Original scientific paper
An Unrealised Project of a National Croatian Revival Magazine in Rijeka
Irvin Lukežić
Abstract
Frano Mato Kovačević, captain of the Austrian Army and passionate adherent of the Illyrian movement, is among the neglected figures of the national Croatian revival. Born to nobility, he graduated from the cadet engineering school and served in various military capacities for 30 years. As a lieutenant on duty in Trento (Tirol), he authored a history of Turkey under the title Der orientalische Paladin oder die Türken in der chinesischen Tartaray und das Osmanische Reich seit der Entstehung bis zum Jahre 1827, the manuscript of which is kept at the Archives of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb. He showed equal familiarity with geography, natural history, archeology and philology and published articles in Gazetta di Zara, Danica ilirska, Zora dalmatinska, L’Eco del Litorale Ungarico and other periodicals. In December of 1842, while living in Padua, he met Ivan Kukuljević. The following year he moved to Split, the town of his birth, where he soon joined the circle of local adherents of the revival movement. Towards the end of the year Kovačević embarked upon a journey through Dalmatia and began correspondence with Ljudevit Gaj in German. His itinerary included Dubrovnik, as is evidenced by an interesting account of the earthquake that had struck the city during his visit. In the spring of 1844 he resumed the journey, of which we learn from the correspondence with his Ragusan friend Antun Kaznačić. By the end of 1844, he settled in Rijeka where he worked on the idea of starting a magazine in Croatian and Italian - Dnevnik od literature i zemljodjelanja. The paper aimed to cover a variety of nonpolitical topics in literature, philosophy, ethics and economy. Special emphasis was to be on the critical reviews of foreign and Croatian literary production. Unfortunately, the magazine never saw the light due to insufficient subscription and no official licence. The appendix contains Kovačević’s letters to Antun Kaznačić and his son, Ivan August Kaznačić.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
7939
URI
Publication date:
23.5.2005.
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