Croatian History

Josip Marinović (1741-1801). Portrait kept in Gospa od Škrpjela, Boka kotorska.Photo by Mijo Korade. Josip Marinovic (1741 – 1801), was a Jesuit born in Perast – Kotor (in Boka kotorska, annexed to Montenegro in 1945), professor of theology in Venice. His friendship with an Armenian banker Serpos resulted in his interest for the history of Armenians. His assiduous research resulted in the book “Compendio storico…della nazione armena”, published in Venice in 1783. The book had a great success. Though it…

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Vladimir Solovev (or Soloviev, Solovjov, correct reading: Solovyov, 1853-1900), outstanding Russian humanist, religious philosopher and poet, spent a part of his life in Croatia, with Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer and in Zagreb. In Zagreb Soloviev published his book Istoriya i budushchnost’ teokratii (The History and future of Theocracy) in 1886, the first volume of projected (but never completed) three volume work. Let us cite a part of a speech of Pope John Paul II (1 September 1996): For him…

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St Leopold Bogdan Mandic (1866-1942, memorial day 30th July)

Ivan Benigar was born in Zagreb in 1883, studied in Graz and Prague, and since 1908 lived Argentina, in Patagonia, among Mapuches or Araucanos Indians. He wrote a dictionary of Mapuche language and several other books. Since 1924 he was a member of the “Council of American history”, which is today “National history academy” in Buenos Aires. Married with Eufemia Scheypuquin, grand-daughter of Mapuches chieftain Catriel, he had 11 children. When she died, after 6 years he married again with…

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Aleksa Benigar (Alexius Benigar, 1893-1988), born in Zagreb, was a Croatian missionary in China for 25 years, since 1929 till 1954. He is an author of an extensive monograph about blessed Alojzije Stepinac. His Chinese name was Pen Lin Gan, and he taught theology for three generations of Chinese students in Hankow, several hundred of them. He wrote an extensive two volume work “Liturgia Romana”, in Beijing in 1947. He also wrote an extensive work “Theologia spiritualis” in the Latin language, dedicated…

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As many as thirty intellectuals from Croatia were members of the famous Accademia dell’Arcadia (Academy of Arcadia) in Rome, founded in 1690 as the literary and scientific circle around the Swedish queen Cristine (in 1925 it assumed the sub-title Accademia Letteraria Italiana). The members obtain the special names inside the Accademia (Inter Arcades). Some of outstanding Croatian members of Arcadia were Ivan Pastric (Inter Arcades Ergino Parorio), member of Arcadia only six months after its founding Gjuro Baglivi (Inter Arcades…

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Borislav Arapovic, born in Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1935, is honorary director of the Biblical Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1973 he founded The Institute for Translation of The Bible into Languages of (former) Soviet Union. In 1996 the Russian Academy of Sciences conferred him a doctorate honoris causa. In 1999 he was elected foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. For the creation of the Children’s Bible in 1983, Dr. Arapovic was awarded the Leo Tolstoy medal by…

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Gerardo Zerdin is a Croatian Franciscan born in 1950, and a missionary in Peru since 1975. He is living already for 32 years among Peruvian Indians as a priest, and since 2001 as a bishop appointed by the rescript of Pope John Paul II. Msgr. Zerdin learned several Indian languages, and now basic Christian prayers are available in these languages. Extremely important work is devoted to Indian children, first to teach them to read and write, both in their native…

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Ivan Stojkovic de Corvatia (1390/95-1443) Andrija Jamometic (~1420-~1486) Beniamin (15/16th centuries) Marko Antonio de Dominis (1560-1624) Juraj Krizanic (1618-1683) Ivan Pastric (1636-1708) Leopold Bogdan Mandic (1866-1942) Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900)

Croatian Encyclopaedists Now we have come to a very rich history of the Croatian Encyclopaedia. Its origins go back to the first half of the 15th century. The earliest known lexicographic work is a handwritten book “Liber de simplicibus” (The book about medicinal herbs), prepared in Zadar and Venice between 1415 and 1453. Written by an Italian physician and Zadar protophysicist Nicolo Roccabonelli, it contains very nice drawings of various plants together with their Croatian, Latin, Greek, Arabic and in…

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