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CROATIAN PUBLIC LIFE IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: A VIEW FROM THE LETTER OF TADIJA SMIČIKLAS
Aleksandra Kolarić
; Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
In this article the author analyzes the correspondence of Tadija Smičiklas, one of the foremost Croatian historians of the nineteenth century. Using the multitude of details preserved in these letters, the author outlines a picture of public life in Croatia during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The letters are scattered over several Croatian archives, but the majority are deposited in the Archive of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences. These are the letters of not only some of the most important figures in Croatian political, cultural, and intellectual life, but also of many average, socially anonymous individuals, the friends and relatives of Smičiklas.
The letters give a very detailed account of the Croatian political scene during the period of Ban Khuen-Hedervary's rule, when he dominated the political scene unchallenged due to the support of the National Party on the one hand, and a fragmented opposition on the other. The main political problems of the day are plainly visible in these letters: renewal of the Hungarian-Croatian compromise, especially its financial arrangement, the budgetary crisis, the lack of cooperation among the opposition parties, and Khuen's manipulation of the electionary process. The author pays particular attention to Smičiklas's correspondence with bishop Strossmayer. Here the main issue is the relationship between Strossmayer and Strossmayer's »prodigal son« Isidore Kršnjavi, and Kršnjavi's influence on the most important painters of the time: Celestin Medović and Vlaho Bukovac.
The account of everyday occurrences, local gossip, newspaper articles, nightlife, holidaying in Rogatec, Strossmayer's medical problems, etc.., , add spice to a lot of Smičiklas's correspondence. The letters also show the poor relations with Croatian Serbs, Greater Serbian nationalist pretensions in the Bay of Cattaro area, the problems relating to the reform of the Institute of St. Jerome in Rome, and those relating to the nomination of Zagreb's Archbishop and Senj's Bishop. Through this correspondence one can also witness the departure of an important generation from the national scene. The deaths of Starčević, Mrazović, Rački, Kukuljević, Strossmayer and ultimately Smičiklas himself are recounted in it. Generally speaking, the letters reveal the political weaknesses of a Croatia under foreign domination. The principal figure in Croatian cultural life who is visible, as patron and financial protector, is Josip Juraj Strossmayer.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
213957
URI
Datum izdavanja:
5.5.1997.
Posjeta: 795 *