Tituš Brezovački (January 4, 1757 – October 29, 1805) was a
Croatian playwright, satirist and poet.
Brezovački, as the great comedian of the period, wrote all of his dramatic works in
Kajkavian
Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and no ...
dialect. His poems were chiefly written in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, but few of them have also been preserved in
Ijekavian
Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. ...
Štokavian, as if predicting the path of
Croatian national revival
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 ...
.
Biography
He was born in
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 ...
, schooled in Zagreb and
Varaždin
)
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, and in 1774 he entered the
Pauline Order
The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit ( lat, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitæ; abbreviated OSPPE), commonly called the Pauline Fathers, is a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as th ...
. He initiated the study of
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
in 1776 in
Lepoglava
Lepoglava is a town in Varaždin County, northern Croatia, located southwest of Varaždin, west of Ivanec, and northeast of Krapina.
Demographics
A total of 8,283 residents in the municipality (2011 census) live in the following settlements:
* ...
, and afterwards graduated
philosophy and theology in
Pest.
He was ordained in 1781, serving as a
gymnasium professor in Varaždin henceforth. In 1785 the Pauline Order was abolished, causing Brezovački to become a common priest. His disputes with clergy and the bishop
Maksimilijan Vrhovac
Maksimilijan Vrhovac (23 November 1752 in Karlovac – 16 December 1827 in Zagreb) was the bishop of Zagreb. He was one of the ideological architects of the Croatian national revival, and is notable for founding the Maksimir Park in 1787, one of ...
had often forced him to relocate, changing parishes (Varaždin,
Križevci
Križevci (; la, Crisium; hu, Kőrös ; german: Kreutz ) is a city in central Croatia with a total population of 21,122 and with 11,231 in the city itself (2011), the oldest city in its county, the Koprivnica-Križevci County.
History
The f ...
, Rakovac, Zagreb,
Krapina
Krapina (; hu, Korpona) is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje County with a population of 4,482 (2011) and a total municipality population of 12,480 (2011). Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje regi ...
,
Požega, Zagreb).
He wrote his first known work, the religious drama ''Sveti Aleksij'' for the gymnasium in Varaždin, where it was staged before being printed in Zagreb in 1786.
In Križevci he wrote the Latin poem ''Dalmatiae, Croatie et Slavoniae, trium sororum recursus'' (Three sisters Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia), published in 1790, which represented a strong political shift in his work. This was followed by a similar poem ''Ode inclytae nobilitati regnorum Dalmatiae, Croatiae, Sclavoniae'', printed in 1800, to encourage resistance 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 ...
. During this period, he was a vocal critic of the higher clergy in Zagreb, which he criticized in the poem ''Jeremijaš nad horvatskoga orsaga zrušenjem narekujuči'' by the end of the 18th century, ending its censorship in 1801. He dedicated another poem to the newly constructed foundation hospital located on today's
Ban Jelačić Square
Ban Jelačić Square (; hr, Trg bana Jelačića) is the central square of the city of Zagreb, Croatia, named after Ban Josip Jelačić. The official name is Trg bana Jelačića. The square is colloquially called ''Jelačić plac''.
It is locate ...
in 1804.
[
Between 1803 and 1805, he wrote his most known works; a ]comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
about a sorcerer ''Matijaš Grabancijaš dijak'' (first staged in 1804) and ''Diogeneš''.[Die Literaturen Südosteuropas: 15. bis frühes 20. Jahrhundert. Ein Vergleich]
Valther Puchler, pp. 172
He died in Zagreb on October 29, 1805, exhausted by a lung disease.
Works
Drama
* "Sveti Aleksij", a drama (1786)
* "Matijaš Grabancijaš dijak", a comedy (1804)
* "Diogeneš ili sluga dveh zaljubljenih bratov", a comedy (1805)
Poetry
* ''Dalmatiae, Croatie et Slavoniae, trium sororum recursus'', 1790
* ''Ode inclytae nobilitati regnorum Dalmatiae, Croatiae, Sclavoniae'', 1800
Satire
* "Jeremijaš nad hrvatskoga orsaga zrušenjem nerekujuči", written around 1800
Footnotes
References
*
Tituš Brezovački
on Enciklopedija.hr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brezovacki, Titus
1757 births
1805 deaths
Writers from Zagreb
Croatian dramatists and playwrights
Croatian male poets
German-language poets
New Latin-language poets