Nenad Bach: “What started as a tremor, is shaking up the world. Known to a few of us, there are nearly 10 million people diagnosed with Parkinson disease around the world. Parkinson is a neurological condition that affects motor skills and is commonly associated with a hand tremor.” The three main goals of PingPongParkinson: 1. To help as many people diagnosed with Parkinson as possible, through ping-pong; 2. To animate the scientific community to look closer into our mission, with clinical trials; 3. To rally efforts to participate in the Paralympic Games. We are not just playing for ourselves but for those 10 million who cannot play.
Category: Education
Epidaurus Festival organized by Ivana Marija Vidovic for the 15th time in the town of Cavtat
Ivana Marija Vidović, Croatian concert pianist and poet (on the photo), is the founder and director of the Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat, a beautiful town south-east of the city of Dubrovnik, where she was born. In 2021, the festival is marking its fifteenth anniversary. We owe her our deep gratitude for great efforts and love, which has connected so many Croatian and foreign artists, especially musicians. The burden of its organization is shared by her mother Franica, as well as by her father, and a small number of faithful colleagues and friends. In 2021, a special guest of the festival will be Radojka Šverko, distinguished Croatian diva.
Toni Kukoc enshrined to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021
Toni Kukoč was, alongside with late Dražen Petrović, the best basketball player that Croatia ever had. Toni, nicknamed Cookie, was often compared with Pink Panther, due to his specific elegance in the basketball game. He was born in the city of Split, one of the most beautiful cities on the Mediterranean, known for outstanding talents like Blanka Vlašić (highjumper), Ivano Balić (handball), Dino Radja (basketball), Branko Cikatić (martial sports), Anthony F. Lucas (Antun Lučić, the Father of Petroleum Engineering), Marko Marulić (the most famous Croatian Renaissance writer), …
Things that Sarah Cosic eats, drinks and uses everyday, all made in Croatia!
Sarah Ćosić, born in Canada, living in Croatia: After living here for almost a decade, I’ve grown to love certain products, so I wanted to share a few in case you’re visiting (or living in) Croatia. Do you love them too? … Today we went to visit Baka Jagica and she shared her delicious recipe for Strukli (a classic home cooked dish from the Zagorije region in Croatia). Everything was made from scratch, and Baka Jagica walked us through her famous recipe. Strukli is one of my favorite Croatian dishes and this recipe didn’t disappoint!
2021 PingPongParkinson German Open and ITTF Parkinson's World Table Tennis Championships
Nenad Bach’s idea of Parkinson’s World Table Tennis Championship gathered 21 countries in the city of Berlin, among them Croatia as well. The German Open and the World Championship showed that the competition is steadily growing each year. Nenad Bach and George Chan won gold medal in the doubles, as representatives of the USA. The next World Championship, in October 2022, will be hosted by Croatia, the homeland of Nenad Bach.
Dina Levacic Croatian marathon swimmer
Dina Levačić, Croatian marathon swimmer born in 1996 in the city of Split, is the first Croatian woman to have swam across La Manche (34 km, 2017), in close to 12 hours. She also swam Hernandarias – Parana (88 km, Argentina), Santa Fe (57 km, Argentina, 2014), 2014 the Catalaina Channel (Los Angeles, 34 km, 20217), 20 Manhattan Bridges (46 km, 2017, USA), Molokai Channel (42 km, Hawaii, USA, 2018), Tsugaru Channel (connecting the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan, 2019), etc. She swam her first marathon of 2 km in 2005 at the age of 9, in the town of Omiš near Split.
