2015 was an exciting year to say the least. Let the Winter Peace roll in, and I would like to wish everyone a belated merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah let’s all work for world peace in one hour in 2016! Scoring a documentary film about Croatian most prominent ballerina Mia Slavenska. Film Mia, A Dancer’s Journey will be distributed in 2016. Produced by Brenda Brkusic. While in Zagreb, I was privileged to be part of the future art exhibition by Robert Gojevic, a very talented photographer and editor in chief of the Blur Magazine. Future is now. I drove autopilot Tesla Model S. Jamie Cohen is a brilliant man and one of the most prominent and progressive teachers who wrote an important book.
Author: Ivana Marija Vidovic and Darko Zubrinic
Croatian dialects interactive atlas project directed by Dr Velimir Piskorec
The atlas of Croatian dialects has the aim to describe the living speech heritage in various parts of the Republic of Croatia and outside of it. About seventy typical sentences have been chosen as an illustration. The project is directed by Dr Velimir Piškorec, professor at the University of Zagreb, at the Faculty of Arts and Letters. The project is far from being completed, and native speakers from various parts where the Croatians live are invited to participate. The project is a part of the effort to present global linguistic diversity of Mankind using Internet.
Ludmila Rulenkova's book about the SUVAG verbotonal method translated from Russian into Croatian in 2015
Ludmila Ivanovna Rulenkova has published a textbook in Moscow in 2011 dealing with the so-called verbotonal method, developed by academician Petar Guberina in Croatia’s capital Zagreb already since the 1950s. The method has been successfully tested on hundreds of Russian children since the early 1990s. Her book has been translated into Croatian in 2015 at the SUVAG Centre in Zagreb, which is the leading centre in the world for problems of deaf children. The methods developed at SUVAG are in everyday use in more than 70 countries worldwide, in about 600 specialized insitututions.
Andrej Plenkovic Croatian diplomat and a Member of the European Parliament speaking about Ukraine
Andrej Plenković, Croatian diplomat and a Member of the European Parliament, was the Chairman 2nd meeting of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committe held in Kyiv on 4-5 November 2015. “We had two days of very intensive and productive discussions with our friends in the Verkhovna Rada, and very fruitful meetings with President Poroshenko, Prime Minister Yatsenyuk and Speaker Groysman. … The European Parliament stands ready to assist Ukraine’s efforts on its European path, against the backdrop of the complex economic, financial and social situation, and of the temporary occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia.”, said Mr. Plenković.
France in Croatia's capital Zagreb
The French Institute in Zagreb is among the oldest such institutions in the world, founded almost a century ago, more precisely, already in 1922. We present a short video published in 2013, accompanied with nice scenes from Croatia’s capital, featuring the following guests: Luc Levy, director of the French Institute in Zagreb, Michelle Boccoz on the photo, ambassador of France in Croatia, Clelia Chevrier, counsellor of the Ambassador, David Gabelica, president of the French-Croatian Club, Guillaume Bardot, priprietor of the Bistro Bardot in Zagreb, and Damien Derrenberger, director of the French School in Zagreb and some other.
Filip Hrgovic Croatian super heavyweight boxing champion of Europe in 2015
Filip Hrgović of Croatia is a new super heavyweight boxing champion of Europe in 2015, during the European Amateur Championships organized in Bulgaria. He was born in 1992, and his height is 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in). He was also the world junior champion in 2010. Filip’s colleague Hrvoje Sep has won bronze medal in 2015 in the semi heavyweight category, which is also a big success for Croatia.
St Paul the Apostle spent three months on Croatian island of Mljet
Saint Paul the Apostle had shipwreck on Croatian island of Mljet, and not on Malta. This is the subject of the monumental book written in elite Latin language by Ignjat Đurđević, published in Venice in 1730. Ignjat Đurđevic was Croatian Baroque writer from the city of Dubrovnik. The island of Mljet is not far from the city of Dubrovnik. In The Geography of distinguished Armenian scholar Ananias of Shirak, written between 592-636 AD, it is stated that Saint Paul stayed in Dalmatia following a shipwreck that happened on the Adriatic island of Melita (Mljet). We owe our deep gratitude to Dr. Miho Demović (on the photo), distinguished Croatian musicologist and historian of culture, to have unveiled many unknown facts concerning the shipwreck of St Paul the Apostle on the island of Mljet on the Adriatic sea.
Konstantina Bozak has created Mendeleev's periodic table by means of Croatian Glagolitic Script
Konstantina Božak, MSc, is professor of Biology and Chemistry at the School of Midwifery in Croatia’s capital Zagreb. At the same time, she is a big fan of Croatian Glagolitic Scrpit. So, she decided to represent Mendeleev’s periodic table in a completely new way, which has not yet been seen in the history of Chemistry. We are sure that Mendeleev would like his periodic table shown in the new way. She has exploited a nice Croatian Glagolitic font created by Nenad Hančić from Germany.
Photos that will make you pack your bags for Croatia
Courtney McCaffrey is a freelance writer and editor based in Wilmington, N.C. In addition to writing, she lives for travel – seeing new places, learning new cultures and surfing new waves. She prepared 42 stunning photos about Croatia, published by FlightNetwork, and we are happy to have obtained a special permission to present you some of them. On the photo is a picturesque town of Vrbnik from the largest Croatian island of Krk.
Nenad Bach with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra on June 28th at the Dubuque Arboretum, Iowa, June 28 2015
Nenad will be performing with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra on June 28th at the Dubuque Arboretum, located on 3800 Arboretum Drive in Dubuque, Iowa. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. People are welcome to bring a picnic and chairs and enjoy themselves before the concert. Admission is free! The Nenad Bach Band is: Nenad Bach : lead vocal, piano, acoustic guitar, Joe DeSanctis : keyboards, backing vocal, melodica, Richard Lindsey : bass, backing vocal, Michael O’Keef e: drums, backing vocal, and Al Orlo : guitar.
