Branko Gavella (29 July 1885 – 8 April 1962) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n theatre director, critic and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

Biography

Born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Croatia (which was at the time part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

) Gavella finished high school in his hometown before enrolling at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

where he studied philosophy and

German studies German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

. He graduated and subsequently earned a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

there in 1908, after which he returned to Zagreb. In 1909 he was employed by the

National and University Library in Zagreb National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) (, NSK; formerly , NSB) is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb. The Library was established in 1607. Its primary mission is the development and preserv ...

. He began writing theatre reviews the following year, published in the local German-language daily ''Agramer Tagblatt'', for which he contributed from 1910 to 1918. During this time he was also an active member of the

HAŠK HAŠK ''(full name Hrvatski akademski športski klub, en, Croatian Academic Sports Club)'' was a Croatian football club established in Zagreb in 1903 which ceased operating in 1945. The club was one of the most successful sides in Zagreb and th ...

sports society, and is known for refereeing the opening match of the first ever Croatian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league championship in September 1912 played between HŠK Croatia and Tipografski ŠK at HAŠK's ground which later became

Maksimir Stadium Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 league ...

. In 1914 Gavella began directing at the

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu), commonly referred to as HNK Zagreb, is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened ...

(HNK) and in the 1930s his essays on theatre theory were published in several cultural magazines, including the short-lived literary magazine ''Danas'' edited by

Miroslav Krleža Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (''Ba ...

(which was launched in January 1934 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

and had only five issues before being banned by Yugoslav authorities in May 1934). Gavella had greatly influenced the development of HNK in the following decades as he became director of Drama at the theatre and directed a number of plays and operas and was instrumental in setting up HNK's in-house

drama school A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

. His tenure at HNK was also marked by his emphasis on performing plays written by Croatian authors (such as

Marin Držić Marin Držić (; also ''Marino Darza'' or ''Marino Darsa''; 1508 – 2 May 1567) was a Croatian writer from Republic of Ragusa. He is considered to be one of the finest Renaissance playwrights and prose writers of Croatian literature. L ...

Ivan Gundulić Dživo Franov Gundulić ( it, Gianfrancesco Gondola; 8 January 1589 – 8 December 1638), better known today as Ivan Gundulić, was the most prominent Baroque poet from the Republic of Ragusa (now in Croatia). He is regarded as the Croatian nati ...

, Tituš Brezovački,

and

Milan Begović Milan Begović (January 19, 1876 – May 13, 1948) was a Croatian writer, born in Vrlika, in the territory of today's Croatia. He was educated in Split, Zagreb and Vienna and spent some time as high school professor in Split before going to Hambu ...

) along with world-renowned authors (like

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Gavella spent several years directing in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rive ...

and

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

before returning to Zagreb once again in 1949. For his work in Ljubljana (namely, the direction of plays ''Deep are the Roots'' by James Gow and

Arnaud d'Usseau Arnaud d'Usseau (April 18, 1916 – January 29, 1990) was a playwright and B-movie screenwriter who is perhaps best remembered today for his collaboration with Dorothy Parker on the play ''The Ladies of the Corridor''. Career D'Usseau was born i ...

and '' A Month in the Country'' by

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

, and the opera ''

Jenůfa ''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed ...

'' by

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, baptised Leo Eugen Janáček; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic musics, including Eastern European fol ...

), Gavella was awarded the

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award ( sl, Prešernova nagrada), also called the Grand Prešeren Award ( sl, Velika Prešernova nagrada), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each yea ...

, the highest

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n prize for artistic achievements, in 1949. Upon returning to Zagreb, he established the Academy of Theatre Arts ( hr, Akademija za kazališnu umjetnost, present-day Academy of Dramatic Art) in 1950. Three years later, dissatisfied by the conservative approach to theatre at HNK, Gavella was one of the founders of the alternative Zagreb Drama Theatre in May 1953, which had its first premiere in October 1953 with a production of ''Golgotha'' by Miroslav Krleža (the theatre later adopted its current name

Gavella Drama Theatre Gavella Drama Theatre ( hr, Gradsko dramsko kazalište Gavella) is a Croatian theatre which is situated in Zagreb, in Frankopanska Street. The theatre opened on October 30, 1954 as the successor of "Helios" cinema which was founded and financed by ...

in honor of their founder in 1970). In 1959 he won the inaugural annual

Vladimir Nazor Award The Vladimir Nazor Award ( hr, Nagrada Vladimir Nazor) is a Croatian prize for arts and culture established in 1959 and awarded every year by the Ministry of Culture. Named after the writer Vladimir Nazor (1876–1949), the prize is awarded to C ...

for achievements in theatre, and was made a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (the present-day

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...

) in 1961. Gavella died the following year aged 76 and was buried at the

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, hr, Gradsko groblje Mirogoj), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery ( hr, Groblje Mirogoj), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members o ...

. During his career Gavella directed around 270 plays, operas and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s, and authored a number of essays about Croatian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

s and poets such as Držić, Mažuranić, Šenoa,

Vojnović Voinovich, Voynovich or Vojnović (russian: Войнович) may refer to: *Aljoša Vojnović, Croatian footballer *Dejan Vojnović, Croatian athlete *Đorđe Vojnović, politician from Dalmatia *Emil Vojnović (1851–1927), Austro-Hungarian Army ...

and Krleža. His writings on the history of Croatian theatre and the theory of theatre were compiled in several books, some of which were published posthumously. He also translated a number of plays and

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

s into Croatian (including works such as Shakespeare's ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', which he translated for his 1957 production of the play).

Books by Gavella

*''Hrvatsko glumište'' (''Croatian Theatre'', Zagreb, 1953, ) *''Glumac i kazalište'' (''Actor and Theatre'', Novi Sad, 1967, ) *''Književnost i kazalište'' (''Literature and Theatre'', Zagreb, 1970, )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavella, Branko 1885 births 1962 deaths Writers from Zagreb Croatian theatre directors Croatian theatre critics Croatian football referees Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Vladimir Nazor Award winners Prešeren Award laureates Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Croatian translators University of Vienna alumni 20th-century translators Theatre people from Zagreb Croatian people of Serbian descent Croatian people of Greek descent

Biography

Books by Gavella

See also

References