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 He composed the first opera in Croatia (performed only once), wrote the History of Split (unfinished and unpublished).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.

He performed his medical work in Split, Kotor (in Boka kotorska in today’s Montenegro), and Hvar.