Grgo Martić (24 January 1822 – 30 August 1905), also known as Grga or Mato Martić, was a Bosnian

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

in the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena. During his lifetime, Martić earned a nickname Bosnian Homer.

Biography

Martić was born in the village of Rastovača, near

Posušje Posušje () is a town and municipality in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Name The name Posušje is derived from ''suša'' ( Croatian for drought). Th ...

, in the

Eyalet of Bosnia The Eyalet of Bosnia (; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; ), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ...

, then a part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He studied philosophy in

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

before completing his theology degree in Stolni Biograd (now

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

). He was ordained in 1845 in

Travnik Travnik ( cyrl, Травник) is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, ...

. He served for three years in

Kreševo Kreševo ( sr-cyrl, Крешево, ) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kreševo is a mountainous town, located in a narrow valley of the ...

and Osova. From 1851 to 1878, he served as a parish priest in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

before settling at the Franciscan monastery St. Catharine in

. As a friar of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena, Martić served the majority of his life, and carried out most of his work while at the monastery. In his youth, he was a supporter of

Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement (; ) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of the 19th century, around the years of 1835 t ...

as a nationalist and romanticist, before switching to a more moderate view. Martić worked as a writer and translator, translating works of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

, and

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

into the peoples vernacular language (''narodni jezik''). At the time of the

Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The campaign to establish Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 29 July to 20 October 1878 against the local resistance fighters, Muslims and orthodox Serbs, supported unofficially by troops of the Ottoman Empire. The Austro ...

, he was politically active on behalf of the

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Influences and legacy

He opened a school in

in 1847 and a gymnasium in

. His best-known literary work was ''Avengers'' (), an epic about the struggle against Ottoman rule. Martić made contributions to

Albanian culture Albanian culture or the culture of Albanians ( ) is a term that embodies the Albanian art, artistic, Albanian cuisine, culinary, Albanian literature, literary, Music of Albania, musical, Politics of Albania, political and Traditions of Albania, ...

as well, influencing young Albanian writer Gjergj Fishta who attended Franciscan schools in Kreševo where he met Martić and Croatian writer

Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević (; 17 February 1865—29 October 1908) was a Croatian poet. His most notable work is ''Bugarkinje,'' published in ''1885,'' a book of poetry exploring the themes of Homeland, Man, and Universe. Early life and e ...

, who at that time also lived in Bosnia.Pater Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940)
slideshare.net; accessed 24 October 2016. Martić's work is included into both Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Croatian literary anthologies. * His life has also been commemorated with a postage stamp from Bosnia and Herzegovina. * Central place in Old Town of Sarajevo, in front of the Sarajevo Cathedral, bears the name of fra Grgo Martić. * A monument in his honor is erected in front of a church in Posušje, while another is also erected in Zagreb. * A commemorative stone cross with a plaque stands in the village Rastovača noting his birthplace, his life and his work.

Literary works

* Slavodobitnica svijetlomu gospodaru Omer-paši (epic poem, 1852) * Narodne pjesme bosanske i hercegovačke (with Ivan Frano Jukić), I (1858) * Osvetnici, I-III (ep, 1861/65.), IV (1878.), V (1881.), VI (1881.), VII (1883) * Početni zemljopis za katoličke učionice u Bosni (epic poem, 1884) * Narodne pjesme o boju na Kosovu godine 1389 (1886) * Obrana Biograda godine 1456 (ep, 1887) * Pjesnička djela fra Grge Martića, 1-7 (1888) * Pjesnička djela fra Grge Martića, I (1893) * Zapamćenja/1829–1878, po kazivanju autorovu zabilježio janko Koharić (1906.) * Izabrani spisi (1956)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martic, Grgo 1822 births 1905 deaths People from Posušje Franciscans of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia 19th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina Roman Catholic priests Bosnia and Herzegovina essayists Bosnia and Herzegovina writers Croatian writers