Lujo Bakotić (21 November 1867 – 31 March 1941) was a Serbian writer, publicist, lawyer, lexicographer and diplomat.

Biography

Bakotić was born in

Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was completed in 1558. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were ...

to Ignjat Bakotić and Adela Gravisi. He was baptized Alojzije ("Lujo") Juraj Franjo Ivan Josip Bakotić. Though he was

Roman Catholic 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 ...

, Bakotić considered himself

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

, as had his father. He completed his high school (gymnasium) education in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, and jurisprudence in

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and

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. He was a lawyer by profession who was also politically active, representing the Serbian Party in the

Diet of Dalmatia The Diet of Dalmatia (, ) was the regional assembly of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was founded in Zadar in 1861 and last convened in 1912, before being formally dissolved in 1918, with the demise of the Empire. ...

. Owing to his party's ideals he had to flee to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in 1913. With the start of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he left Belgrade for

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

and then went to

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and finally

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, where he was made a secretary in the Vatican to work on a mission, preparing a

Concordat A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 [1 ...

between Serbia and the Vatican (which never materialized). After the war, he was Yugoslavia's envoy at the Vatican from 1920 until 1923. He represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at The Hague, and later he was sent by the Serbian government to Moscow. He retired as a civil servant in 1935. He died in Belgrade. Classically educated, Bakotić spoke several languages fluently, including: French, Italian, German, English, Latin and a number of Slavic languages and dialects.

Major works

* ''Justinijanove institucije''/ Justinian's Institution (translated from Latin, 1911). * ''Dalmatinsko pitanje''/ The Dalmatian Question (published in Switzerland in French, 1915) * ''Rečnik srpskohrvatskog jezika''/ Serbo-Croatian Dictionary (1936) * Translated the Bible (''Stari i Novi Zavet''/ New and Old Testament, 1938) * ''Srbi u Dalmaciji''/ Serbs in Dalmatia (1939).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakotic, Lujo 1867 births 1941 deaths 20th-century Serbian writers 20th-century Serbian lawyers Serbian diplomats Writers from Belgrade Serbian Roman Catholics People's Party (Dalmatia) politicians 19th-century Serbian lawyers People from Austria-Hungary