Franjo Bartola Babić (19 December 1908 – 15 May 1945) was a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

ian writer and journalist.

Background

Babić was born in

Babina Greda Babina Greda ( hu, Babagerenda) is a village and a municipality in Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The 2011 census listed 3,572 inhabitants in Babina Greda. With pronounced issue of population decline in eastern Croatia caused by popu ...

. He finished elementary school in

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...

in 1919, and six grades of gymnasium in

Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...

and

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...

by 1926. Since 1929 he worked at the newspaper ''Hrvatski list'' in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

, and served as its editor-in-chief from 1941 to 1944. He attended the trial of the bandit Čaruga, about whom he later wrote a book. From 1934 to 1943, Babić was active as a theater critic in Osijek. From 1932 on, he also wrote articles about

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

. He moved to

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 ...

in 1944. During his attempt to escape to the western Allies in May 1945, he went missing near

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

, where he was presumably killed in the

Bleiburg repatriations The Bleiburg repatriations ( see terminology) occurred in May 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe, during which Yugoslavia had been occupied by the Axis powers, when tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians associated with the Axis ...

Works

*''Općinski načelnik'' (comedy in two acts, 1937) *''Čaruga'' (serialized novel, 1938–1940) *''Vjerna zemlja'' (novel, 1943) *''Graničarska ljubav ili Ivka'' (play, 1944)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babic, Franjo 1908 births 1940s missing person cases 1945 deaths 20th-century journalists Croatian civilians killed in World War II Croatian journalists Croatian theatre critics Missing in action of World War II Missing person cases in Europe People from Babina Greda People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia People killed by Yugoslav Partisans

Background

Works

See also

References