Matija Antun Relković

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Matija Antun Relković (born January 6, 1732 in Svinjar, today Davor , Croatia , † January 22, 1798 in Vinkovci ) was a Croatian writer of the Enlightenment . He was an Austrian soldier by profession and took part in the Seven Years' War . He was imprisoned in the same war. During his imprisonment he got to know the French language and the ideology and literature of the Enlightenment , the knowledge of which he then deepened in Croatia when he returned home. His most important work is Satyr or The Wild Man, a volume of didactic poems from 1762 .

Life

The basic training he received in the Franciscan - monastery in Cernik and later he attended a school in Hungary . He joined the army when he was only sixteen and advanced very quickly. In 1757 , during the Seven Years' War, he was taken prisoner in Frankfurt on the Oder . The capture lasted about two years, and it was during this time that Reljković learned French . He had the advantage of having access to his master's library . He also encountered the enlightenment ideas that were pouring out of France at the time . After this apprenticeship, he began to attribute an increasingly important role to the economy of a country. The farmer was the foundation of society and the reason of the wealth of each state for him. After returning home, he continued his military office. By the end of his office he was even promoted to captain . He was retired in 1786 and ennobled by the imperial diploma .

Create

This prolific Croatian man of letters wrote epics , satires , prose , fables and aphorisms . He translated a lot and also wrote a grammar .

Satyr as his most important work

The poem , which was written in Saxony during his captivity , praises Slavonia and its beautiful nature . He describes the Slavonians as backward, abandoned people. As an enlightened person, he teaches and advises them on how to develop and modernize their economy . He sees the cause of such backwardness in the Ottoman inheritance . Croatian farmers still used the spinning room and outdated agricultural implements. They were wasteful. They celebrated too often and for a very long time. They drank and ate excessively. Satyr , the ancient, mythological being, offers the Slavonians, in a simple and funny way, a series of advice and instructions for the renewal of the economy following the example of Western Europe . Vladimir Stipetić, a Croatian linguist , dealt with these, which he calls "agricultural messages". So only the farmers can realize the net income. Other classes live from the work of the farmers . But the farmer should be satisfied with his situation; H. remain under the control of the nobility . If he wants to improve this situation, he has to work harder, learn new production methods and organize his economy differently. Reljković, although educated, did not want to intervene in social conditions. Since Reljković traveled a lot as a soldier , he saw numerous economic news and saw the importance of science in terms of the development of a country. Some of his suggestions are: better insulation of the houses so that one needs less match , one should sell the schnapps instead of drinking it and one should be more economical and create supplies. The aesthetics of the work should also be mentioned. The descriptions of the landscape are enthusiastic and the figure of the satyr is taken from ancient idyllic shepherd's songs . For a long time the poem was read with pleasure. It influenced the development of literacy among Croatian farmers and the development of the modern Croatian language in general.

His grammar

Nova slavonska i nimačka gramatika ("The new Slavonian and German grammar") was published in Zagreb in 1767 . When describing the terms, the author used a total of three languages ​​- Croatian , German and Latin - which testifies to his good education . Latin was a big problem for many at the time. Because of this, its grammar gains importance late.

Translations

Prava i pomljivo ispisana ovčarnica (“The correct and carefully written shepherd's book”) is a work on sheep breeding that Reljković translated from German into Croatian. From Latin he translated Postanak naravne pravice ("The Origin of Natural Justice"), which is a legal work. He also translated some fables , especially by Aesop , which were a very popular literary form at the time. Nek je svašta (“Be it all sorts”) is the name of his collection of popular and moral anecdotes that have been translated from various sources.

Works

  • Satyr or The Wild Man , 1762
  • The new Slavonian and German grammar , 1767
  • The correct and carefully written shepherd's book , 1771
  • The Making of Natural Justice , 1794
  • Be it anything , 1795

literature

personal data
SURNAME Relković, Matija Antun
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Croatian literary man of the Enlightenment
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1732
PLACE OF BIRTH Svinjar
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1798
Place of death Vinkovci