Dominko "Dinko" Zlatarić (1558–1613) was a Croatian poet and translator from

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

, considered the best

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

Life

Dominiko was the most famous member of the Zlatarić noble family from Dubrovnik. Dinko was born in 1558 as the son of Žimun (Simone Slatarich) Zlatarić and Frana, daughter of a very wealthy nobleman by the name of Dominik Kladurobović. Dinko's brother Mihajlo Zlatarić served as a major-lieutenant in the forces of Juraj IV Zrinski, while history didn't remember his other brothers Cvijeto and Nikola. His only sister Kata died by 1597. Dominiko had one son the name Žimun Zlatarić. Learning

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

from a young age and writing his first poems when still a child, Dinko showed his talent early. Because of that, his father sent him to

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, where after completing the famous Gymnasium, he entered the local

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, where he learned rhetoric, philosophy and civil law. In 1579 he funded the printing of Italian poems of his close friend Caesar Simonetti and dedicated them to Cvijeta Zuzorić. He also studied

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

in Padua. Because of his knowledge and seriousness, the students elected him

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

on 13 August 1579. For keeping the peace and order at the university, he was rewarded by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

with the title of "Golden Knight" (). In 1580, a plaque was put at the university in his honor and he returned to his home Dubrovnik. In 1587 he married Mara, the daughter of Pero Gomović. He shared his time between writing and running his estates in

Cavtat Cavtat (, it, Ragusa Vecchia, lit=Old Ragusa) is a village in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic Sea coast south of Dubrovnik and is the centre of the Konavle municipality. History Antiquity The original city was ...

and

Konavle Konavle () is a municipality and a small region located southeast of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is administratively part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and the center of the municipality is Cavtat. Demographics The total municipality population wa ...

. He had friends among poets from Italy and Dubrovnik and admired the famous Renaissance beauty Cvijeta Zuzorić. Zlatarić wrote in Croatian and

– love poems, epitaphs and poetic meditations – but his greatest achievements are his translations. He held an important place in the historiography of Croatian literature, as he explicitly declared the language of his works under its Croatian name, "''iz veće tuđijeh jezika u hrvacki izložene''".

Translations and poems

He translated Tasso's manuscript of the pastoral drama ''Aminta'' in Padua in 1580. Later, dissatisfied with his translation, Zlatarić changed it, reworked it and adapted it to a Croatian setting, so it became ''Ljubmir''. Then he published '' Electra, a Tragedy, and Ljubmir, a Pastoral History'' (a collection of his translations) and ''Love and Death of

Pyramus and Thisbe Pyramus and Thisbe are a pair of ill-fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The story has since been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy connected houses. Their r ...

, Translated into Croatian from Several Foreign Languages'', in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

in 1597. Zlatarić dedicated ''Electra'' to Juraj Zrinski, ''Ljubmir'' to Miho Matufić, and ''Pyramus and Thisbe'' to Cvijeta Zuzorić. His translations from Greek, Italian and Latin included 26 original ''pjesni u smrt od razlicijeh'' (poems about various people's deaths). After his death, his son Miho Zlatarić collected and published 137 lyrical poems of his father under the title ''Pjesni razlike'' (Various Poems). Most of them are love poems. Zlatarić was one of the most prolific

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

writers of the Croatian

. The most effective one is his short epitaph to

Dinko Ranjina Dinko Ranjina (also Domenico Ragnina) (1536–1607) was a Croatian poet from the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik). In 1556 he was accepted into the Republic's ruling Grand Council. He was married to the sister of Francesco Luccari Burina. Life R ...

(''Nadgrobje Dinku Ranjini''), followed by the epitaph to Bartolomeo Pescionio, the husband of Cvijeta Zuzorić. Zlatarić's poems are included in the ''Zadar Collection''.

Analysis

He wrote under the influence of the first generation of Croatian

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

ists and Italian Petrarchist schools. His strong links with the local Petrarchist tradition are shown by his rich style. His varied expression, mastery of verse and sound, put Zlatarić among the best Croatian lyrical poets of his time. Zlatarić is also renowned as the best translator of the Croatian Renaissance. He translated Tasso's ''Aminta'' literally, with the necessary changes forced by a different

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

. The second version, ''Ljubmir'', is even more refined, literary and pure, with a richer language. His translation of

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

' ''Electra'' reveals not only Zlatarić's education, taste and versifying ability, but also his poetic gift. ''Love of Pyramus and Thisbe'' is closer to a prose translation. In general, Zlatarić's translations can be considered independent poetic achievements, widening the range of Croatian Renaissance literature.

Works

*''Aminta'', Padua, 1580 *''Elektra, trađeija, Ljubmir, pripovijes pastijerska'' (Electra, a Tragedy, and Ljubmir, a Pastoral History), Venice, 1597 *''Ljubav i smrt Pirama i Tizbe, iz veće tuđijeh jezika u hrvacki složene'' (Love and Death of Pyramus and Thisbe, Translated into Croatian from Several Foreign Languages), Venice, 1597 *''Pjesni razlike'' (Various Poems), posthumous

References

External links