Ivan Mažuranić

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Ivan Mažuranić
Ivan Mazuranic
Portrait of Ivan Mažuranić
Ban of Croatia-Slavonia
In office
20 September 1873 – 21 February 1880
MonarchFranz Joseph I
Preceded byAntun Vakanović
Succeeded byLadislav Pejačević
Personal details
Born(1814-08-11)11 August 1814
University of West Hungary
OccupationPoet, lawyer, politician
Known forThe Death of Smail-aga Čengić (poem)
Signature

Ivan Mažuranić (pronounced [ǐʋan maʒǔranitɕ]; 11 August 1814 – 4 August 1890) was a Croatian poet, linguist, lawyer and politician who is considered to be one of the most important figures in Croatia's political and cultural life in the mid-19th century. Mažuranić served as Ban of Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia between 1873 and 1880, and since he was the first ban not to hail from old nobility, he was known as Ban pučanin (Ban commoner).

His realistic assessment of strengths and weaknesses of Croatia's position between Austrian bureaucracy and Hungarian expansionist nationalism proved invaluable to his home country during the wider political turmoil in mid and late 19th century Europe. Mažuranić is best remembered for his contributions to the development of the Croatian law system, economics, linguistics, and poetry.

Life and education

Ivan Mažuranić was born on 11 August 1814 as the third of four sons into a well-to-do

University of West Hungary.[3] After graduation he worked as a gymnasium teacher in Zagreb, and afterwards as a lawyer in Karlovac. He married Aleksandra Demeter, the sister of the renowned Croatian poet Dimitrija Demeter.[4]

Politics

Mažuranić was the first Croatian

People's Party.[citation needed
]

He accomplished the Croatian transition from a semi-feudal legal and economic system to a modern civil society similar to those emerging in other countries in central Europe.[citation needed]

Mažuranić has modernized Croatia's educational system by forming a public school network[5] and reducing the importance of denominational schools.[3] The latter was one of the issues that led to his later resignation as ban in 1880[3] and a process criticized by the Catholic Church at the time, as well as by ethnic Serb politicians in the Parliament of Croatia-Slavonia.[6] Others consider this to have been a necessary step in modernization and secularization of Croatian society.[citation needed]

Almost immediately after his election as Ban, Mažuranić started with the implementation of comprehensive reforms. During the period of his rule, the

laissez faire. The main goal of his reforms was to form foundations of the organization of autonomous Croatian government and establishment of a modern and efficient political-administrative system.[1]

Poetry and linguistics

Monument to Mažuranić in Zagreb

In his native land, Mažuranić is above all the beloved poet of Smrt Smail-age Čengića (The Death of Smail-aga Čengić).[3] This epic poem is full of memorable verses that have become embedded in the national memory of his people, who cherished it as the treasure of a "Homeric" wisdom praising such epic virtues as fortitude, fidelity, and justice.

The tale is based on an assault in Montenegro, when a petty local Muslim tyrant was killed, as an act of vendetta, in an ambush set by Montenegrins. Mažuranić's poetry transformed a rather prosaic act of tribal revenge into a hymn celebrating the struggle for freedom—acted out under the hostile forces of fatality.

Following in the steps of Croatian poets like

Ivan Gundulić (his chief national influence, whose main epic Osman Mažuranić completed), Mažuranić closed the era of Romanticism and of classic epic poetry in Croatian literature
.

Mažuranić's

Illyrian/Croatian Dictionary" with Josip Užarević in 1842.[3] Mažuranić had coined words that have become commonplace in standard Croatian
such as words for bank accountancy, rhinoceros, sculptor, ice-cream, market economy, high treason or metropolis.

Legacy

Ivan Mažuranić Square in Zagreb is named in his honor, and there are numerous streets named after him throughout Croatia. His portrait was depicted on the

Sabor; "I believe in Croatia, in its past, in its present and its future."[1][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Szabo, Agneza. "Ban Ivan Mažuranić - graditelj moderne hrvatske / U povodu 200. obljetnice rođenja (1814.–2014.)" (PDF). Matica hrvatska.
  2. ^ Fališevac, Dunja (2014). "Život i djelo Ivana Mažuranića". Kolo (3). Matica hrvatska.
  3. ^ a b c d e Mandušić, Iva; Šunjić, Ankica (2015). "MAŽURANIĆ, Ivan". Croatian Biographical Lexicon. Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža.
  4. ^ "Dimitrija Demeter – pjesnik i vatreni ilirac – 1811". povijest.hr. 20 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Mažuranić, Ivan". Proleksis Encyclopedia. 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  6. ISBN 953-6922-01-0. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  7. ^ Croatian National Bank. Features of Kuna Banknotes Archived 6 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine – Retrieved on 30 March 2009.
  8. ^ Croatian National Bank. 100 kuna (1993 issue) Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Retrieved on 30 March 2009.
  9. ^ Croatian National Bank. 100 kuna (2002 issue) Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Retrieved on 30 March 2009.
  10. ^ "Govor Ivana Mažuranića u Saboru 13. prosinca 1886". Hrvatski Sabor.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ivan Mažuranić.
Political offices
Preceded by Ban of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
1873–1880 		Succeeded by
Cultural offices
Preceded by President of Matica hrvatska
1858–1872 		Succeeded by
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