Artur Bagdasarov and Vinicije Lupis promoting their joint book about Dubrovnik in Moscow on 14 June 2015
Dr. Artur Bagdasarov and Dr. Vinicije Lupis are promoting their joint book about Dubrovnik in Moscow. The book deals with Armenian and Croatian ties via St. Vlaho who is an Armenian saint and patron of the city of Dubrovnik. The presentation is organized by (R)am journal on 14 June 2015 at 19:00 at Pokrovka 27, str. 1, cultural center Pokrovskie vorota, m. Kitaj-gorod, Eistye prudy, Moscow. The admission is free.
Metkovic Croatian town on Neretva river ornithological paradise in Europe
The town of Metković is best known for Fr. Ante Gabrić, SJ, Sundarban saint in Bengal in India, who was born in this town. It is also known for its exceptionally rich nature, due to its position on the delta of the Neretva river at the Adriatic sea. Especialy interesting is its Ornitological Museum. In the vicinity of the town there is a valuable archeological site of Narona from Roman times. During the last two decades the city has revived its tradition of races of old traditional boats. On the photo is a detail from the church of St. Elias (Sv. Ilija) dominating the town and the Neretva valley.
Zdravko Basaric: Everything is Forever when I met Nenad Bach
I first met Nenad during Christmas mass in the Church of Saints Cyril & Methodius and St. Raphael in Manhattan. It was during my visit to New York (1998) where I was promoting my novel Rhapsody on the Island of Susak for Croatian emigrants and the American public. During prayer I saw a tall man, with a distinct black hat. Very soon after the mass I had the honor of meeting him. This man is a Croatian American recording artist, composer, performer, producer and peace activist. The author of the article is Zdravko Basarić, Croatian writer, on the photo.
Fritzie Zivic boxing welterweight champ invited by famous inventor Nikola Tesla to lunch in New York
Fritzie Zivic never asked why. He never asked if his opponent hit hard, if his opponent deserved the shot, if the opponent would be tough. He just said “yes” and signed the contract. Perhaps this fearlessness is the reason why Zivic may have fought a better array of boxers than any fighter in history. 23,190 people filled the Madison Square Garden in New York to the rafters when Armstrong met Zivic again on January 17, 1941. This remains the all-time highest Garden record for attendance! After this match, great inventor Nikola Tesla invited his compatriot and his four brothers to celebrate this win in his hotel. See Tesla and Zivic on the photo.
Frank Westerman's book about the Lipik Lipizzaners translated into Croatian
Frank Westerman’s book about Lipizzaner horses, with emphasis on their destiny in the 20th century, especially during the Serbian aggression on Croatia in 1990-1995, originally published in Dutch, has been translated into 15 languages and has 40 editions until 2015. As stressed by Frank Westerman in his book, the CROWN (Croatian World Network) and Nenad Bach had an important role in launching the international media campaign aiming to return from Serbia the stolen Croatian Lipizzaners from back to their homeland. Mr. Westerman visited on many occasion the town of Lipik, in which numerous noble Lipizzan horses have been mercilessly assassinated during the aggression.
Nikola Tesla distinguished Croatian-American inventor and his high-school education in Croatia
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) attended the high-school (High Real School) in Rakovac, Croatia, in the period of 1870-73, where the subjects were taught in German language. One of the compulsorly subjects that young Tesla had, was Croatian language (Kroatische Sprache), which was his mother tongue. Martin Sekulić, high school professor of Mathematics and Physics, was probably the most important among Tesla’s professors during his entire education, since he enthused him for electricity, magnetism and polar light. Sekulić was an active researcher and a member of the Academy of Sciences in Croatia’s capital Zagreb, in the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
Victor Zimet's film "Everything Is Forever" about Nenad Bach on Amazon!
Nenad Bach remains committed to his work as a “citizen of the world,” a tireless antiwar activist, the driving passion which infuses his life and the music he creates. Zimet’s latest feature, EVERYTHING IS FOREVER, is the third indie rock doc from Home Team. Stephanie Silber, producer of the film and Irish-American wirter, is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Nenad will be opening this year’s Julien Dubuque Film Festival with the debut of his new song “I Feel Dubuque” on Thursday April 23rd at the Five Flags Theater. Show starts at 7:00 p.m.
Michael Bilandic mayor of Chicago 1977-1979 proud of his Croatian heritage
Michael Bilandic was born in 1923 in Chicago, Illinois and was one of four children born of his Croatian immigrant parents. His father was from a village near Sinj, Croatia and his mother was from the island of Brac, also in Croatia. In 1977 he was elected as Chicago’s 40th mayor until 1979. He was devoted to his family, faithful to his church, and proud of his Croatian heritage. He was presented the Vinodol Code Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the administration of justice in Illinois.
Franjo Dugan playing organs in Zagreb during the first public registration of a gramophone record in Europe
The first remote public registration of a gramophone record in continental Europe was successfully organized in Croatia’s capital Zagreb, 1927. It was the third such registration in the world, after the USA, New York in 1925 and GB, London in 1926. The concert of Croatian Christmas carols with Franjo Dugan as the organist in the Zagreb Cathedral (stuffed with 2000 worshippers who were singing), had been registered for the Edison – Bell – Penkala Co. in Zagreb. We mention in passing that Penkala was a famous Croatian inventor, known among others for his “chemical pen”, named as penkala in his honor.