- Ivan Antunović
Ivan Antunović (
Kunbaja ,Bács-Kiskun ,June 19 ,1815 –Kalocsa ,Bács-Kiskun ,January 13 ,1888 ) was the bishop of Kalocsa in Hungary, Croatian writer and one of the most prominent people among theBunjevci andŠokci of his time. Antunović's writings represented a retort to the policy ofMagyarisation pursued by the authorities ofAustria-Hungary at the time.Biography
In Hungarian sources, he could be found under the name "János Antunovich".
He was born in the village of
Kunbaja in southern Hungary.Antunović descended from an old noble family, and studied in
Kalocsa ,Subotica ,Pécs andSzeged . He graduated from theRoman Catholic seminary in Kalocsa and in 1842 became the priest of the parish in the village ofAljmaš . He was versed in several languages and closely followed the world events at the time, especially inCroatia where he befriended the members of theIllyrian movement , including the likes ofJosip Juraj Strossmayer ,Ivan Kukuljević ,Franjo Rački ,Ivan Mažuranić ,Ilija Okrugić ,Juraj Dobrila .His entry into the public life happened in 1869 in
Kalocsa when he published "Poziv Bunjevacah, Šokacah i Bošnjakah na utemeljenje jednog pučkog lista" (A call toBunjevci ,Šokci and Bosnians to establish a paper for the people). Soon he founded and edited the newspaper called "Bunjevačke i šokačke novine" (Bunjevci andŠokci News) onMarch 19 ,1870 . In 1871, he added another paper for literary and linguistic matters called the "Bunjevačka i šokačka vila". The "Vila" split off into a separate newspaper in 1873 (after the "Novine" stopped being published the year earlier), and continued to be published untilSeptember 18 ,1876 .Bishop Antunović was widely recognized as the person who led the effort to assert his people in
Vojvodina during a time when the national revival (romantic nationalism ) of theCroats and theSerbs left the Bunjevci and Šokci somewhat stranded, as the Catholic minorities which were more inclined to become part of the Croatian nation in regions where the Orthodox Serbian nation was in the majority. At the same time, Antunović felt that the Bunjevci, Šokci, Serbs and Croats were all of the same ethnic origin Fact|date=September 2007 and was a supporter of the Yugoslav idea.He persistenly working on the national awakening of Croat subgroups
Bunjevci iŠokci , at the time heavily exposed to intensive assimilatory and decroatization policy. He once said: "Wherever were Serbs, there were... also Bunjevci and Šokci, or as we like to call ourselves today, Croats.". [ [http://www.zvonik.org.yu/781/ZV23.html "Zvonik"] , "Ne kriti se od onoga tko je tvoje krvi (Don't hide from the ones of your blood), April 2001. ] .He was the cousin of Miroljub (Franjo) Ante Evetovića i
Ivan Evetović (by their maternal side). He took Franjo Ante under his tutorship, so he could have education in Kalocsa, in Jesuit gymnasium, because, Franjo Ante turned to be excellent pupil. Although Franjo Ante wanted to join to Premostrateg order, on Antunović's pleading, Franjo Ante joinedFranciscans .Literary work
The main work of Ivan Antunović was his treatise "Razprava o podunavskih i potisanskih Bunjevcih i Šokcih u pogledu narodnom, vjerskom, umnom, građanskom i gospodarskom" (Discussion of the Bunjevci and Šokci at the
Danube andTisa , in the matters of nationality, religion, mind, citizen life and economy), printed inVienna in 1882. This book described his programme of encouraging the people to preserve their history and to establish a consciousness of their origin, language and faith, which he deemed essential for their survival againstassimilation . In the book he also emphasised the importance of a social reconstruction of the family in these communities, thereby developing a feeling of solidarity both within the family and between the families and indeed an entire nation, both the communities in Vojvodina and the main body of it inCroatia .His other works included the novel "Odmetnik" (published in
Zagreb in 1875, 293 pages), a romantic novel subtitled "poviestna pripoviedka" (historical story) as the protagonist was based on the Bunjevac scientist Ignjat Martinović (1755-1795), a professor of philosophy and mathematics in theFranciscan monastery in Pest, who abruptly left the Franciscan order and became a Jacobite (a group of revolutionary democrats, named after St. Jacob's Monastery in Paris) after being insulted by the members of the nobility who denied his scholarship because of his descent from a poor family.He also left two large novel manuscripts about the life of
Bačka nobility in the first half of the 19th century, titled "Posljednji Gizdarev" (36 chapters, 357 pages), and "Bariša Kitković" (42 chapters, 451 page).One of the obituaries for Ivan Antunović said that he personally funded the education of 200 poor Bunjevac children. In 1913, an association of Bunjevci and other Croatian university students in
Budapest was named "Antunović". The Catholic Institute for Culture, History and Spirituality, a religious-scientific-cultural institute of Croats from Subotica, is named "Ivan Antunović" in his honour.Works
* "Poučne iskrice"
* "Slavjan"
* "Odmetnik"
* "Bog s čovjekom"
* "Naputak" (a polemic against theNazarene s)
* "Rasprava o podunavskih i potisanskih Bunjevcih i Šokcih u pogledu narodnom, vjerskom, umnom i gospodarskom"
* "The drunken mind speaks a Sober heart"ources
* Milovan Miković: "Iznad žita nebo", Subotica/Zagreb, 2003
* Matija Evetović: "Život i rad biskupa Ivana Antunovića narodnog preporoditelja", Subotica, 1935
* Geza Kikić: "Antologija proze bunjevačkih Hrvata", Matica Hrvatska, Zagreb, 1971
* Ante Sekulić: "Hrvatska preporodna knjizevnost u Ugarskom Podunavlju do 1918.", Zagreb, 1994References
External links
* [http://www.croatica.hu/index.php?id=119&lang=1 Knjiga] Croatian writers from Hungary
* [http://www.croatica.hu/index.php?id=98&lang=1 Knjiga] Ivan Antunović: Slavjan
* [http://www.socijalna-akademija.hr/vijesti%20s%20pocetne/lipanj/21.htm Socijalna akademija] Subotica: Svečano proslavljen dan biskupa Ivana Antunovića
* [http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/cro/Articolo.asp?c=83966 Radio-Vatican] The abundance of social work of bishop Ivana Antunovića
* [http://www.zvonik.org.yu/1281/ZV27.html Article in "Zvonik"] 190th anniversary
* [http://www.zvonik.org.yu/1531/ZV04.html Article in "Zvonik"] Day of birth of bishop Ivan Antunović
* [http://wap.macedonia.org/vijenac/stari/broj122/122-8.html Vijenac]
* [http://www.matis.hr/zbornici/2004/hr/dij5.htm Hrv. iseljenički zbornik 2004.]
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