Dr. Slobodan Lang 1945-2016: "Storm" was humanitarian operation that prevented genocide
Operation “Storm” (August 1995) is the first ever military action that prevented genocide. It prevented genocide in the region of Bihać in the western part Bosnia, where there were at that time about 150,000 thousand people, and where I expected that if the case of Srebrenica happened again, there would have been about at least 12,000 people killed. For that reason I gave specifically asked president Tuđman to take military action. And now I will take a background. I am Jewish, I come from a Holocaust family…
Exhibition of Croatian culture in Korean National Library in Seoul 2021
A very special exhibition called Croatian Traces of Thousand Years, Literature and Cultural Heritage from the Middle Ages to Modern Time was held at The National Library of Korea in its capital Seoul from June 28th until July 25th , 2021. This exhibition presented the Republic of Croatia and its diverse cultural wealth. Ms. Suh Hye-ran, the Director of the National Library of Korea, pointed out in her speech that it was the very first time that the Croatian Glagolitic alphabet came to Korea.The article was prepared by Mrs. Mirna Lipovac, on the photo.
Tin Srbic silver medal for Croatia in gymnastics horizontal bar in Tokyo 2021
Tin Srbić’s silver medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 is the second Olympic medal for Croatian gymnastics after Filip Ude in 2008 in Beijing. It is a huge success of Croatian gymnast, and among greatest in the history of Croatian sports. Tin Srbić is a former world champion in gymnastics horizontal bar from 2019. At the World Challenge Cup, organized in the city of Osijek, Croatia 2021, he won gold medal.
Yoko Nishii's concert in Tokamachi on the occasion of Croatia's participation at 2021 Olympic Games in Japan
On the occasion of the participation of the Republic of Croatia at the 2021 Olympic Games in Japan, Yoko Nishii, Japanese pianist, gave a concert in the city of Tokamachi. The city is marked with Japan Croatia Friendship House, as a special sign of friendship between the two countries. Yoko Nishii is fluent in Croatian language, and she had as many as 50 soloist concerts in 24 Croatian cities.
Croatia 21st among 107 countries at 2021 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
Here are individual results of the members of the IMO math team representing Croatia: Bernard Inkert (gold), Ivan Vojvodić (silver), Krešimir Nežmah (silver), Andrej Čizmarević (bronze), Dorijan Lendvaj (bronze), Jakov Ljubičić (bronze). The leader of the team was Matija Bašić, while Josip Pupić was deputy leader. Young Croatian team has surpassed such mathematical super-powers like India and Japan. Among 27 countries of the European Union, Croatia occupied excellent 6th place. The IMO (Internationl mathematical Olympiad) was organized by Sankt Peterburg in the Russian Federation, but due to the current pandemic, the competition took place at a distance.
Marko Marulic 1450-1524 Croatian Renaissance writer published "Judith" in 1521
Marko Marulić, distinguished Croatian Renaissance writer, wrote his Judita (Judith) in 1501, and published in Venice in 1521 (i.e., 500 years ago), for which he says expressly to be written in the Croatian verses (versi harvatski). Some of his original verses are held in Glasgow (GB). His Judith was translated into English, Hungarian, French, Italian, and some parts into Spanish. Marulic’s De institutione bene vivendi , published in 1506, was translated into Italian, German (five editions between 1583 and 1614, all in Koeln, in parts already in 1568), French (7 editions, the first one in 1585), Flemish, Japanese (in Nagasaki, in parts, 1585), Portuguese, and Czech, in altogether 40 editions.
Drago Stambuk: I am inclined to believe that there was a Croatian homeland in ancient Persia
Based on a large number of recently available sources and facts, I am inclined to believe that there was a Croatian homeland in ancient Persia. It was called Harahvati (Greek: Arachosi, or “White India”). … The ethnonym “Croat” is also of old Iranian origin, whilst the Croatian name zabrana, for ruler, is also an Iranian word. It means “guardian” or “national leader”. Not far from Tehran is the city of Kashan where the story of three kings who go to worship the child Jesus in Bethlehem is set. One of the three kings was Gathaspa, Gaspar. He came from nearby Harahvaiti.
Alex Grossmann 1930-2019 distinguished Croatian-French mathematician a founder of Wavelet Theory
Alex Grossmann (Alexander, Alexandre) was born in the city of Zagreb, where he completed his studies of Physics at the University of Zagreb, and earned his PhD in 1955, at that time employed at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Croatia’s capital. He spent the period between 1955 and 1965 in the USA, working among others at the Insitutute of Advanced Study, Princeton, and at the Courant Insitutue of Mathematics, NY. Since 1965 he was employed at the University of Marseille in France. This Croatian-French mathematician is considered as a father of Wavelet Theory, due to his groundbreaking joint work with French geophysicist Jean Morlet in 1984. He was a thesis advisor to distinguished Belgian physicist and mathematician Ingrid Daubechies.
Frano Kakarigi distinguished Croatian classical double bassist in Granada, Spain
Maestro Frano Kakarigi was born in the city of Dubrovnik, and completed his study of double bass at the Academy of Music of the University of Zagreb, Croatia. He played as a principal bassist with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, and since 1991 with the City Orchestra of Granada, Spain. Besides being a passionate educator, he is known for his rich international collaboration with numerous music institutions and festivals, including in his native Croatia. He has a fruitful collaboration with Croatian pianist Ivana Marija Vidović, who is the founder and director of the Festival Epidaurus in Cavtat.
Marija Vidovic distinguished Croatian soprano singer
An international career of Marija Vidović began with her music education in the city of Varaždin, Croatia. She studied and obtained her master’s degree in Vienna and Stuttgart at the University of Music and Arts. One of the world’s most famous and respected tenors and pedagogues Prof. Dr.h.c KS. Francisco Araiza was her professor and mentor. She has sung in the world’s most important concert halls, the famous Musikverein in Vienna, Gasteig in Munich, the Bellas Artes Opera in Mexico City and the largest international festivals of classical music in North and South America.
Andrej Dujella's monograph Number Theory translated from Croatian
Andrej Dujella, of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, is distinguished Croatian mathematician, expert in Number Theory. His monograph Teorija brojeva , written in Croatian, saw its translation into English in 2021: Number Theory . It is primarily intended for students of mathematics and related faculties who attend courses in number theory and its applications. However, it can also be useful to advanced high school students who are preparing for mathematics competitions in which at all levels, from the school level to international competitions, number theory has a significant role, and for doctoral students and scientists in the fields of number theory, algebra and cryptography.
Happy Easter 2021 to all and to your dearest!
We present Easter customs by Croatian greeting cards from the mid-20th century (Zdenka Sertić – on the photo, Andrija Maurović, Zlatko Šulentić, etc.) to contemporary photos from 2021 (Snježana Božić). A variety of customs refer to Easter eggs, blessing of food, kissing of cross, etc. Most of the cards were provided by HKD Napredak (Croatian Cultural Society Advancement) of Bosnian Croats in Zagreb, as well as by Mrs. Snježana Božić and her father, who are using an interesting technique brought to Croatia by their grand-parents from Slovakia.
Yoko Nishii and Snjezana Bozic connection via Easter Eggs tradition
Yoko Nishii has published two nice videos describing in detail a technique for creating beautiful Easter Eggs, with elements of Croatian and Japanese culture. Her informer was Snježana Božić from Croatia, who learned this decorative art from her father, of Slovak roots (his mother is Marija Galko). Decorations include interlace patterns and Croatian Glagolitic Script, as well as elements of traditional Japanese art. Yoko Nishii had as many as 50 soloist concerts in 24 Croatian cities.
Yoko Nishii's tribute to Dora Pejacevic the greatest Croatian female composer
In March 2021, Japanese pianist Yoko Nishii had a pianist concert interpreting compositions by Dora Pejačević (1885-1923, on the photo), who is the greatest Croatian woman composer in history. Mrs Nishii was playing “at a distance”, from her home in Japan in the city of Ise, while her audience was in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yoko Nishii is fluent in Croatian language. She had as many as 50 soloist concerts in 24 cities throughout Croatia. On 5th March 2021, Yoko Nishii launched a very nice video about Dora Pejačević, based on her own photos from the town of Našice where Dora spent a greater part of her short life.