Fran Galović (Croatian pronunciation:[frǎːngâːlovit͡ɕ], 20 July 1887 – 26 October 1914)[2] was a Croatian poet, storyteller, playwright, writer and theater critic.[3]
Galović was born in Peteranec near Koprivnica, the only son of Stjepan, a well-off peasant, and Dora (née Jadanić).[3] He studied Slavistics and philologyinZagreb, focusing primarily on the Croatian language and literature, with classical philology of Latin and Greek as secondary focuses. During his studies, he joined the youth wing of the Party of Rights movement and became editor for its magazine, Mlada Hrvatska (English: Young Croatia). However, due to his participation in a student strike, he spent his fourth semester in Prague. In 1909, he voluntarily registered for military service, serving as a reservist cadet for the 27th Home Guard Infantry Regiment [hr]inSisak. In 1913, he finished his studies in philology and began teaching at the Second Gymnasium in Zagreb [hr]. In 1914, he finished his Slavistics studies and continued his critical works.[3]
My dear, I greet you once again. It's morning and we have to rush at 10 o'clock. It's sunny, Sunday and a wonderful, warm morning. One would really like to die on such a sunny day. Tell Sanctissima[a] to pray for the repose of my soul if I am gone. Your Fran loves you.[3][b]
Only four of Galović's books were published during his lifetime: Tamara (1907), Četiri grada (Four Cities, 1913), Začarano ogledalo (The Enchanted Mirror, 1913) and Ispovijed (Confession, 1914). Although most of his poems were written in his native Kajkavian dialect,[4] only his Štokavian poetry was published while he was still alive.[6]
In one of his Kajkavian collections, Z mojih bregov (English: From My Little Hills), Galović repeated some motifs known from his Štokavian poetry: the drama of leaving the homeland, the impossibility of return, the unattainability of happiness, the anxiety of losing one's roots, the tragedy of transience. In some poems, impressionistic images of idyllic homeland predominate and some resemble expressionist miniatures with a strong charge of apart sensibility (lonely premonitions of death, unknown "something", pictorial and sound grotesque). Acting in the era of Croatian modernity, he accepted a variety of artistic and aesthetic programs. That is why his works are marked by stylistic searches in a thematic range from ancient mythology to the twilight atmospheres of European symbolism.
^Ogrizović's wife, Ljuba. From Latin, literally "the most sacred".
^Original Croatian: Moj dragi, još jednom Te pozdravljam. Jutro je i u 10 sati imamo navaliti. Sunce je, nedjelja i divno, toplo jutro. Čovjek bi čisto želio umrijeti u ovako sunčan dan. Reci Sanctissimi da se pomoli za upokoj moje duše ako me više ne bude. Ljubi te tvoj Fran.
^ abDraško Ređep (1971). Živan Milisavac (ed.). Jugoslovenski književni leksikon [Yugoslav Literary Lexicon] (in Serbo-Croatian). Novi Sad (SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia): Matica srpska. p. 130.
^"Galović". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Zagreb: Znanje i Srce. 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
^ abcdefBenešić, Julije (1940).『O životu i radu Frana Galovića (Predgovor)』[On the Life and Work of Fran Galović (A Foreword)]. Fran Galović: Pjesme [Fran Galović: Poems] (in Croatian). Zagreb: Binoza Press, d.o.o.
