Stručni rad
Marianna (Marija) Jurić Zagorka and Josip Juraj Strossmayer, bishop of Ðakovo
Stana Vukovac
Sažetak
Our intention is to give only a glimpse of the breadth of lives and works of two great figures of Croatian history and culture, the journalist and writer Marianna (Marija) Jurić Zagorka, and the great Croatian bishop, enlightener and benefactor Josip Juraj Strossmayer, which they left behind as heritage for their people. What do these two people, separated by such a vast age difference (58 years), have in common? Meticulous research of the prolific, but thorny lives of Josip Juraj Strossmayer (1815-1905) and Marianna (Marija) Jurić Zagorka (1873-1957) provides an answer to this question.
Strossmayer, the Bishop of the Diocese of Djakovo and Srijem and a dignitary of global renown, stood at the helm of a number of activities united under the common motto Through Enlightenment to Freedom during the difficult days of the Croatian nation’s struggle for freedom. He accepted the office of the County Prefect of the Virovitica County and became an MP. He was the leader of the Croatian nation’s battle for freedom. He supported the establishment of the Academy of Sciences and Arts and the establishment of the University financially, built the cathedral in Ðakovo, founded the Gallery at the Academy in Zagreb, provided financial support to poor students and institutions…
Marianna (Marija) Jurić came from Zagorje, from a wealthy, but unhappy family in which there was no love. She was different from her brothers and from noble and peasant children alike. The qualities that would stay with her for her entire life had already surfaced when she was just a small child: resolve, diligence, veracity, patriotism, desire to learn, talent for the written word, and love for all sufferers.
Zagorka met distinguished Bishop Strossmayer by chance when he visited Zagreb as a guest. A top pupil of the School of the Sisters of Mercy, Zagorka was chosen to welcome the Bishop on behalf of her school. “Thank you, my child. God bless you and may you do honor to you country and serve it well!”, the Bishop told the girl Marianna, who remembered his words and kept them in her heart as a pledge. When life served her with nothing but bitterness, when she was persecuted, humiliated and alone, the Bishop’s words drove her forward. Journalism was Zagorka’s great love ever since she was a child. The Bishop helped her and Zagorka was admitted into the editorial board of Obzor as early as in November 1896. Her contributions had to be anonymous because she was a woman! She used the pseudonym Zagorka and the readers soon recognized her. This was the beginning (or perhaps only the continuation) of her life’s troubles, but her power of will and her talent drove her on and earned her the title of the first Croatian female journalist and the first female journalist in South East Europe, as well as a distinguished writer.
Ključne riječi
Josip Juraj Strossmayer; bishop; enlightener; patron of culture; Marianna (Marija) Jurić Zagorka; first Croatian female journalist; woman writer
Hrčak ID:
77853
URI
Datum izdavanja:
29.9.2010.
Posjeta: 3.294 *