Luka Kirac (September 27, 1860 – January 3, 1931), was a Croatian Catholic priest, revivalist of Croatian nationalism and right-wing politician.
Kirac was a defender of the rights of Croats and Slovenes in Istria, and played an important part in their struggle for their rights. He emphasized the connection of Istrian Croats with the national motherland, and, as early as during his schooling, was "fascinated by the ideas of national revival and
Starčević Starčević ( sr, Старчевић) is a South Slavic surname. The surname may refer to:
* Ante Starčević (1823–1896), Croatian politician and writer
* David Starčević (1840–1908), Croatian politician and a lawyer
* Dragan Starčević (b ...
's orthodoxy." Kirac is said to have equally respected Starčević and Dobrila.
Biography
He was born in Medulin, into a peasant family. Kirac finished elementary school in his native Medulin. He went to high school in Senj and Rijeka, financially supported by
Juraj Dobrila
Juraj (Giorgio) Dobrila (16 March 1812 – 13 January 1882) was a Catholic bishop and benefactor from Istria who advocated for greater national rights for Croats and also Slovenes in Istria under Austrian rule.
Biography
Dobrila was born in the ...
, who had first noticed his brightness.
After being ordained a priest, he worked in
Poreč
Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, whic ...
. After that, the church authorities moved him to places in southern Istria: to Krnica and Rakalj. He was pastor in Barban for eight years, from 1887 to 1895. There he became interested in the history of the Croats of his region. After Barban he was a pastor in Ližnjan and after that in Medulin. In the elections of 1908, he was elected a member of the Provincial Parliament. This happened when he was still a pastor in his native Medulin. In addition to performing as a priest, during his time in Medulin Kirac also worked on developing national consciousness among the Istrian Croats.
As a politician, he sought a way of reconciliation and cooperation between liberal parties, which distinguished him from some Croatian (and Slovenian) activists for the rights of Croatians and Slovenians in Istria (
Božo Milanović
Msgr. Božo Milanović (Kringa, October 10, 1890 - Pazin, December 28, 1980 ), was a Croatian priest, theologian and politician from Istria, and, along with Antonio Santino, one of the greatest anti-fascists of Istria.Petar Sironić). As a politician, he maintained the priestly line of reconciliation and care for the poor. He expressed concern for the poor and sick who were dying all over Istria, who were not saved either in the villages or in hospitals, where they were treated inhumanely. Wherever he went, he was remembered as a generous man, who cared for the poor, helped with advice, money, and a kind word. As such, he resented both the Austrian administration and the economically much stronger Istrian Italian citizens. He was president of the Medulin loan office.
At the beginning of the First World War, the Austrian authorities checked his activities. He was first interned, and then put under heightened surveillance. His second internment followed Italy's entry into the war. Thereafter, he didn't even return to Medulin, and shared instead the same fate of the Istrian women, children and elderly, who were moved into the inner part of the Monarchy. The Istrians moved to different places within Austria, and the road took Kirac through Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Moravia.
When the war ended, things got worse for Kirac and the Istrians, whose "feeling of freedom was very quickly replaced by the knowledge of deception:." The differences among different Istrian Croat parties that Kirac had tried to solve extinguished, as fascist terror broke out, which made all political activities impossible, shut down all political media, all national newspapers in Croatian and Slovene.
Immediately after the arrival of the Italian Army, the Italian authorities confined him as a suspicious person in
Lipari
Lipari (; scn, Lìpari) is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy; it is also the name of the island's main town and ''comune'', which is administratively part of the Metropolit ...
and then in
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
(1919–21). He was then ordered to stay in Rakotule, which he was not allowed to leave, unless the police allowed him to do so. That was the last station of his activity as pastor. In Croatia, it is often recalled the event of 1921, when the locals organized themselves on the agreed bell sign from the bell tower of the church of St. Roko to oppose the fascist attempt to detain Kirac and burn his books. He was exposed to all kinds of fascist abuse. The fascists tried to kill him, his books were burned, and he was saved only by the common people who defended him. Fascist threats did not stop him from working. Around 1925, he discovered wall paintings in the church of St. Nicholas in Rakotule.
Kirac belonged to the group of Istrian revivalists of Croatian national identity, who preserved and protected the Croatian national spirit during the turbulent times of Italianization of Istria. The group included: Matko Brajša, Dinko Trinajstić,
Juraj Dobrila
Juraj (Giorgio) Dobrila (16 March 1812 – 13 January 1882) was a Catholic bishop and benefactor from Istria who advocated for greater national rights for Croats and also Slovenes in Istria under Austrian rule.
Biography
Dobrila was born in the ...
,
Viktor Car Emin Viktor Car Emin (Kraj at Mošćenička Draga, 1 November 1870 – Opatija, 17 April 1963) was a prominent Croatian people, Croatian writer. He graduated from Teachers School in Kopar. He was expelled from the Italian controlled Istria first to settl ...
