Ivan Gundulić

Gundulić Monument in Dubrovnik. around 1900

Coat of arms of the Gondola dynasty

The prodigal son's tears

Ivan Gundulić (Italian: Giovanni Gondola ; born January 8, 1589 in Dubrovnik , Republic of Ragusa ; † December 8, 1638 ibid) was the most important Croatian writer of the Baroque era . He came from the Dubrovnik patrician family Gundulić and was twice senator and member of the small council.

Life

Gundulić studied philosophy and law, as well as Italian literature, and very soon reached high state offices. Dalmatian poetry reaches its peak in Gundulić . His creations, lyrical, dramatic and epic, are characterized by a perfection of form and a melodious sound of language that have never been achieved again either before or after him. In terms of content, they give a faithful reflection of its time, insofar as they reveal themselves as products of the classical education that emerged in the 16th century, and on the other hand they represent the world struggle between Christianity and Islam , in which the Slavic peoples play an important role.

Gundulić was the first dramatic poet among the Slavs . In his Pastoral Dubravka , Gundulić celebrates the social order in Dubrovnik. Among his (not completely preserved) dramas, Ariadna , Proserpina , Cleopatra and Dubravka are particularly valued. He also left many lyrical poems, including the elegy Suze sina razmetnoga ("The Tears of the Prodigal Son").

His most important work, however, is the epic Osman in 20 songs (Ragusa 1626 and more, Zagreb 1854; Italian by Appendini, Ragusa 1827). It describes the struggle of the Poles and the Zaporozhe Cossacks against the Turks in the Ottoman-Polish War 1620–1621 and the victorious battle of Chocim . The poem is in the style of the Italian epic of the time and is still held in high regard in the literature of the southern Slavs. The 14th and 15th chants, which were allegedly suppressed by the Senate of the Republic to protect against the Ottomans , were later added by P. Sorkočević, a grandson of Gundulić, and M. Zlatarić and Ivan Mažuranić . The works of Gundulić that still exist were published by Pavlé (Zagreb 1877).

In his late work, Gundulić devoted himself primarily to Catholic spiritual poetry.

A picture of Ivan Gundulić is on the 50 kuna banknote of Croatia.

1893 bronze medal from Johann Neubauer, 50 mm: GIVO FRANA = GUNDULICA - bust with allonge wig to the left, signed: JOH. NEW BUILDERS

Works

Ariadna (1633)
Dubravka (1628): An excerpt from this pastoral is the hymn to freedom .
Osman (1621-38)
Piesne pokorne kralja Davida (1621)
Suze sina razmetnoga (1621)
Prozerpina ugrabljena
Armida
Diana
Čerera
Cleopatra
Galatea
Adon
Posvetilište ljuveno
Koraljka od Šira

Individual evidence

↑ See Appendini: Vita di G. Gondola (Ragusa 1828).

literature

Ivo Banac: The place of Gundulić in modern Croat national ideologies . In: Most - časopis za međunarodne književne veze / The bridge - Croatian journal of international literary relations . Vol. 1990, H. 1-2, pp. 53-71.
Dunja Fališevac (Ed.): Hrvatski književni barok . Zagreb 1991
Pavao Pavličić: Studije o Osmanu . Zagreb 1996. ISBN 953-17-5045-9
Zdenko Zlatar: The Slavic epic: Gundulić's Osman . New York et al. a .: Peter Lang, 1995 (Balkan studies 4) ISBN 0-8204-2380-7

Web links

Commons : Ivan Gundulić - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Gundulić, Ivan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Croatian writer of the baroque
DATE OF BIRTH	January 8, 1589
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dubrovnik
DATE OF DEATH	December 8, 1638
Place of death	Dubrovnik

[1] See Appendini: Vita di G. Gondola (Ragusa 1828).