Marijan Zubanović, born in 1931 in the village of Virje on Croatian north, completed his studies of mechanical engineering in 1957 at the University of Zagreb. In 1959, not willing to work for military industry of ex-Yugoslavia, he emigrated to France. In 1970, he founded and directed STS enterprise (Systeme Thermodynamique Serivce). He solved the problem of air conditioning for the first French atomic submarine “Le Redoutable”, and patented cooling systems for French nuclear power plants.
Category: People
Denis Vignot author of the novel Le Choix / The Choice dealing with Croatia published in France
Denis Vignot from France wrote a deeply moving historical novel entitled Le Choix (The Choice), dealing with Croatia in the early 1990s during the Yugoslav and Serbian agression on Croatia. It is based on personal experiances in Croatia, dealing with love, with the country in trouble, with honor. This extraordinary book, published in France in 20016, containing more than 750 pages. One of the main protagonists in the book is Anton Domovina, former memeber of the French Legion, which the readers will easily recognize (Domovina = Homeland, in Croatian). The author, Denis Vignot, deserves our deep gratitude for having written this monumental literary testimony.
Kresimir Krnjevic distinguished Croatian neuroscientist celebrates 90 years in 2017
Eugene Garland of ISI and Current Contents named Dr. Krešimir Krnjević as one of the 1,000 most cited contemporary scientists and named three of his papers “citation classics.” He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 1975., as well as Honorary Member of the Croatian Pharmacological Association (1983), Honorary President and Member of the Advisory Board of the Croatian Institute of Brain Research (since 1991), Corresponding Member of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992) , etc. He was also president of the International Croatian Initiative (1992-1998). We provided an article written by Professor Ante Padjen, of the McGill University, Canada, which has been published in 2017 by Gaudeamus, the journal of AMCA Toronto.
Mladen Ibler 1937-2017 distinguished Croatian medical scientist and diplomat
Dr. Mladen Ibler, born in Zagreb, besides his native Croatian, spoke English, Danish, German and Russian. He organized Croatian workshops at the International Peace and Understanding Conference in Copenhagen (1989) and Vienna (1991) and lectured at the same conference in Copenhagen (1994). As the president of the Croatian Cultural Association in Denmark, he worked on the international recognition of Croatia and the establishment of political and diplomatic relations between those two countries. He was Honorary Consul of Croatia to Denmark 1994, as well as ambassador to Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland domiciled in Stockholm in 1996. From 1999 till 2005 he was ambassador of Croatia to Australia and New Zealand, with residency in Canberra.
Slobodan Praljak 1945-2017 the truth about Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
On the photo Slobodan Praljak 1945-2017, portrayed by Ante Gotovina. Slobodan Praljak is holder of three academic titles – in Electrical Engineering, in Humanities (Sociology and Philosophy) and from Theatre and Film Academy, all of them from the University of Zagreb. On Carla del Ponte: “If I, by any chance, Slobodan Praljak, had written or said such qualification [see in the article], no matter when, in any form whatsoever, in relation to any nation or group during the war in the territories of the former Yugoslavia, I would have been sentenced to 5 years of prison for it only.”
Miro Gavran the greatest contemporary Croatian writer received ''Dr. Alois Mock Europapreis 2017'' award
The greatest contemporary Croatian writer Miro Gavran is the winner of this year’s prestigious international ‘Dr Alois MockEuropapreis 2017’ award. As soon as it arrived, the announcement of this year’s selection was signed by Michael Spindelleger, the president of the ‘Dr Alois Mock’ Foundation and former Austrian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the Foundation. The plays of Miro Gavran have been translated into as many as 40 languages worldwide. Congratulations to Mr. Gavran!
Nikola Horvat Pacific Crest Trail: Tesla – Year of the Beginning
Nikola Horvat, nicknamed Tesla, in 2016 he successfully completed an extremely demanding journey on Pacific Crest Trail. Experience from his journey was vast and turbulent. Besides his personal story he has a lots of interesting information about Pacific Crest Trail, people and places somehow connected to this beautiful trail. His surname – Horvat – means simply the Croat. Nikola Horvat is a continutation of a long tradition of amazing Croatian adventurers in the USA and elsewhere in the world, like Joseph Joe Mikulec or Nikola Primorac.
Vjeko Martinko director of Hotel Villa Astra in Lovran celebrating his 70th birthday in October 2017
Vjeko Martinko, director of the Hotel Villa Astra in the town of Lovran, Croatia, celebrated his 70th birthday with his friends and colleagues, including his schoolteacher Ana Ujević. As always, Vjeko is full of energy, fresh ideas and challenges for the future. The celebration was held in a peaceful and very pleasant environment of the hotel and the surrounding beautiful park, filling us with a special energy and enthusiasm. Hotel Villa Astra is one of the trademarks of Croatian private entrepreneurship, offering its guests a unique place for creative rest in a friendly atmosphere, where one feels like at home.
Mirko Tomasovic 1938-2017 distinguished Croatian literary historian and translator
A member of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Mirko Tomasović was the most prolific literary translator from Romance languages in Croatia and distinguished expert in Latinist literature. He left us important studies on the written Croatian and Latin heritage of Marko Marulić (1450-1524), the most important Croatian Renaissance writer. His translations into Croatian include about 20 books of Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan and Occitan poetry, as well as epic and drama literature.