Eugen Kumičić
Eugen Kumičić (11 January 1850 – 13 May 1904) was a prominent Croatian writer and politician. Kumičić was one of the most prolific Croatian novelists of the realism era and a pioneer of naturalism in Croatian literature.
Biography
Kumi ...
Matko Laginja
Matko Laginja (August 10, 1852 – March 18, 1930) was a Croatian lawyer and politician.
Born in Klana, he earned a doctorate in law in Graz. In his youth he adopted the political program of Ante Starčević and together with Vjekoslav Spin ...
Ivan Rendić
Ivan Rendić (27 August 1849 in Imotski – 29 June 1932 in Split) was a Croatian sculptor.
Biography
He began sculpting early on in life, thanks to the stoneworking tradition of the island of Brač, where he was raised. He finished arts schoo ...
Vjekoslav Spinčić
Vjekoslav Spinčić (23 October 1848 – 27 May 1933) was a Croats, Croatian politician from Istria.
Born in Spinčići near Kastav, he studied theology in Gorizia and Trieste, and was ordained a priest in 1872. Afterwards, he continued stud ...
Zvane Črnja
Zvane (Ivan) Črnja (October 8, 1920 – February 26, 1991) was a prominent Croatian poet, prose writer, essayist, culturologist, screenwriter, playwright and filmologist, journalist, publicist, polemicist and publisher. He's considered one of ...
.Matica hrvatska Andrija Tunjić: Zrcalo hrvatstva u Istri, Vijenac broj 421, 22. travnja 2010.
At a young age, he became aware of how facts about Istria were biasedly presented by the local elite, so he embarked on the study of historical material, especially archival material stored in parishes. He studied old documents and read the notes of his predecessor, the Croatian revivalist, municipal leader Josip Batel. Although he was not an educated historian, he proved to be an excellent scholar of history. Topics he wrote about were the immigration of Slavs into the Istrian peninsula, the penetration of the Croatian people into towns and castles, the survival of the culture of the Croatian people, the geographical spread in the villages and more. These were topics that had hitherto been neglected and misrepresented. Unlike the previous practice of historians, Kirac was ahead of his time. Instead of describing the feudal lords, he described the people, broad
He saw that the results of his research would shatter Italian theses and that irredentists would not shy away from destroying historical evidence that did not go in their favor. He already had an unpleasant experience with a fire that destroyed old Croatian documents in the municipality and at the same time destroyed evidence of embezzlement by the Italian municipal administration. Because of that, he secretly smuggled the documents from the parish of his native Medulin to Zagreb, where they were stored in the JAZU Archives. Part of these documents was written in Glagolitic.
Due to all this, his most significant work, ''Sketches from Istrian History'', which is a depiction of the medieval history of Croats on the Istrian peninsula, was not published during his lifetime, but remained in manuscript until after the liberation of Istria in 1946. In his paper, Kirac wrote about the immigration of Croats, the development of feudal society and the culture of the Croatian people.
Kirac was a danger to the Italian authorities even after he passed away. For his funeral, people flocked to Medulin from everywhere for the last farewell to the beloved local. The fascist authorities perceived his funeral as a provocation. His funeral in his native Medulin, "was a political and social event that proved that the national struggle in Istria was a struggle for human and ethical rights of Croats and that they cannot be silenced and extinguished by any terror."
Today, there is a memorial plaque in Medulin in his memory.
References
Sources
* I. Mihovilović, Internacija i progon popa Luke Kirca, Kalendar Jurina i Franina, Pula 1973.,;
* J. Demarin, Luka Kirac - svjetao lik u povijesti Istre, Istra, 7-8/1974.;
* J. Bratulić, Istarske književne teme, Pula 1987.;
* M. Dabo, Hrvatski narodni preporod, Monografija općine Medulin (ur. Andrej Bader), Medulin 2013., M. Bertoša, Etos i etnos zavičaja, Pula-Rijeka 1985.; * M. Bertoša, Kirac, Luka, Istarska enciklopedija, Zagreb 2005.;
* , Pazin 1990. (Zagreb 1946.);
* J. Jelinčić, Dokumenti o don Luki Kircu u Historijskom arhivu Pazin, Pazinski memorijal, 16/1988., br. 1;
* H. Buršić, 223 hrabra potpisa, Monografija općine Medulin (ur. Andrej Bader), Medulin 2013., 220–224;
* I. Žagar, Razvoj turizma u Općini Medulin od konca 19. stoljeća do danas, Monografija Općine Medulin (ur. Andrej Bader), Medulin 2013.;
* Iz Puljštine, Istarska riječ (Trst), 1. 11. 1923.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirac, Luka
1860 births1931 deathsCroatian activistsCroatian nationalistsCroatian politiciansCroatian writers