Ivan Kukuljevic Sakcinski
Encyclopedia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. Most famous for the first speech delivered in Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
before the Parliament, this patriot and cultural figure did some pioneering work in Croatian historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
and bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
. He was an avid collector of valuable historical documents.
Early life
Kukuljević was born in VaraždinVaraždin
Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at...
. He completed his secondary education in Gymnasiums
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in his hometown and in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. He then went to the Military Academy of Krems. As a student, Kukuljević started writing in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. In 1833, he joined the army and became an officer in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
three years later. He met Ljudevit Gaj
Ljudevit Gaj
Ljudevit Gaj was a Croatian linguist, politician, journalist and writer. He was one of the central figures of the Croatian national reformation, also known as the Illyrian Movement.-Origin:...
and joined the Illyrian Movement
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement , also Croatian national revival , was a cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835–1849...
in 1837. He was ordered to move to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in 1840. A year later, he resigned from his military duties and returned to Croatia, joining the political fight against Magyarization
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
and censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
. He became one of the leaders of the Illyrian Movement.
Politician
Kukuljević was a member of the People's Party.The political activity of Kukuljević can be separated into two periods: until 1850 and from 1860 to 1867. The gap from 1851 to 1860 was caused by the absolutism instituted by Minister Bach
Baron Alexander von Bach
Baron Alexander von Bach was an Austrian politician...
, which repressed political life in Croatia. In the first period, he was a partisan of the liberation of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
from Austria
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
and Hungary, an uncompromising ideologue promoting revolutionary actions to achieve the unity of the South Slavs
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
. Believing that the South Slavs can be delivered and unified only by force of arms, he lobbied among the Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
and Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
at the Military Frontier
Military Frontier
The Military Frontier was a borderland of Habsburg Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which acted as the cordon sanitaire against incursions from the Ottoman Empire...
. Swayed by his personality, the frontiersmen asked for the freedom and unity of the South Slav peoples in their People's Requests of spring 1848, referring to him as their inspiration.
Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski was the first to make a speech in the Croatian language
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
before the Croatian Parliament, on May 2, 1843. The speech daringly promoted the struggle for national liberation, asking for Croatian to become the official language in schools and offices, with its gradual introduction in the public life. He also pointed out the danger of replacing Croatian with other languages. Until then, the language of discourse in the parliament was Latin. The speech caused much agitation. It was not an exception, though. All his speeches in the parliament and at county assemblies staunchily advocated the freedom and independence of Croatia, so they could be published only in Branislav, an illegal Illyrian
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement , also Croatian national revival , was a cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835–1849...
magazine printed in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. On Kukuljević's urging, the parliament passed the decision to make Croatian the official language in 1847.
He became the chief judge of the Varaždin County
Varaždin County
Varaždin County is a county in northern Croatia. It is named after its county seat, the city of Varaždin.-Geography:In addition to the city of Varaždin, the county includes the towns of Ivanec, Ludbreg, Lepoglava, Novi Marof and Varaždinske Toplice, as well as 22 municipalities...
in 1845. During the Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
, Kukuljević was among the radical democrats. Under his influence, the ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
Josip Jelačić
Josip Jelacic
Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim was the Ban of Croatia between 23 March 1848 and 19 May 1859...
convened the Croatian Parliament on June 5, 1848, opposing the explicit imperial order. Kukuljević also initiated the Slavic Congress in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
But the revolutions were crushed; imperial oppression set in. Kukuljević was removed from politics and kept under police surveillance. In the 1850s, his outlook radically changed. The second period of his political activity was the complete opposite of his early anti-Austrian and freedom-loving sentiments. After he became the prefect
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
of Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
in 1861, he was loyal to Vienna, implementing policies targeted against Croatians and the South Slavs and hounding his former friends who remained faithful to their Illyrian
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement , also Croatian national revival , was a cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835–1849...
ideals. After the Compromise of 1867
Ausgleich
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from and no longer subject to the Austrian Empire...
, he was removed from political positions. He died in Tuhakovec Castle in Zagorje
Hrvatsko Zagorje
Hrvatsko Zagorje is a region north of Zagreb, Croatia. It comprises the whole area north of Medvednica mountain up to Slovenia in the north and west, and up to the regions of Međimurje and Podravina in the north and east...
.
Historian and cultural figure
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
. He founded the Society for Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n History, edited the magazine called Arhiv za Povjesnicu jugoslavensku (Archive for Yugoslavian History), and published valuable historical monographs. It was the foundation of modern Croatian historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
.
Kukuljević collected and published many source texts related to the history of Croatia
History of Croatia
Croatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
. He wrote a lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
with 800 artists' biographies
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
. His work is based sometimes on speculations or false and non-existent references He is considered a pioneer of Croatian scientific bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
. He bequeathed his enormous library and many valuable manuscripts to the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences in Zagreb, as its honorary member. One of such manuscripts is a tragedy Skanderbeg written on the basis of Andrija Kačić Miošić
Andrija Kacic Miošic
Andrija Kačić Miošić was a Croatian poet and Franciscan monk.Born in Brist near Makarska, he became a Franciscan monk. He was educated in Zaostrog monastery and Buda...
's work.
Works
- Glasoviti Hrvati prošlih vjekova http://books.google.com/books?id=Bc8JAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Glasoviti+Hrvati+proslih+vjekova#v=onepage&q=&f=false (Famous Croats of Ages Past)
- Slovnik umjetnikah jugoslavenskih od Ivana Kukuljevica Sakcinskoga http://books.google.com/books?id=iXEFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP13&dq=Slovnik+umjetnikah+jugoslavenskih+Sakcinski&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- Juran i Sofia ili Turci kod Siska : junačka igra u trih činih (Juran and Sofia or the Turks under SisakBattle of SisakThe Battle of Sisak was fought on June 22, 1593, between Ottoman forces of the Bosnian governor-general, or Beylerbeyi, Hasan-paša Predojević, and forces of the Holy Roman Empire under the supreme command of the Styrian general Ruprecht von Eggenberg...
: Heroic Play in Three Acts) http://books.google.com/books?id=wDoEAAAAYAAJ&dq=inauthor:%22Ivan+Kukuljevi%C4%87+Sakcinski%22&lr= - Beatrica Frankopan i njezin rod (Beatrice FrankopanFrankopanThe Frankopans are a Croatian noble family. Also called Frankapan, Frangepán in Hungarian, and Frangipani in Italian.The Frankopan family is the leading princely Croatian aristocratic family which dates back to the 12th Century and even earlier to Roman times...
and Her Lineage) - Pjesnici hrvatski 16 vieka by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, Kršćan. Sadašnjost (reprint), 1983
- Borba Hrvatah: S Mongoli i Tatari : Povjestno-Kriticna Razprava by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, Nakladom i brzotiskom A.Jakica, 1863
- Slavjanke: sa historičkimi primetbami by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, Tiskom Franje Župana, 1848
- Monumenta historica Slavorum meriodionalium by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, Društvo za Jugoslavensku povjest i starine, Brzotiskom narodne tiskarnice dra. Ljudevita Gaja
- Jure Glović, prozvan Julijo Klovio, hrvatski sitnoslikar (Jure Glović aka Giulio Clovio, Croatian miniaturist)http://books.google.com/books?id=x0FAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7&dq=Andrija+Medulic+Sakcinski#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- Cronaca del secolo XVI - mentioned in When ethnicity did not matter in the Balkans: a study of identity in pre-nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods by John Van Antwerp Fine mentioned in the book footnote on the page 233