Vladimir Nazor (30 May 1876 – 19 June 1949) was a Croatian poet and politician. During and after

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the US ...

, he served as the first President of the Presidium of the Croatian Parliament (Croatian head of state), and first

Speaker of the Croatian Parliament The speaker of the Croatian Parliament ( hr, Predsjednik Hrvatskog sabora, literally the president of the Croatian Parliament) is the presiding officer in the Croatian Parliament, Croatia's legislative body. Under Article 97 of the constituti ...

. Nazor is a well-known poet, writer, translator, and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

. He was not an active politician until 1941, but had a significant political influence through ethical aspects of his work during prewar

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

Early career

Nazor's early work paralleled the rise of the Young Croatian literary movement. He acquired much literary popularity in

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 ...

writing about

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

legends and stories, including ''Big Joseph'' (''

Veli Jože Veli is a male Finnish and Estonian given name, meaning ''brother''. It is also an Ottoman Turkish name, mainly used by Ottoman affiliated populations as a male given name, meaning ''guardian''. Its original etymology in Arabic meaning a "friend o ...

'') (1908), which features a helpful and kind hearted

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

named Jože living in the town of

Motovun Motovun (, it, Montona or ''Montona d'Istria'') is a village and a municipality in central Istria, Croatia. In ancient times, both Celts and Illyrians built their fortresses at the location of present-day Motovun. The name of the village is also ...

(Inner

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 ...

). His verses in ''Hrvatski kraljevi'' (''Croatian Kings'') (1912) established him as a prominent patriot poet. ''Istrian Tales'' (''Istarske priče'') (1913) showcased his storytelling style. By illuminating the personality of the South Slavs through tales of Croatia, he contributed to the creation of the Yugoslav national consciousness. Nazor supported the opposition alliance led by

Vladko Maček Vladimir Maček (20 June 1879 – 15 May 1964) was a politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1928 assassination of Stjepan Radić, Maček had been a leading Croatian political fig ...

in the 1938 Yugoslavian election. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, on 30 December 1941, Nazor became a member of the

Croatian 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 ...

by government decree. In 1942 he escaped from

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

with poet Ivan Goran Kovačić in a boat across the river Kupa, sublimed in the poem ''The Boat on the Kupa'' (''Čamac na Kupi''), and then joined the Partisans. However, there is also a different story related to Nazor's alleged escape. According to the Croatian writer and politician

Nedjeljko Mihanović Nedjeljko Mihanović (; 16 February 1930 – 27 January 2022) was a Croatian politician who served as Speaker of the Croatian Parliament from 1994 to 1995. He was an associate member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian ...

(citing a testimony from Nazor's sister), Nazor, who at the time was old and had health issues, did not escape on his own will but was abducted by communist agents for propaganda purposes and later forced to collaborate with the new government. Nazor became one of

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

's closest associates and the President of Croatia's World War II assembly, the

ZAVNOH The State Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia (''Zemaljsko antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Hrvatske''), commonly abbreviated ZAVNOH, was first convened on 13–14 June 1943 in Otočac and Plitvice as the ...

. He went on to write a war diary ''With Partisans'' (''S partizanima'') (1943–1945). Nazor began his political career as the head of the

State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia The State Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia (''Zemaljsko antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Hrvatske''), commonly abbreviated ZAVNOH, was first convened on 13–14 June 1943 in Otočac and Plitvice as the ...

(ZAVNOH), the provisional Croatian

deliberative assembly, before becoming head of the first post-war Croatian National Parliament (''Narodni Sabor''). In that post, he was, by law, concurrently the first (non-monarchical) head of state of Croatia, and the ''de facto'' first head of state of the current Croatian republic. His position carried little real political power, which was instead invested in the office of the President of the Government and informally with the

Secretary of the Communist Party of Croatia The Secretary of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia ( sh, Sekretar Centralnog komiteta Saveza komunista Hrvatske) was the head of the League of Communists of Croatia, heading the Central Committee of the Party. The holder ...

