Karl Matzek
Karl George Matzek ( 6 July 1895 – 16 April 1983) was an
Matzek was a graduate of the
Matzek fought in the Austrian-Hungarian cavalry in World War I, and was imprisoned in Siberia after the October Revolution. He was able to escape, and in the following years he managed to walk back to Europe, although details of this trek are largely unknown. On a winter day after World War II, he was found sick and half-frozen by villagers of Balatun in Bosnia. He remained in the town, supported by the townspeople in exchange for painting frescos in their churches. Matzek was placed in the most honorable home in the community, of a young widow with three children, the mother of the sculptor Slobodan Pejić. For almost ten years, Matzek educated the boy (he was the only father the boy ever knew; they became inseparable and painted frescos together, the boy painting the lower parts and Matzek painting the upper areas), and eventually married the mother.[2]
In Harkanovci there is the parish church of Our Lady, built in 1799, restored and expanded in 1938. The entire interior was painted with frescoes and stained glass was created for the windows. The frescoes were painted by Karl Matzek in the period from 1955 to 1957. His frescos decorate also churches/monasteries in Janja, in Dragaljevac, in Bijeljina and elsewhere.[2] Earlier Matzek had been sentenced to death by communist authorities, but in Bosnia he was saved by the influence of the parish priest don Mirko Gazivode. In return he painted two murals in the church. Parishioners liked them and then ordered all other frescoes in the church.
Matzek migrated to
Later in his life, during his continued work with the Church, Matzek converted to the Orthodox faith as "George". Following a brief illness, Matzek died on 16 April 1983, and was buried at the St. Sava Monastery Cemetery in Canberra.
References
- ^ S.Pejić and V.Mušič
- ^ ISBN 978-961-245-325-1
- ^ V. Mušič and the Pejić family correspondence