Brothers Mirko (Karlovac 1871-Peru, 1913) and Stevo Seljan (Karlovac 1876-Ouro Preto, Brazil 1936) spent several years in Ethiopia carrying out geomorphological, climatological and ethnographic investigations.

They occupied an important position at the court of Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II. Later they went to South America, where they founded the society La Mission Cientifica Croata Mirko y Stevo Seljan and organized some expeditions, especially in Peru, Chile and Brazil (in the region of the Amazon).

Ethiopian Star and The Solomon’s Knight Cross,
decorations awarded by Emperor Menelik II to brothers Seljan

A gift of Emperor Menelik II to Mirko Seljan, with inscription on gold plated sword:
Ethiopia raises its hands to God (in Amharic)

A charter bestowed by Emperor Menelik II to brothers Seljan
with inscription in Amharic

Their most important book is Mirko and Stevo Seljan, El Salto del Guayra, 1905, Buenos Aires. Origianlly written in Croatian, so that it could be printed in the United Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia, it was translated already in 1905 into French. In 1913 Stevo Seljan was elected as a honorary member of the Mexican Geographical Socitey.

In 1898, at the age of 27, Mirko Seljan walked 2800 km from St. Petersburg (Russia) to Paris (France), in just 110 days. In this way, he earned the title Champion Globetrotter. However, the greatest Croatian globetrotter (and probably of entire history) was Josip (Joe, Joseph) Mikulec.

Photos from Aleksandra Sanja Lazarevic: Zivot i djelo brace Seljan, Etnografski muzej u Zagrebu, 1977.

• Los hermanos Seljan, exploradores en África y Sudamérica, Lelio Janin, Buenos Aires
• Misionar na Gornjem Nilu, Damir Zoric