Original scientific paper
The Establishment and Activities of the National Slavic Reading Room in the Town of Korčula
Franko Oreb
Abstract
In this paper, the author describes the establishment and activities of the National Slavic Reading Room (in 1893, it changed its name to the Croatian Reading Room) in the town of Korčula in the period from 1871 to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918. This reading room was the first patriotic society, the oldest one on the island and one of the oldest in Dalmatia. The author discusses and interprets the reasons for its founding and the role it played in the social and cultural life of the Town in the context of the then socio-political circumstances in Dalmatia and on the island of Korčula.
The reading room became a hotbed of patriotic thought and consciousness, a gathering place of intellectuals and patriots, spiritus movens of socio-cultural events in the Town. Relying on historical sources and articles from the time, the author describes social dances, educational lectures, poetry evenings, theatre performances, and concerts organized by and held in the reading room. The reading room also collaborated with other patriotic societies (Korčula Singing Society of St. Cecilia, Croatian Society for Public Education Kanavelić, Croatian Falcon), marking and celebrating important events and deserving
people from the past of Croatia, and also Korčula. The patriotic activity of the reading room was a thorn in the side of local autonomists and Italians, who often obstructed its work by their actions and
threats, in which they had the support of the county authorities and particular groups.
Keywords
Korčula; the National Slavic reading room; public reading rooms
Hrčak ID:
274612
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2021.
Visits: 932 *