Konstantin "Kosta" Vojnović ( sr-Cyrl, Константин Војновић; ; March 2, 1832 – May 20, 1903) was a

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...

politician, university professor and rector in the kingdoms of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

and

Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska i Slavonija; hu, Horvát-Szlavónország or ; de-AT, Königreich Kroatien und Slawonien) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation with ...

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 ...

Life

Family

Vojnović was born in

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi ( cyrl, Херцег Нови, ) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 in ...

(Kingdom of Dalmatia, modern

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

) into the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

Vojnović noble family The Vojnović ( Serbian Cyrillic: Војновић, Vojnovići / Војновићи) or Vojinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Војиновић, Vojinovići / Војиновићи), was a Serbian noble family in the Bay of Kotor and Dalmatia activ ...

. His grandfather Đorđe Vasiljević Vojnović (1760–1821) was a Russian military officer, he later returned to

Boka Kotorska The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...

, and in 1800, in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

, he married Kasandra Angeli-Radovani from a Roman Catholic family. They had a son, Jovan. Count Jovan Đ. Vojinović (1811–1837) died at the age of 26, he married Katarina Gojković whose mother was of the family of

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population in ...

Metropolitan

Stevan Stratimirović Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

. Katarina later remarried to a

Pellegrini Pellegrini may refer to: People * Pellegrini (surname), an Italian surname Cities * Carlos Pellegrini, Santa Fe, a city in Santa Fe Province, Argentina *Pellegrini, Buenos Aires, a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina Fish *'' Labeo pellegrin ...

. Jovan and Katarina had two sons, Konstantin (Kosta), and his brother Đorđe (Đura). His brother

Đorđe Đorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе;transliterated Djordje) is a Serbian given name, a Serbian variant, derived from Greek '' Georgios'' (''George'' in English). Other variants include: Đurđe, Đurađ, Đura, Đuro, Georgije. It may refer to: * Đor ...

(1833–1895) was the mayor of Boka (1863–1877) and its representative deputy, and president of the

Diet of Dalmatia The Diet of Dalmatia ( hr, Dalmatinski sabor, it, Dieta della Dalmazia) was the regional assembly of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was founded in Zadar in 1861 and last convened in 1912, before being formally diss ...

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

. As the people's deputy he fought against the Austrian politics that deliberately omitted the Bokan maritime affairs, which was the main occupation of his ancestors. Konstantin and Đorđe were baptized in the Serbian Orthodox Savina monastery in Herceg Novi, however, their grandmother Kasandra later converted them into the Roman Catholic confession.Martinović 2003, footnotes: "Đorđev sin Jovan imao je dva sina: Kostu i Đura, koji su bili kršteni u manastiru Savini kod Herceg-Novog, ali ih je docnije njihova baba Angeli-Radovani prekrstila u katoličku vjeru."

Career

He graduated law 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 ...

in the period 1851–54, received his Ph.D. in

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 ...

in 1856. In

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

he worked as a lawyer, a secretary of the Chamber of Merchants, legislative writer and a politician. He advocated unification of

and

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

with Croatia and Slavonia. He was great supporter of

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 independence in

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 ...

. As a member of the People's Party, he served as a representative in the

Parliament of Dalmatia The Diet of Dalmatia ( hr, Dalmatinski sabor, it, Dieta della Dalmazia) was the regional assembly of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was founded in Zadar in 1861 and last convened in 1912, before being formally dis ...

. At the recommendation of his close friend and a colleague

Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; german: Joseph Georg Strossmayer; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian politician, Roman Catholic Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop, and benefactor (law), benefactor. Early life an ...

, he was elected in 1874 as a professor of Austrian law at 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 ...

. He served twice as a prorector of the university: the first time during the rectorship of the first rector

Matija Mesić Matija Mesić (Brod na Savi, February 19, 1826 – Zagreb, December 5, 1878) was a Croatian historian, university professor, the first rector of the University of Zagreb. He graduated philosophy at the Royal Academy of Science in 1844, and theo ...

, and the second time immediately after himself served as a rector in the academic year 1877/1878. In the period 1878–1884 he served as a representative in the

Croatian parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor ...

. He was a full member of the

Yugoslav 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 ...

since 1890. Due to political reasons, expressing his disagreement with oppressive

Magyarization Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleithan ...

, he was temporarily suspended from university service and retired in 1891. He returned to

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

and began research of the Dubrovnikan legislative history. He died in Dubrovnik at the age of 71.

Marriage and children

He married Marija Seralji (Serragli; 1836-1922) from Dubrovnik in 1855. She was the daughter of Luigi de Serragli (1808-1902), an Italian businessman and bureaucrat, member of the Dalmatian Diet, and Kristina Đivović. They had five children:

Ivo Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...

, Lujo, Katica, Eugenija and Kristina.

Legacy

Since 1933 a street in Zagreb is named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vojnovic, Konstantin 1832 births 1903 deaths People from Herceg Novi People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia

Konstantin The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name ''Constantinus'' (Constantine) in some European languages, such as Russian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. ...

Austro-Hungarian Serbs Serbs of Croatia Converts to Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy People's Party (Dalmatia) politicians Representatives in the Croatian Parliament (1848–1918) Croatian lawyers Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts University of Vienna alumni Rectors of the University of Zagreb Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik