The Uskoks of Žumberak and Dušan Preradović's Search for a Family History

Abstract

This paper examines the documents concerning the uskok families of Žumberak with the last name Preradović, which were discovered by Dušan Preradović, the son of the poet Petar Preradović, by searching various archives, as well as the letters which he sent to the historian Emilij Laszowski. Based on those documents, we attempt to reconstruct Dušan Preradović's search for his family's history, as well as his construct of a family tradition and identity developed on the basis of those findings. Dušan could not search the archives personally due to his obligations as a naval officer, so he employed experts such as Hermann Ignaz Bidermann and Emilij Laszowski. He was also troubled by his insufficient experience with historiography, and he was struggling to increase his knowledge, seeing Laszowski as something of a mentor. His search was probably the reason why he engaged in historiography and became a prominent Croatian writer of his time. He published his findings regarding the Preradović family in 1903 in the journal Vitezović, which was edited by Laszowski. During his search he encountered several families with the last name Preradović, but he focused on the family of the uskok Ivan Preradović from the region of Žumberak, which used to be a special militarized zone inhabited by freeholders subject to military service. This is not surprising, as John's letter of patent, issued in 1626, was the basis for his father's ennoblement in 1864, and subsequently for the social status of Dušan himself. Dušan was aware of the fact that his family connection with John was questionable, so he was trying to find additional proof for it, and he broadened his search by questioning individuals who he thought might know more about the history of Žumberak, such as the Greek Catholic priest Jovan Hranilović Although he did not manage to find definite proof of his family's connection to Ivan Preradović, he and his family considered the latter their ancestor.