Ljudevit Vuličević ( sr-cyrl, Људевит Вуличевић, ; 30 September 1839 – 27 July 1916) was an Italian-language writer and cleric who was known for his Serbian and pan-Slavic patriotism.

Biography

Vuličević was born on 30 September 1839 in

Cavtat Cavtat (, ) is a village in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic Sea coast south of Dubrovnik and is the centre and the main settlement of Konavle municipality. History Antiquity The original city was founded by the ...

, at the time part of the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. He was born out of wedlock to Jela Vuličević and Niko Papi, and his baptized name was Petar. In 1854 he entered the Franciscan Order, moving to the convent of the Observant Friars Minor (Samostan Male Brače) in Ragusa before taking the monastic name Ljudevit or Lodovico in Italian, at the convent of San Pancrazio in

Barbarano Vicentino Barbarano Vicentino is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Barbarano Mossano, in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, north-eastern Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Wes ...

. He completed his high school education in 1856 before taking orders at the Venetian Monastery where he was ceremonially tonsured. In Venice, he studied philosophy and theology. He returned in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

in 1862 as an educated parish priest, only to soon be at odds with the Roman Catholic hierarchy of Dubrovnik. For a while he worked as a missionary in Skadar,

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, before leaving the Franciscan order and moving to

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

. He left for

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

where he decided to convert by joining the ''Chiesa Evangelica Valdese'' (

Waldensian Evangelical Church The Waldensian Evangelical Church (''Chiesa Evangelica Valdese'', CEV) is a Protestant denomination active in Italy and Switzerland that was independent until it united with the Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy in the Union of Methodist and ...

), an Italian Protestant denomination. Vuličević's philosophical and religious essays and treatises were inspired by the idealism of the Waldensian Church to which he converted. It was located in the enchanting little twelfth-century church of San Silvestro where the Triestine Waldensians worshiped at the time. During his stay in Trieste, Vuličević took a part in early

syndicalism Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through Strike action, strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goa ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He tutored many young Serbian people in Trieste, among which also the poet

Aleksa Šantić Aleksa Šantić ( sr-Cyrl, Алекса Шантић, (); 27 May 1868 – 2 February 1924) was a Herzegovinian Serb poet and writer from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Šantić wrote about the urban culture of his hometown Mostar and Herzegovi ...

. Following 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 ...

in 1878, Vuličević corresponded with the ''Dubrovnik'' journal of the Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik, and advocated for a pro-Serbian position. In 1916 died in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

, as one of the noted ministers of the ''Chiesa Evangelica Valdese'' and its original thinker. As he was highly respected and influential in his own country, the

Serbian Government The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...

took charge of the funeral arrangements in Naples.

Selected works

*''Una nuova tentazione pel Governo Italiano. Discorso di Lodovico Ab. Vulicevic'', Pordenone, 1870. *''Slavi e Italiani: dal Juri al Quarnaro'', Naples, 1871. *''Leggendo l'ecclesiaste: Fascicolo Primo'', Naples, 1894. *''La religione del prete e il popolo'', Trieste, 1871. *''Partiti e lotte in Dalmazia'', Trieste, 1875) *''Partiti politici in Italia. Pensieri di Lodovico Vulicevic,'' Pordenone, 1869. *''Le tentazioni di Gesù'', Taranto 1897. *''Le Chiese evangeliche. Che cosa sono? Che cosa vogliono?'', Bari, 1907.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vuličević, Ljudevit 1839 births 1916 deaths People from Konavle Writers from the Kingdom of Dalmatia Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik 19th-century Serbian poets 19th-century Serbian male writers Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Italy