Ante Kuzmanić (June 12, 1807 – December 10, 1879) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n physician and journalist. He was born in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

. He studied medicine in Vienna in 1827–1831 and received a master's degree in wound treatment and midwifery. He worked as a doctor in

Imotski Imotski () is a small town on the northeastern side of the Biokovo massif in the Dalmatian Hinterland of southern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The town has a generally mild Mediterranean climate which makes it a popular ...

and Opuzen. In 1834 he was appointed as a professor of midwifery at the Midwifery School in

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. Kuzmanić was at the forefront of the Zadar linguistic and cultural circle, resisting

Italianization Italianization ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or assimilation. It is also known for a process organized by the Kingdom of Italy to force cultural and ethnic assimilation of the nati ...

and

Germanization Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people, and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nati ...

, particularly as the leader of the Zadar Philological School. In 1844 he launched '' Zora dalmatinska'' ("The Dawn of Dalmatia") - the first magazine in the Croatian language in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

& the first literary weekly in

. He served as its editor in 1844 and again in 1846–1849, having written a number of editorials and articles in various areas: language, literature, history, morality, agronomy, etc. He initiated and edited more than fifteen newspapers, modeling them after contemporary European news standards. Particularly prominent was first Croatian legal newspaper '' Pravdonoša'' (1851), which is responsible for the creation of much of standard Croatian legal terminology. He advocated the union of Dalmatia with the rest of Croatia under Croatian name, with Dalmatia being the center of Croatia's cultural life, and the Croatian literary language being standardized on the basis of Ikavian Štokavian dialect. He refused Ijekavian Štokavian dialect for the literary language, along with spelling reforms proposed by

Ljudevit Gaj Ljudevit Gaj (; born Ludwig Gay; ; 8 August 1809 – 20 April 1872) was a Croatian linguist, politician, journalist and writer. He was one of the central figures of the pan-Slavist Illyrian movement. Biography Origin He was born in Krapina ( ...

. His books include ''Poslanica Dalmatincima'' (1861), ''Dobročinci splitski'' (1871) and others. He died in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuzmanic, Ante 1807 births 1879 deaths Obstetricians Physicians from the Austrian Empire Physicians from Austria-Hungary Journalists from Austria-Hungary Journalists from the Austrian Empire