Jakov Mikalja (Giacomo Micaglia, ~1600 – 1654) was lexicographer and theological writer born in Peschici in Italy in Molise (the name of Peschici is obviously of Croatian origin), collaborator of Bartol Kasic. He was descendant of Croatian exiles that had to escape before the Turks from Dalmatia. After his studies he lectured at the Jesuit collegium in Dubrovnik. His most important work is a dictionary Blago jezika slovinskoga containing 25,000 words (Thesaurus linguae Illyricae sive Dictionarium Illyricum, 1649, printed in Loreto and finished in Ancona in 1651), and also Croatian-Italian-Latin dictionary with grammar, containing rich vocabulary of Croatian ikavian – chakavian and stokavian words. In this huge book having 926 pages, which starts with Croatian column, he clearly stated to be Croat. His surname is derived from his father’s name (son of Mikalj), so that Mikalja is genitive case of Mikalj. His book Ortografija jezika slovinskog represents the first printed orthography of Croatian language. He also published Bogoljubno razmisljanje od Ocenasa in Pozun (= Bratislava) in 1642. The only known copy of this book, printed in Croatian language, is held Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris (within section of Slovak literature!). It is interesting that Mikalja founded the first school for Croatian children in Temisoara in Romania.

Vladimir Horvat: Jubileji leksikografa Mikalje
In Loreto there is a Croatian collegium founded in 1580.