Lovro Monti (21 April 1835, in

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

– 9 April 1898) was a

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 ...

n politician of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. He was a

Dalmatian Italian Dalmatian Italians are the historical Italian national minority living in the region of Dalmatia, now part of Croatia and Montenegro. Since the middle of the 19th century, the community, counting according to some sources nearly 20% of all Dalma ...

, whose grandfather fought for the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, who was also from a family of Italian origin.

Biography

In 1859 Monti graduated from law school 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 ...

(Italy), and lately worked as an apprentice 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 ...

for a while. Along with

Miho Klaić Miho Klaić (Dubrovnik, August 19, 1829 – Zadar, January 3, 1896) was a Croatian politician and a leader of the Croatian revival in Dalmatia. He obtained a PhD in architecture in Padua, Italy. He was a member of the National Party and was elec ...

Natko Nodilo Natko Nodilo (31 August 1834 – 21 May 1912) was a Croatian politician, historian, journalist, university professor, and chancellor of the University of Zagreb. Born in Split, he studied theology in Zadar until 1856, when he dropped out of colleg ...

(another Dalmatian Italian),

Mihovil Pavlinović Mihovil Pavlinović (28 January 1831 – 18 May 1887) was a Croatian Roman Catholic priest, politician, and writer who led Croatian National Revival in the Kingdom of Dalmatia. He is known as a keen promoter of Croatian political thought in Dalmat ...

, lawyers

Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša Stjepan (modernist: Stefan) Mitrov Ljubiša ( sr-cyr, Стјепан Митров Љубиша; 29 February 1824 – 11 November 1878), was a Serbian and Montenegrin writer and politician. He is famous for his unique short stories, generally r ...

and

Konstantin Vojnović Konstantin "Kosta" Vojnović ( sr-Cyrl, Константин Војновић; ; March 2, 1832 – May 20, 1903) was a Croatian Serb politician, university professor and rector in the kingdoms of Dalmatia and Croatia-Slavonia of the Habsburg m ...

, Monti was one of the founders of the People's Party (″Narodna stranka") in Dalmatia, and the

Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian inte ...

. Since 1862 he worked in

as a lawyer, and in 1866 he became the president of the municipality. He has been elected as a deputy in the Dalmatian assembly five times in a row. On the first direct election he became a deputy in a royal council (and was reelected in 1879). He was also one of the leaders and founders of the Italo-

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n coalition in Dalmatia. In 1874 Monti defended the rights of the Italians of Dalmatia declaring in the Dalmatian assembly that half of the 98,000 population of the Dalmatian cities spoke Italian and needed Italian schools. In 1882, due to the dissatisfaction of the new policy of "Narodna Stranka" against the

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

and

Serbs 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 ...

in Dalmatia, he resigned from the public life. Lovro Monti died in Knin in 1898.

Achievements and legacy

During his mandate he developed Knin and the surrounding area, especially in agriculture. In his will he left to the Knin municipality his farm, later called "Montova glavica" with the condition that an agricultural school would be founded there. During

SFRY The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

, the real estate was divided and some leaders of the Knin municipality got assigned for themselves the construction yards. The school has never been named after him. Monti belonged to the rich "class of gentlemen" and, according to the communist criteria of that time, would have been considered an "

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

" to name a school after him. However, there has been made a monument in front of the school on his honor.

External links

''Claiming Ownership in Postwar Croatia: The Dynamics of Property Relations and Ethnic Conflict in the Knin Region'', Carolin Leutloff-Grandits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monti, Lovro 1835 births 1898 deaths People from Knin People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia Dalmatian Italians People's Party (Dalmatia) politicians Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1873–1879) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1879–1885) University of Padua alumni

Biography

Achievements and legacy

See also

External links