Josip Marohnić (November 12, 1866 – January 23, 1921) remains up to this day the most influential Croatian

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

in the Americas. Marohnić was born in

Hreljin Hreljin is a village in western Croatia, just southeast of Bakar and northeast of Kraljevica, above Bay of Bakar (). Hreljin administratively belongs to the city of Bakar, situated in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County - Primorsko-goranska županija. ...

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 ...

(then in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

) and lived in the United States for 28 years, where he emigrated alone in 1893 and was later joined by his wife Andrijana and daughter Josipa. He started working at a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's local printing house before attending

Wheaton College (Illinois) Wheaton College is a Private college, private Evangelical, Evangelical Christian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, United States. It was founded by evangelical abolitionists in 1860. Wheaton ...

. He later founded his own print house and bookstore, and became publisher, writer and editor of his newspaper "Hrvatski glasnik". In 1897, Marohnić moved to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

where he founded the Croatian Eastern Rite Catholic St. Nicholas Parish, the first Croatian

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

parish in America, and invited a Croatian

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

to spiritually lead Croatian-Americans. He acted as the main accountant of the National Croatian Community (preceding the

Croatian Fraternal Union The Croatian Fraternal Union () (CFU), the oldest and largest Croatian organization in North America, is a fraternal benefit society of the Croatian diaspora based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. History and activities In the late fall ...

founded on 11th convention) between 1897 and 1909. He was also the founding father and lifetime President of the

from 1912 until his death. Marohnić devoted his life to Croatians in the US and they honored him with a magnificent funeral. Marohnić founded the "First Croatian Bookstore" in

Allegheny, Pennsylvania Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

. As an editor, he published books, manuals, grammars, dictionaries, calendars, novels, anthologies, short stories, theatrical works, humorous books, collections of poetry, various books of

Croatian folklore Croatian may refer to: *Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * Se ...

, maps, albums, breviaries and books of religious nature. He was the first poet among the

Croatian diaspora The Croatian diaspora ( or ) consists of communities of ethnic Croats and/or Croatian citizens living outside Croatia. Estimates on its size are only approximate because of incomplete statistical records and naturalization, but (highest) estimat ...

, having published his collections "Jesenke" in 1897 and "Amerikanke" in 1900Literature by Croatian Americans
/ref> and his "

Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of Croats in America". In 1911, he was the first

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

officially invited by an American president. He died on January 23, 1921, leaving behind his wife and four children.

Legacy

A street in

Trnje Trnje () is a district in the City of Zagreb, Croatia. According to the 2011 census, the district had 42,282 residents. It is located in the central part of the city, south of Donji grad across the railway ( Zagreb Main Station), east of Trešn ...

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 ...

, the Croatian capital, was named after him; the street is now the site of

SRCE SRCE or Srce may refer to: * University Computing Centre The University Computing Centre in Zagreb (, abbreviated SRCE, which also means "heart") has a long tradition in the area of information and communication technologies. It was founded in 19 ...

("Sveučilišni računski centar" - "University Computing Centre").

References

External links

St. Nicholas Parish, Pittsburgh Today

Croatian Fraternal Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marohnic, Josip 1866 births 1921 deaths 19th-century Croatian people 19th-century American people American poetry Croatian Eastern Catholics American Eastern Catholics Religious leaders from Pittsburgh American people of Croatian descent Croatian Austro-Hungarians Eastern Catholic poets Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni People from Bakar Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States