Ignjat Đurđević

Ignjat Đurđević, also known as Ignazio Giorgi (February 1675 – 21 January 1737) was a Ragusan baroque poet and translator, best known for his long poem ("The Sighs of the Repentant Magdalene"). He wrote poetry in Latin, Italian, and Croatian.

Biography

Đurđević was born in Ragusa to Bernardo Giorgi and Teresa (). He did not belong to the House of Giorgi, but to a minor, recently ennobled family, the Giorgi di Bernardo. He was a member of the Great Council (1693), duke of Šipan Island (1695)c and Lovrijenac fortress' captain (1696).

As a member of a rich and respectable family, he lived recklessly and often in debauchery. His love adventures cost him the position of the duke on Šipan. Because of his unrequited love towards a ''diklica'' (girl) from Dubrovnik and a libertine poem he wrote to her, Đurđević even had to leave the city for a while. In 1698, he joined the Jesuits in Rome, where he completed philosophy studies and worked as a teacher. In 1706, he joined the Benedictines in Dubrovnik, but was expelled from the city between 1710 and 1712 whereupon he lived in Rome and Napoli.

He was a trilingual poet (he wrote in Latin, Italian and Croatian) with deep feelings, unrestrained by Catholic morals. His fiery ("Love Poems") are some of the best-known lyric poems from Dubrovnik, with the influences of Bunić's verse. ("Marunko's Tears"), Đurđević's poem about Marunko from the island of Mljet, who is sighing because of a beautiful ''djevičina'' (maid) Pavica, were inspired by ''Derviš'' by Stijepan Đurđević.

Đurđević collaborated with his contemporaries in Dubrovnik in the , an academy started by learned men modeled after the Italian ones, and supported the ideas of one of its founders about writing a Croatian grammar. He was voted the president of the academy in 1718, but soon retired from the position.

After more than twenty years of preparations, Đurđević printed ''Uzdasi Mandaljene pokornice'' ("The Sighs of the Repentant Magdalene") in Venice in 1728, together with the cycle of ("Various Poems"). ''Magdalene'' is often considered his most beautiful work, while ''Poems'' have more varied themes and forms. Experts in Croatian literature, such as and , noticed that the themes and forms of Đurđević's ''Poems'' are similar to the poems of Fran Krsto Frankopan.

In 1729, his ("Slavic Psalms") were printed in Venice. They contain translations or paraphrases of the psalms of King David. Their fine language and style distinguish them from many similar translations made by the poets of Dubrovnik.

Ethnicity

His father was Bernardo Giorgi and his mother was Tereza Zlatarić. He did not belong to the old Đurđević family from Dubrovnik, originally from Rome, but to another family of the same name that received a noble title a few years before Ignjat's birth. His mother came from Zlatarić family that can trace their origins from the region of Macedonia. They later migrated to the area of Dubrovnik.The family belonged to the list of late patriciate families of the Ragusan nobility from 30 July 1667, as Miho Zlatarić was admitted into the patrician rank. The empress Maria Theresia in 1765 gave Pavao Zlatarić a Hungarian noble title. The family line became extinct in 1823.

Publications

* ''Sighs of Repentant Magdalene'' (''Uzdasi Mandaljene Pokornice''), 1728

See also

* List of notable Ragusans
* Dalmatia
* History of Dalmatia

References

External links

Ignjat Đurđević: ''Suze Marunkove'' and ''Uzdasi Mandalijene pokornice''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durdevic, Ignjat
18th-century Croatian poets
People from the Republic of Ragusa
Writers from Dubrovnik
1675 births
1737 deaths
Croatian male poets
Lyric poets
Croatian translators
Croatian Baroque writers
18th-century male writers
Croatian-language writers
Italian-language writers
Neo-Latin poets
Ragusan nobility
17th-century Croatian Jesuits