Jagoda Truhelka (; 5 February 1864 – 17 December 1957) was a Croatian
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
and
pedagogue
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...
. A native of
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...
, Truhelka worked as
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
and
headmistress
A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...
in
Osijek,
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
,
Gospić
Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje).
Gospić is the ...
,
Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
, and
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
. Her novels are notable for focusing on female characters and discussing
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, but Truhelka is best known for her
children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
.
Family and education
Truhelka was born on 5 February 1864 in
Osijek, capital of the
Kingdom of Slavonia
The Kingdom of Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Slavonija, la, Regnum Sclavoniae, hu, Szlavón Királyság, german: Königreich Slawonien, sr-Cyrl, Краљевина Славонија) was a kingdom of the Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian Empi ...
,
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
.
She was the eldest of three children of Marija (née Schön) and
Antun Vjenceslav Truhelka. Her parents were both immigrants to Slavonia; her father, a teacher, was a Czech, and her mother was a
Danube Swabian. She attended a
gymnasium in Osijek. After her father's death in 1878, Truhelka moved to
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, now capital of the new
Austro-Hungarian Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, with her mother and younger brothers, Dragoš and
Ćiro Truhelka
Ćiro Truhelka (2 February 1865 – 18 September 1942) was a Croatian archeologist, historian and art historian who devoted much of his professional life to the study of the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He wrote about prehistoric, Roman and ...
.
Truhelka continued her education in Zagreb, intending to follow in her father's footsteps. She received her teacher's diploma in 1882.
Teaching career
Truhelka got her first job soon after receiving her diploma in 1882, teaching girls in Osijek. Following further education, she was appointed headmistress of a girls' school in
Gospić
Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje).
Gospić is the ...
, where she worked for seven years. She accepted a new job in Zagreb in 1892.
The ''
fin de siècle
() is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context, ...
'' Zagreb was a stimulating cultural and intellectual environment for a teacher who had thus far worked in the province. She spent nine years there, building a reputation as a capable teacher and defying prejudice against the
education of women
Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...
by enrolling, along with three other women, into the
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...
. During this period, Truhelka was influenced by the ideas of
individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
and universal freedom, as well as by the promotion of education and
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
.
In 1901, Truhelka moved to
Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
, in the Austro-Hungarian-occupied
Bosnia-Herzegovina, where she worked as a girls' school headmistress for ten years. During her subsequent work as teacher in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
, Bosnia-Herzegovina's capital, Truhelka was particularly active in promoting women's rights.
Women's writer and activist
Truhelka considered herself foremostly an educator, emphasizing her education and training; writing was something that "came on its own, unintended, unprepared, and unassuming".
She published a dozen
novellas, several
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
, and two
novels. In 1900, Jagoda Truhelka and
Marija Jambrišak launched the magazine ''Domaće ognjište'' (The Home Hearth), which attracted significant contribution from other women writers.
Antun Gustav Matoš said that the magazine was of "inestimable importance" because it was "not only a pedagogical paper but also a women's paper".
Truhelka was at that time at the centre of a network of female activists in Zagreb, and
ran a joint household with one of those women for 30 years.
As her early prose revolved around women and the relations between the sexes, Truhelka published a part of her stories in the magazines ''
Vienac
''Vijenac'' (English: '' The Wreath'') is a biweekly magazine for literature, art and science, established in December 1993 and published by '' Matica hrvatska'', the central national cultural institution in Croatia.
Historical background
The ...
'' and ''
Nada
Nada may refer to:
Culture
*Nāda, a concept in ancient Indian metaphysics
Places
*Nada, Hainan, China
*Nada, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States
*Nada, Nepal, village in Achham District, Seti Zone
*Nada, Texas, United Sta ...
'' under the pseudonym A. M. Sandučić.
Most were simple love stories set in contemporary Zagreb or
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, but with a prominent
psychological development
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...
of female characters.
Truhelka was the first Croatian author to feature a female character who is a
feminist and who is intellectually superior to others
rather than simply idealized or demonized.
Truhelka published several installments of a
psychological novel
In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of the characters. The mode of narration exami ...
titled ''
Plein air
''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors.
This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...
'' in the Sarajevo-based ''Nada'' in 1897.
In the novel, she discussed women's rights, marriage and social stereotypes.
The literary critic Lidija Dujić described Truhelka's female characters as unconvincing, with the exception of the protagonist of ''Plen air''. ''Plen air'', now a largely forgotten novel, features the artist Zlata Podravac, who stands out because of her intellect.
Truhelka's
historical fiction novel ''
Vojača'' was published in ''Nada'' in 1899. It also featured a female protagonist, the 15th-century Bosnian peasant modeled after the Bosnian queen
Vojača.
Truhelka's Vojača is highly sensible, vulnerable and thoughtful, and the first
antiheroine in
Croatian literature
Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia, and Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography was standardized in the late 19th century, it also covers t ...
.
The novel, in which she follows both traditional and
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
approaches, reveals that Truhelka was inspired by
August Šenoa.
Children's literature
Later in her career, as the modernism faded, Truhelka focused on
children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
, which often contained
autobiographical
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
elements.
''Zlatni danci'' was published in 1918.
Upon her retirement in August 1923, Truhelka returned to Zagreb, by then the second largest city of
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, and withdrew from public life.
She continued her work on children's literature into advanced old age.
''Bogorodičine trešnje'' and ''Crni i bijeli dani'' were published in 1929 and 1944 respectively. These two, along with ''Zlatni danci'', place her among the most prominent children's writers of Croatia, second only to
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (; 18 April 1874 – 21 September 1938) was a Croatian writer. Within her native land, as well as internationally, she has been praised as the best Croatian writer for children.
Early life
She was born on 18 April 1874 i ...
.
Portraying the everyday lives of children, Truhelka strived to include ethical, religious and patriotic lessons.
In her retirement, Truhelka rarely made reference to women's rights and notable women. She died in Zagreb on 17 December 1957, aged 93.
She remains best known for her children's literature.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truhelka, Jagoda
1864 births
1957 deaths
Croatian Austro-Hungarians
Writers from Austria-Hungary
Yugoslav women writers
20th-century Croatian women writers
Croatian children's writers
Children's writers from Austria-Hungary
Croatian novelists
Croatian women novelists
Croatian women children's writers
Croatian women educators
Yugoslav educators
Croatian educators
People from Osijek
Croatian people of Czech descent
Croatian people of German descent
Bosnia and Herzegovina novelists
20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina women writers
20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina writers
Bosnia and Herzegovina short story writers
Croatian women short story writers
Croatian short story writers
Croatian feminists
19th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina writers
Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery