Mother Croatia
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Petar_Preradovi%C4%87_Mirogoj.jpg/200px-Petar_Preradovi%C4%87_Mirogoj.jpg)
Mother Croatia (Croatian: Mati Hrvatska) is the female personification of Croatia and a national emblem of the nation.
Background
The nation of Croatia has historically been portrayed as a
The phrase has come up in the Croatian Parliament in a way of describing the nation. Once in a speech by Matija Mrazović in 1861 concerning the struggle against Hungarian hegemony, "That Mother Croatia did not accidentally birth a son, who would in the Hungarian Parliament deny her any independence" (Da hrvatska majka nije po nesreći rodila sina, koji joj je na Ugarskom saboru zaniekao svaku samostalnost).[3] Another time in June 1891, Dr. Milan Amruš spoke of the country, "Mother Croatia is a healthy and energetic mother" (Majka hrvatska je zdrava i čila majka).[4]
Monuments and art
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Ferdo_Quiqerez%2CPredzi%C4%91e_kr%C5%A1%C4%87anstva.jpg/200px-Ferdo_Quiqerez%2CPredzi%C4%91e_kr%C5%A1%C4%87anstva.jpg)
Croatian sculptor Ivan Rendić created several pieces depicting Mother Croatia. One is the tomb of Petar Preradović, which depicts a young woman (representing Mother Croatia) looking solemnly down at his final resting place as she lays her flowers on top. The monument (originally the idea of Croatian writer Franjo Marković), was unveiled on 14 July 1879 to much patriotic fanfare.[5] Another piece by Rendić is the statue of Ante Starčević in front of St. Mirko's Church in Zagreb.[6] At the base of the statue is a woman (the personification of Croatia) dressed as a warrior, with clenched fists and a defiant face, her gaze fixed ahead.
In painter
One of
Spomenik Neznanom junaku (
women, symbolic mothers of the fallen sons from the wars. The monument was also euphemistically called "Altar of the Motherland". The Croatian woman shares a similar design with Meštrović's earlier work depicting the personification of Croatia.Poems and songs
The Illyrian movement brought many poems and songs to the forefront of the Croatian national revival. Many poems referencing Mother Croatia were published in periodicals and literary magazines.
Clergyman and politician Franjo Rački wrote a short biography of the 15th century nobleman and bishop Šimun Kožičić Benja in 1861, where he described him being "born to a grieving Mother Croatia" (...porodi žalostna majka hrvatska.)[9]
Poet Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević published the poem "Hrvatskoj Majci" in his book Bugarkinje (1885).[10]
In 1882 Hugo Badalić wrote a poem for the opening of the Đakovo Cathedral in eastern Croatia, in which he proclaims, "Rejoice, O Mother Croatia!"[11]
August Harambašić released a collection of patriotic songs poems in 1895, which include references to Croatia as a Mother to her people.[12]
Gallery
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Croatian woman at the Monument to the Unknown Hero, 1938, Ivan Meštrović (designer) and Stevan Živanović (main engineer), Avala, Serbia
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The Mother Dalmatia statue in front of the cemetery at the formerEl Shatt refugee camp in Egypt, where thousands of Dalmatian refugees were held during World War II
See also
References
- ISBN 9788186706688.
- ^ Krešić, Mijo (5 December 1962). "Varaždin". Naše Gore List. II (34): 269. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ Jakić, Antun, ed. (1862). "Dnevnik sabora trojedne Kraljevine Dalmacije, Hrvatske i Slavonije". I. Croatia: 411. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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(help) - ^ "Zastup. dr. Milan Amruš". Stenografski Zapisnici Sabora Kralj., Hrvatske, Slavonije I Dalmacije. Zagreb: Tisak Zemaljske tiskare: 111. 1892. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ "Mirogoj - Grad Mrtvih na Spomen i Ogled Živima". Grad Zagreb službene stranice. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Spomenik dr. Ante Starcevic". sestine.net. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Vanka, Maksimilijan". Croatian Encyclopedia (in Croatian). Zagreb: Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "Krenite putovima skulptura Ivana Meštrovića". tportal.hr. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ Rački, Franjo (7 February 1861). "život Šimuna Kožičića - Begne, biskupa modruškoga i pisca". Zagrebački Katolički List. 12 (6). Croatia: 42. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ Kranjčević, Silvije Strahimir (1885). Bugarkinje Silvija Strahimira Kranjčevića. Senj: Troškom i tiskom Marijana Župana. p. 11.
- ^ Hugo Badalic (1882). "Sve Za Vjeru i Za Domovinu". Vienac. 14 (39). Zagreb: 617. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ Harambašić, August (1895). Izabrane pjesme. Zagreb: Matica Hrvatska. Retrieved 2 May 2021.