Ivan "Ivo" Visin (3 November 1806 – 17 August 1868) was a naval captain of the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

and an

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Biography

Visin was born in

Prčanj Prčanj ( Montenegrin and Serbian: Прчањ, ) is a small town along the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 1128 people. It is located 5 kilometres west of Kotor, opposite to Dobrota and betwee ...

, then under the occupation of the French Empire. At the request of the government of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, he became the first

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 ...

to circumnavigate the globe in a vessel called ''Splendido'' between 1852 and 1859. The journey started in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and ended successfully in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. The ship was 30 m long with 311

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s of cargo. For this undertaking of historical importance for the empire, he had been decorated with a flag of honour '' Merito navali'' by the

Austrian Emperor The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Hou ...

Franz Josef Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

. The trophy is on display in Birth of Our Lady church in

. Later, Visin became an honorary citizen of

References

1806 births 1868 deaths Croats of Montenegro People from Prčanj Croatian explorers Montenegrin explorers Circumnavigators of the globe Recipients of the Order of Franz Joseph {{Explorer-stub