Antun Radić

Antun Radić (born June 11, 1868 in Trebarjevo Desno near Sisak ; † February 10, 1919 in Zagreb ) was a Yugoslav ethnologist , publicist and politician .

biography

Radić studied Slavic and Classical Philology from 1888 to 1892 in Agram and Vienna. In 1892 he received his doctorate in Zagreb with a dissertation on Croatian literature. From 1892 to 1897 Antun Radić taught at high schools in the Croatian cities of Osijek, Požega, Varaždin and Zagreb.

From 1897–1901 he worked on the compilation "For the life of the people and the customs (traditions) of the Southern Slavs" ( Zbornik za narodni život i običaje Južnih Slavena). This was the first ethnological-folkloric magazine to appear on Croatian soil and was published by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU ). In 1899 he started the magazine “Heimatblatt dem Croatian farmer for discussions and education” ( Dom. List hrvatskomu seljaku za razgovor i nauk) . It was the first Croatian magazine that was intended for farmers. It was mainly filled with content by Antun and published until 1904. In his opinion, there was no political force to represent the interests of the farmers. That is why Radić founded the Croatian People's and Peasants' Party ( Hrvatsku pučku seljačku stranku, HPSS) with brother Stjepan (1871-1928) , which was renamed the Croatian Republican Peasant Party  (HRSS) in 1920 and the Croatian Peasant Party  in 1925 . He participated in the party program, the local representatives and in the preparation of the general meetings of the HPSS. As a candidate for the HPSS, Radic was a member of the Croatian Parliament three times (1910-1913) and campaigned for reforms in local administration and education. He worked on party newspapers, in particular Antun was editor (1908–1909) of the paper Heimat ( Dom ) and its publisher (1912–1914). The office of secretary of Matica Hrvatska, the most important cultural association in Croatia, Radic held 1901-1909. 1906–1909 he was the editor of the voice of Matica Hrvatska ( Glas Matice Hrvatske) , in which Radic showed his rejection of representatives of modernity in Croatian literature. From 1917 he was a professor in the second classical grammar school in Zagreb.

theses

His ethnological work was limited to a short period between 1896 and 1902. Radic's theoretical-methodological visions and concepts can be found in the work “Basics for collecting and researching the structure of the life of the people” ( Osnova za sabiranje i proučavanje građe o narodnom životu) . This made him the founder of Croatian ethnology as an independent science. The work was conceived as a detailed and extensive instruction for the ethnological work, also as a means for the investigation of the "peasant life". In the introduction he emphasizes that the time is "ripe" for a new science. Radic suggested "folk science" or ethnology . The subject of these studies should be the people and their culture. In order to define the relationship between these two core concepts, Antun put forward a thesis about a dual social-cultural structure of the Croatian people. In this he claims that the people are divided into two groups: the "normal" people (farmers / farmers) and the "lords" (non-farmers), and that each of these collectives has its own culture. Radic assessed only the culture of the people as "original Croatian". He classified the “gentlemen's culture”, i.e. that of the other side, as an alien influence. In addition, Radic developed scientific methods to answer ethnographic and ethnological questions. In his view, only people who know "the soul of the people" should be able to hold onto the knowledge of the people. According to his opinion, these were only the people who live the “country life” themselves and participate there, farmers, farmers and possibly intellectuals (e.g. teachers, pastors, etc.) who come from the “country”. The goals of this work were (according to own statements) on the one hand scientific, on the other hand also political-ideological intentions. The political-ideological goal was the reconciliation between "the people and the upper class (the gentlemen)", mutual appreciation of the respective cultures, integration of the peasants and farmers in politics as equal partners and political subjects.

In addition to ethnology, Radic also dealt with literary-historical topics, translate Russian authors (AS Puškin, NV Gogolj, LN Tolstoj), published several texts on current contemporary political topics such as the position of Croatia in the Habsburg monarchy, the Rijeka resolution or the role the HPSS (Hrvatsku pučku seljačku stranku) in Croatian society. 

family

Stjepan Radić , the brother, was also a politician. He was shot in an assassination attempt by Chetnik leader Puniša Račić and died as a result.

source

• Radić, Antun, biography, Croatian