Andrija Torkvat Brlić

Andrija Torkvat Brlić (Serbian Cyrillic: Андрија Торкват Брлић; 15 May 1826 – 21 May 1868) was a writer, linguist, politician and lawyer from Croatia at the time it was in the Austrian Empire. A follower of the Illyrian movement, Brlić was one of the most prominent advocates of unification of South Slavs in the 19th century.

Andrija Torkvat Brlić
Born(1826-05-15)May 15, 1826
Brod na Savi, Slavonian Military Frontier, Austrian Empire
DiedMay 21, 1868(1868-05-21) (aged 42)
Brod na Savi, Slavonian Military Frontier, Austria-Hungary
NationalityAustrian

Biography
Tomb of Andrija Torkvat Brlić

Andrija Torkvat Brlić was born on 15 May 1826 in Brod na Savi, then part of the Austrian Empire.[1] He was a descendant of the Ragusan Brlić family.[2][3] His mother Katarina (née Benko) hailed from Vukovar while his father Ignjat Alojzij Brlić, was a merchant, linguist, publicist and translator.[1]

He attended elementary school (lower gymnasium) in Vinkovci and higher gymnasium in Zagreb. In March 1842, together with nine other students, he founded a Čitaonica Narodna (lit. 'people's reading room') in Zagreb, and became its first president.[4] In 1843, at the recommendation of a bishop, he went to study theology in Vienna at the Augustineum. During his studies, he took an interest in politics and became a follower of the Illyrian movement.[4] He also wrote poems and articles for the literary magazine Zora dalmatinska.[4]

He took part in the Prague Slavic Congress of 1848 and later that year joined Josip Jelačić's campaign against Hungary.[5] He worked as his correspondent, contacting the leaders of the Czech national movement and later became his envoy in Paris.[5] In France, he published articles in the Journal des débats and La Tribune des Peuples informing the French public about Jelačić's campaign, advocating the idea of ​​a broad federalist restructuring of the Habsburg Monarchy.[5]

On his return back home, he was made a secretary in the government of the Virovitica County in Osijek in the summer of 1849.[5] Due to political disagreements, Jelačić and Brlić began to distance themselves from one another. The Bishop of Đakovo Josip Juraj Strossmayer, would support a second diplomatic engagement for Brlić in Paris, which also allowed him to travel to other European cities.[6] From 1850 to 1851, he was secretary of Matica Ilirska and manager of the estate of Bishop Strossmayer in Đakovo.[5] Afterwards, he went to study Law in Vienna, completing his education 1857 before opening his own practice in Brod na Savi.[7]

Brlić collaborated in periodicals, was editor of Kolo magazine, and translated and edited the works of older Croatian writers.[5]

In 1861 he was an active participant in the Croatian Parliament, working as a delegate for the Military Frontier and leading its representatives to the emperor, championing for the unification of the border area with Croatia and Slavonia.[7] During the 1860s, he worked closely with the entourage of Serbian politician Ilija Garašanin.[5] It is believed he was part of the Serbian intelligence network because of the existence of encrypted communication between him and Antonijo Orešković, but the extent and purpose of his involvement in the intelligence network remains unclear.[8]

He was one of the most prominent advocates of unficiation of South Slavs in the 19th century.[9]

Brlić was a follower of the Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić,[10] and based his grammatical theories on the Karadžić and Illyrian philological models.[5]

Brlić was married to painter Franciska Daubači.[11] They had a summer house in Brodsko Brdo.[12] Together, they had two sons.[8]

He was a polyglot and spoke German, French, Polish, Czech, Russian, Slovak, and English.[13]

He died on 21 May 1868, six days after his 42nd birthday. He left behind a number of written correspondences with politicians he had between 1840 and 1857.[8]

Works
Sources of Serbian history

As a law student in Vienna, he published two historiographical books and one on the grammar of the "Illyrian" language:[14]

  • Die freiwillige Theilnahme der Serben und Kroaten an der vier letztenösterreichisch-türkischen Kriegen [The voluntary participation of the Serbs and Croats at the last four Austro-Turkish wars] (1854)
  • Grammatik der Iliyrischen Sprache [Grammar of the Illyrian language] (1854)
  • Izvori srpske povjesnice iz turskijeh spomenika [Sources of Serbian history from Turkish monuments] (1857)

References
  1. Šabić 2012, p. 237.
  2. Pribićević, Svetozar (1952). Diktatura kralja Aleksandra, pp. 6. Beograd: Prosveta.
  3. Švoger, Vlasta (2012). Ideals, passion and politics, life and work of Andrija Torkvat Brlić, pp. 272. Zagreb: Hrvatski institut za povijest.
  4. Šabić 2012, p. 238.
  5. "Brlić, Andrija Torkvat". enciklopedija.hr. Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography.
  6. Šabić 2012, p. 244.
  7. Šabić 2012, p. 247.
  8. Šabić 2012, p. 246.
  9. Mamuzić, Ilija (1979). "Andrija Torkvat Brlić i njegovo jugoslovinstvo (abstract)". Zbornik za Istoriju. 20: 29–54. [He] was one of the 19th century's most ardent proponents of the idea of a union of South Slav nations in a federal state of Yugoslavia. In his youth he was a follower of the Illyrian movement and was strongly anti-Hungarian..
  10. Banac, Ivo; Ackerman, John G.; Szporluk, Roman, eds. (1981). Nation and Ideology: Essays in Honor of Wayne S. Vucinich. East European Monographs. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-914710-89-9.
  11. Naumović, Slobodan; Naumovic, Slobodan; Jovanovic, Miroslav; Jovanović, Miroslav (2004). Childhood in South East Europe: Historical Perspectives on Growing Up in the 19th and 20th Century. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 87. ISBN 978-3-8258-6439-2.
  12. Skalica, Tomo (2007). Galijom oko svijeta. Slavonski Brod: Udruga radnika Baština. pp. 17., 23.
  13. Artuković 2012, p. 127.
  14. Šabić 2012, p. 245, 247.

Sources
  • Šabić, Marijan (2012). "Biografija Andrije Torkvata Brlića". In Župan, Dinko (ed.). Zbornik o Andriji Torkvatu Brliću. Radovi znanstveno-stručnog skupa (in Croatian). Hrvatski institut za povijest - Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje. pp. 237–247. ISBN 978-953-6659-72-2.
  • Artuković, Mato (2012). "Dnevnik Andrije Torkvata Brlića kao povijesni izvor". Zbornik o Andriji Torkvatu Brliću. Slavonski Brod: Hrvatski institut za povijest. ISBN 978-953-6659-72-2.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.