appears on a map of the Habsburg Empire from 1697 with its center indicated as Cravatten Statt. The map was prepared by Nikola Sparr de Bensdorf from the Netherlands, and is kept in the Military Archives in Vienna. Baron Trenck (1711-1749) was probably the most famous Croatian soldier who took part in the war of the Austrian Succession. He was the head of a regiment of Pandours recruited largely in Slavonia. His Memoirs of the Illustrous Francis Bacon Trenck were first printed in German and then translated into English (London, 1747). www.hr/darko/etf/et22.html#address Humanitarian activityAn amazing anti-war, pacifist sermon was given in 1778 by an anonymous Croatian preacher to Croatian soldiers, immediately before the battle between Austrian and Prussian troups in Bohemia: At that time majority of soldiers for Austrian army were recruited from Croats (that's how the necktie, ie., Cravate, had spread throughout the world): out of 80-100,000 Austrian soldiers, about 60,000 were Croats. While the Croatian original of this remarkable sermon is still unknown, that same year eight translations were published in German, Dutch and Swedish, and in Latvian in 1804:
Here are title pages of Dutch and German 1778 editions: The German 1778 translation was retranslated back to Croatian language in Arapovic's monograph in 1999, where you can find also its English translation. It is very probable that the text was published in some other west-European languages as well. Note that this universal message of peace, religious tolerance and patriotism was translated in enemy countries (with respect to Austria), that were a part of Protestant Christianity. Reference: Borislav
Arapovic, Hrvatski mirospis
1778,
Matica hrvatska, Mostar, 1999, ISBN 9958-9448-2-0 Borislav Arapovic discovered two interesting texts related to Croatian military, both written originally in the Croatian language, but only their German translations are known:
www.hr/darko/etf/et22.html#pale Humanitarian activity of the International Fund Hungry Child is world-wide known. Its founder (1969 in Zagreb) and the Secretary General was Vladimir Palecek (1940-1990). Only in the period from 1969 to 1979 humanitarian aid (medicaments, food, clothing, ambulances, money) has been sent to: Many individuals (painters, musicians etc.) and companies (especially food producing and transport companies) in Croatia contributed to the activity of the International Fund Hungry Child. Vladimir Palecek also founded and was the Secretary General of the International Committee for the Protection of Unborn Children (1986 in Vienna) and the International Mission for Science and Peace (1988 in Geneva).
In October 1991 the largest Lipizzaner horse-farm in Croatia, situated near the town of Lipik, was bombed with napalm bombs. It is interesting that the first railway-track from Lipik to Vienna was built in 1861 by Henry D'Heureux - Gibel, a French enterprise dealing with exploitation of oak trees. Already in 1894 the town was electrified. In 1866 Lipik had 228 inhabitants: 222 Roman Catholics, 3 Pravoslavs, and 3 Jews. The town of Lipik is known for its very rich Recreation and Health Center, built already in the 19th century. It had
All of this was either destroyed or seriously damaged during Serbian shelling and bombing (including napalm bombs) in 1991. president Adolf SCHARF - 1957/65, 2 dolls president Dr. Kurt WALDHEIM - 1986/92, 1 doll I met Mr. Ljeposlav Perinic in the summer 1999 in Zagreb, after his friendly telephone call related to the famous Croatian Glagolitic Texte du Sacre in France. I learned an unusual story about his unique collection of more than 350 dolls in national costumes from over 120 countries, from all five continents. His invaluable collection contains dolls that he obtained as gifts from dignitaries, Kings, Queens, Emperors, Empresses, Presidents, First Ladies, Prime Ministers, Governors, etc. Among them are Pope Paul VI (the Vatican), Indira Gandhi (India), Carlos Menem (Argentina), G.A. Naser (Egypt), Grace Kelly (Monaco), Haile Selassie (Ethiopia), Farrah Diba Pahlavi - the First Lady of Iran, Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan), Konrad Adenauer (Germany), Queen Sofia of Spain, Mao Tse Tung (China), Dalai Lama (Tibet in China), Enver Hoxha (Albania), Moise Chombe (Kongo), then
(Nepal), Franjo Tudjman (Croatia), and many others. How did he collect his dolls? Well, he simply wrote, and asked for dolls in national costumes. However, the story has deeper roots. ... The international exhibition EXPO '67 held in Montreal in Canada had also a small pavilion full of dolls. It was Mr. Perinic's pavillion where he exhibited his collection, unofficially called Croatian pavilion (it was also the sole exhibit of Argentina). He had numerous charitable exhibitions of his dolls, mainly for UNICEF children's program. As an example, one of exhibitions of his dolls was organized in order to help children in Argentina suffering from leprosy. On another exhibition of dolls, funds gathered in this way sufficed to build a house in the children's village in Garin, in the vicinity of Buenos Aires, directed by S.O.S. OPROVI Argentina. Here S.O.S. Children's Village is a well known charitable international organization, founded by Hermann Gmeiner in 1949 in Austria. It is interesting that the building was named - CROACIA. Kaiser
und König
Franz Joseph I
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These two lovely portraits have been made around 2001 by Antun-Boris Svaljek, Croatian painter. They adorn Villa Astra in the town of Lovran, Croatia, belonging to Lovranske vile Ltd, directed by Mr. Vjeko Martinko. In 2006 The Guardian announced ten best places to stay in Croatia, with Lovranske Vile on the first place. Many thanks to Mr. Vjeko Martinko for permission to use the photos. |
Calendar from 1917 with nice Croatian Coats of Arms, kept in the City Museum of Zagreb.