Ivan Mažuranić (; 11 August 1814 – 4 August 1890) was a Croatian poet, linguist, lawyer and politician who is considered to be one of the most important figures in Croatia's political and cultural life in the mid-19th century. Mažuranić served as Ban of

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

between 1873 and 1880, and since he was the first ban not to hail from old nobility, he was known as ''Ban pučanin'' (Ban commoner). His realistic assessment of strengths and weaknesses of Croatia's position between

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n bureaucracy and Hungarian expansionist nationalism proved invaluable to his home country during the wider political turmoil in mid and late 19th century Europe. Mažuranić is best remembered for his contributions to the development of the Croatian law system, economics, linguistics, and poetry.

Life and education

Ivan Mažuranić was born on 11 August 1814 as the third of four sons into a well-to-do

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

family of Ivan Mažuranić Petrov in Novi Vinodolski in northern coastal

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. His brother Josip was in charge of taking care of the family estate, Anton was a famous jurist and philologist, while Matija (a blacksmith by profession) was a travel writer who wrote ''"A Look at Bosnia"'' (1842) in which he described the private and public life of Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mažuranić became a man of many abilities; he spoke 9 languages (Croatian, Latin, Italian, German, Hungarian, French, English, Czech, and Polish) and was well versed in astronomy and mathematics. He attended elementary school in Novi Vinodolski and high school in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, after which he studied law at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

(1835–1837) and philosophy at the

University of West Hungary The main campus of the University of Sopron (, abbreviated SOE) is located in Sopron, Hungary. The school traces its roots to 1735.

. After graduation he worked as a gymnasium teacher 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 ...

, and afterwards as a lawyer in

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

. He married Aleksandra Demeter, the sister of the renowned Croatian poet Dimitrija Demeter.

Politics

Mažuranić was the first Croatian ban not to hail from old nobility, as he was born a commoner. He held the office from 20 September 1873 until 21 February 1880. He was a member of the People's Party. He accomplished the Croatian transition from a semi-

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

legal and economic system to a modern civil society similar to those emerging in other countries in central Europe. Mažuranić has modernized Croatia's educational system by forming a public school network and reducing the importance of denominational schools. The latter was one of the issues that led to his later resignation as ban in 1880 and a process criticized by the Catholic Church at the time, as well as by ethnic Serb politicians in the Parliament of Croatia-Slavonia. Others consider this to have been a necessary step in modernization and secularization of Croatian society. Almost immediately after his election as Ban, Mažuranić started with the implementation of comprehensive reforms. During the period of his rule, the Sabor passed 60 laws covering the whole area of Croatian autonomous jurisdiction. The ideological foundation of his reforms were liberal, emphasizing the importance of the Constitution, individual rights, education, science and

laissez faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

. The main goal of his reforms was to form foundations of the organization of autonomous Croatian government and establishment of a modern and efficient political-administrative system.

Poetry and linguistics

In his native land, Mažuranić is above all the beloved poet of ''Smrt Smail-age Čengića'' ('' The Death of Smail-aga Čengić''). This epic poem is full of memorable verses that have become embedded in the national memory of his people, who cherished it as the treasure of a "

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 ...

ic" wisdom praising such epic virtues as fortitude, fidelity, and justice. The tale is based on an assault in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, when a petty local Muslim tyrant was killed, as an act of vendetta, in an ambush set by

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

. Mažuranić's poetry transformed a rather prosaic act of tribal revenge into a hymn celebrating the struggle for freedom—acted out under the hostile forces of fatality. Following in the steps of Croatian poets like Kačić and Ivan Gundulić (his chief national influence, whose main epic '' Osman'' Mažuranić completed), Mažuranić closed the era of

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

and of classic

epic poetry In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard t ...

Croatian literature Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia, and Croatian language, Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography were standardized in the late 19th centu ...

. Mažuranić's

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

work is remarkable for its influence. He co-authored the "German- Illyrian/Croatian Dictionary" with Josip Užarević in 1842. Mažuranić had coined words that have become commonplace in standard Croatian such as words for bank accountancy, rhinoceros, sculptor, ice-cream, market economy, high treason or metropolis.

Legacy

Ivan Mažuranić Square in Zagreb is named in his honor, and there are numerous streets named after him throughout Croatia. His portrait was depicted on the

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

of the Croatian 100 kuna banknote, issued in 1993 and 2002. Croatian National Bank
100 kuna (2002 issue)
– Retrieved on 30 March 2009. During the Croatian accession to the European Union, Nova TV launched a campaign 'I believe in Croatia' referring to the introduction of Mažuranić's famous speech that he gave on 13 December 1886 before the Sabor; "I believe in Croatia, in its past, in its present and its future."

References

External links