. Nazor's opus after WWII mostly consisted of works strongly supportive of

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

's communist regime. His

hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

poem ''Titov Naprijed'' (Tito's Forward) was famously memorized by generations of schoolchildren throughout Yugoslavia well into the 80s. Other poems such as ''Drug Tito'' (Comrade Tito), ''Naš vođa'' (Our Leader), '' Uz Maršala Tita'' (With Mashal Tito), and many others had a similar

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

style bolstering Tito's

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

. However, it is a matter of debate whether Nazor really became a fervent communist or supported the regime mostly out of fear and

opportunism Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term ...

. Reflecting on his position under the communist government in his diary ''Večernje bilješke'' (1945), Nazor notes "They gave me a lot of honor but no power!" ("Doduše, dodijeliše mi čast, ali ne i vlast!").

As a poet

One of Nazor's main prose works is the extensive novel ''Loda the Shepherd'' (''Pastir Loda'') (1938). The work describes the history of his native island of Brač as told by Loda, a

faun The faun (, grc, φαῦνος, ''phaunos'', ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were spirits (genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their c ...

, one of the last of that kind on the island. In poetry, Nazor's creative way began with metaphysical transcendental philosophy and materialistic revolutionary action, prior to rational scheme and harmonic larpourlartistic crystal structure and interior protest against artistic verbalizing in

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

ism,

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, and

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, as well as instructive didactics of

. Therefore, his opus incorporates a variety of style tendencies, from neoclassical and surrealistic to s ymbolism. Some of his works contain rhythm forcing, vowels shortening for adjusting the number of syllables and progressing the sentence to the next verse, as well as his use of unusual and archaic words Nazor wrote over 500 poems. The early phase of Nazor's poetry work is mostly object of scholars' research now, but ''Galérien's Poeme'' (''Galiotova pesan'') from that time (1903), describing suffering and sadness of a galley slave, attains universal meaning as condemnation of oppression and still stands as one of the most expressive disapproval of slavery. Nazor reached the highest scope in poems of so-called pagan phase, published in books of verse ''Lyrics'' (''Lirika'') (1910) and ''New Poems'' (''Nove pjesme'') (1913). Vladimir Nazor spoke several languages and translated Italian (

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

–

Divina Commedia The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

Giosuè Carducci Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci (; 27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) was an Italian poet, writer, literary critic and teacher. He was very noticeably influential, and was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. In 1906, h ...

Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the great ...

, Gabriele d'Annunzio), German (

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

, Heine), French (

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

, Alfred de Musset), and English (

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

). Nazor was buried in

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, hr, Gradsko groblje Mirogoj), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery ( hr, Groblje Mirogoj), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members o ...

. Since 1959, Croatia has named a state award for artistic achievement the

Vladimir Nazor Award The Vladimir Nazor Award ( hr, Nagrada Vladimir Nazor) is a Croatian prize for arts and culture established in 1959 and awarded every year by the Ministry of Culture. Named after the writer Vladimir Nazor (1876–1949), the prize is awarded to C ...

. In 2008, a total of 306 streets in Croatia were named after Nazor, making him the second most common person eponym of streets in the country behind Matija Gubec.

Works

* List of Nazor's work on Croatian Wikipedia *Na vrhu jezika i pera,

Croatian Publishing and Bibliographic Institute The Croatian Publishing and Bibliographic Institute ( hr, Hrvatski izdavalački bibliografski zavod, HIBZ) was a lexicographic institute in the Independent State of Croatia founded on August 9, 1941. Mate Ujević was its director. In 1944, Dragutin ...

, 1942 His works have been translated into following languages (incomplete list): *Italian *Hungarian *Slovenian *German

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazor, Vladimir 1876 births 1949 deaths People from Postira People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia League of Communists of Croatia politicians Presidents of Croatia 20th-century Croatian poets Yugoslav Partisans members Croatian people of World War II Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Croatian male poets 20th-century male writers