Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić

Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (born April 18, 1874 in Ogulin , † September 21, 1938 in Zagreb ) was a Croatian author of children's books , who is also known outside of Croatia.

She is one of the most important Croatian writers. As the most famous Croatian author of fairy tales, she is also known as the “Croatian Andersen” or “Queen of Croatian Stories”. She is the only Croatian author to have been nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature .

Life

She comes from the well-known Croatian Mažuranić family (her grandfather Ivan was a writer and politician as well as a Croatian banu , her father Vladimir a lawyer and writer).

With her marriage in 1892 to Vatroslav Brlić , a politician and lawyer in Slavonski Brod , she came into another well-known family who, like the Mažuranić family, were of great importance for Croatian society in public and cultural life.

The very educated and well-read Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić spoke several languages ​​(French, German, Russian and English). Her works have been published in large numbers and have been translated into fifteen languages. In 1878 she moved with her family to Karlovac and finally to Zagreb in 1882. 1883 was the year of her first poetic attempts. She wrote the poems "Ma Croatie" and "Le bonheur" , both in French. Her first attempt at poetry in her mother tongue was in 1886 with the poem "Zvijezdi moje domovine". Their daughter Nada was born just one year after the wedding. This was followed by five more children: son Ivo (1894), son Vladimir (1895), daughter Zdenka (1899), son Nikola (1902) and daughter Nedjeljka (1917). As a mother of six, she had the opportunity to familiarize herself with the psyche of children and thus to understand the purity and naivety of their world. The next few years were dominated by the publication of her works. In 1937 she became a corresponding member of the JAZU Academy (today HAZU ) and thus the first female member of this high academic Croatian institution. This Academy nominated her twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1931 and 1938). Raised in the national spirit, she entered public life and Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer awarded her a gold medal for anti-Hungarian engagement.

Creations and their works

She was named “Best Children's Story Writer ” in Croatian literature and received a lot of praise in all areas of literature. Significant cultural personalities and critics rated their works positively, emphasizing their originality of topics and ideas, simplicity and purity of their expression, lushness of their imagination, their ability to identify completely with the psyche of children and to grasp the naivety of the children's world.

She was active in various literary genres with poems, fairy tales, smaller and larger stories, a novel, didactic and educational articles and a family novel.

Of all the texts, however, the following books brought her the greatest fame: the short story "Čudnovate zgode i nezgode šegrta Hlapića" (German translation: "The wonderful experiences of the cobbler boy Gottschalk") and the anthology "Priče iz davnine" (1916, German translation: "From the times of the ancestors").

Her role models were her grandfather Ivan Mažuranić , creator of the epic "Smrt Smail-age Čengića", the poet and esthete Franjo Marković and Josip Juraj Strossmayer.

In the article “Omladini o idealima” , which she wrote in later years and published in the book “Knjiga Omladini” (1923), she tried to define the meaning of art: “... And see that you have this topic with open eyes Cope with open ears and an open heart - so openly that beauty can step into it without fear of banality ... And if you do it really sincerely and only according to the instructions of your youthful and healthy soul, I can predict what you will do on this path will create. You create an unconditional work of art. "

At the beginning of the 20th century she wrote stories and poems for boys "Valjani i nevaljani" (1902), then didactic, youthful reading "Škola i praznici" (1905).

She drew wide attention with the volume of poetry "Slike" (1912), which was also a draft of her Impressionist program. In this collection the verses are organized graphically, with an abundance of spatial and visual representations. The symbolism results directly from the pictures. The somewhat shorter novel "Čudnovate zgode i nezgode šegrta Hlapića" (German translation: "The wonderful experiences of the cobbler boy Gottschalk"), which she wrote in 1913, was also an announcement of the development of the Croatian novel for children.

The heroes in their works, which are subject to the mythological principle, traverse enchanted forests, sail across the sea, penetrate the seabed, fly between the clouds and seek redemption in a childlike, male or female way. Once again, the author confirmed that genuine and true art emerges above all from the heart and that great literary works can only exist as universally human if they are at the same time permeated with national characteristics.

Honors

Monument in Ogulin

The main market square in Slavonski Brod, where her house is still located today, is called “Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić Market Square”.

In Slavonski Brod an annual event "U Svijetu Bajki Ivane Brlić-Mažuranić" ("In the fairy tale world of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić") was named after her, so that the city in which she spent her time is characterized by her work and creativity . It was founded by her daughter Nedjeljka in 1974, but was interrupted in the early 1990s due to the war. The event was resumed a few years after the war. The program of "U Svijetu Bajki Ivane Brlić-Mažuranić" consists of encounters, workshops on literature, theater, visual arts and performances for children. At the opening there is a performance for children in front of their house on the market square "Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić". A street festival has also been held since 2007. The publishing house “Školska knjiga dd” donated the Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić literary prize in 1971 to promote the creation of children's and youth literature. In 1971 a bust of her was placed on the market square in Slavonski Brod, but removed again in 2003. Her monument has been on the market square “S. Miletić ".

• 1998 commemorative coin of 200 kuna, silver 925, 33.63 g. Subject: Women of Croatian History. Literature: KM. 77 (edition: 2,000 pieces)

Works

• Valjani i nevaljani - Short stories and poems for boys, Zagreb, 1902
• Škola i praznici - anthology of poems and stories for children, Zagreb, 1905
• Slike. Pjesme - Zagreb, 1912
• Čudnovate zgode i nezogde šegrta Hlapića - a novel for children, Zagreb, 1913
• Priče iz davnine - fairy tales, Zagreb, 1916
• Knjiga omladini - story, Zagreb, 1923
• Mir u duši - Essey, Zagreb, 1929
• Autobiografija - Zagreb, 1930
• Iz arhive obitelji Brlića u Brodu na Savi - family novel , Zagreb, 1934–1935
• Jaša Dalmatin, potkralj Gudžerata - Roman, Zagreb, 1937
• Srce od licitara - short stories and poems for young people, Zagreb, 1939
• Basne i bajke

literature

• Brlić-Mažuranić Ivana. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 115.
• Leksikon hrvatskih pisaca, Krešimir Nemec, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 2000.
• Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Zbornik radova o Ivani Brlić-Mažuranić, Dubravko Jelčić i dr., Mladost, Zagreb, 1970.

Web links

Commons : Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić  - collection of images

• Literature by and about Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short biography in Croatian (with photo)