Tomislav "Tom" Mihaljevic is named new CEO of the Cleveland Clinic
In just a few months, Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic (left) will take over as the new president and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic. The incoming CEO was born in Croatia and is a naturalized American citizen. He earned his medical degree from the University of Zagreb’s medical school in Croatia and completed his residency in cardiovascular surgery at the Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery of the University of Zurich in Switzerland before coming to the United States. He speaks Croatian, English and German.
Yoko Nishii has a pianist concert tour in Croatia Sep 2017: Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Vinkovci, Sisak
Yoko Nishii is indefatiguable proponent of fine music, including Japanese and Croatian. Her concert tour in September 2017 includes Japanese authors Kozaburo Hirai and Kosaku Yamada, as well as Croatian authors Božidar Kunc (brother of a distinguished Croatian opera singer Zinka Kunc) and Dora Pejačević (the first internationally known Croatian woman-composer). As we can see, music does not know the borders. Yoko Nishii is a lecturer at Aichi University of the Arts in Japan. She speaks Croatian language.
Dina Merhav דינה מרחב distinguished Croatian born Israeli sculptor presented by Yoko Nishii
Dina Merhav is an international artist, born in 1936 in the city of Vinkovci, Croatia, whose works are in public and private collections throughout the globe. Her sculptures can be found in Mumbai, India, Geneve, Switzerland, Canada, USA and Europe. In Israel, her base and homeland, the sculptures are placed in parks, schools, industrial plants, and memorial sites. Her first individual exhibition outside of Israel took place in Croatia’s capital Zagreb in 2013, in the Glyptotheque of HAZU (= Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) Gallery in Zagreb. Later the same year, it has been welcomed in her native city of Vinkovci with great appreciation and love.
Darko Varga 1956-2017 distinguished Croatian publicist
Darko Varga, 1956-2017, born in the city of Osijek, grown up in the town of Dalj, attended High School in his native city, and completed his studies in Electrical Engineering at the University of Zagreb. From 1993 till 2000, he served as director of HEP (Croatian Electric Supply) in the region of Baranja on the NE of Croatia. He was active in revitalizing Croatian villages as well as ecotourism in Baranja, ravaged in the early 1990s during the Serbian aggression on Croatia. Also, he was an indefatigable promoter of cultural traditions of the region. His latest work on an impressive monograph dealing with the cuisine of the noble Croatian family of Zrinski, has been published in 2015 on the occasion of 450 years since the legendary Siget Battle in 1566.
Mike Vucelic 1931-2012 Apollo system manager for NASA and Rockwell in charge of 300 NASA engineers
Milojko Mike Vucelic, born in the town of Garešnica, Croatia, completed the Faculty of Machanical Engineering of the University of Zagreb in 1954. Since January 1962 he worked for Apollo, and subsequently he served as one of directors of the Apollo Program. The mission of Apollo 8 in 1968 was circulating around Moon’s orbit with the crew of three astronauts, and Mike Vucelic considers this to be his greatest success in professional life in the USA. During the Apollo 11 mission, he was at the control of the flight, just beside Gene Kranz, who served as the chief of the control. Due to this success in saving the Apollo 13 crew (Hello Houston… we have a problem), he was awarded by the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the then president of the USA.
George Skurla 1921-2001 led the 1600-man team that built the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing module
In 1965, George Skurla became director of operations for Grumman at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In that position, he brought together the 1,600-man Grumman team responsible for the final assembly, test and pre-launch checkout for the Apollo lunar module vehicle. Skurla led the team that built the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing module. The lunar modul spacecraft, which was designed, developed and produced by Grumman co., was the final stage in NASA’s Apollo Program which landed American astronauts on the surface of the moon. The family of Skurla (Škurla) has Croatian roots, from Herzegovina, near the environs of the Dubrovnik area.
Dora Pejacevic 1885-1923 the first internationally known Croatian woman composer
Born into an old, noble family, the talented pianist would grow up to become one of the most influential figures in Croatian music. During her short life (she died in childbirth at the age of 38) she composed 57 completed works, including a hefty ouvre for solo piano, sixteen chamber works, and dozens of lieder. But she made her mark with the human voice; Pejačević is credited with bringing orchestral song to Croatian late-Romantic music.
Marin Saric CEO of Optimoroute company in Croatia's capital Zagreb
Marin Šarić: “When people think about logistics, they think about routing, they think about package deliveries, they might think about some ships or freight crossing companies,” he concludes. “But I think what people need really to understand is that we are moving towards this mobile world, where every every year, in every country, there are more and more people who are working on the go, and Optimoroute is in the middle of it all.”
Claudio Radonich since Dec 2016 Mayor of the city of Punta Arenas in Chile has Croatian roots
Claudio Radonich is since December 2016 a new Mayor of the city of Punta Arenas on the very south of Chile. He belongs to the third generation of Croats born in Chile, and his great-grandparents (Radonich’s) are from the town of Starigrad on the island of Hvar. Punta Arenas (as well as many other cities in Chile and in South America) has a very strong Croatian immigrant population, dating already since the 19th century. The city has a Croatian Street, Croatian Firefighting Association, Croatian Women Society, as well as Escuela Croacia (School Croatia), Clinica Croacia, Club Croata Restaurant, and a nice monument dedicated to Croatian Coat of Arms (3 m of height).
Zrinski's in Vienna with emphasis on Nikola Subic Zrinski of Siget + 1566
The defense of Siget by Nikola Šubić Zrinski (on the photo) in 1566 entered all the annals of European history in the 16th century. With his 2500 brave soldiers, mostly Croats, he was defending the fortress of Siget in southern Hungary against 90,000 Turks. Cardinal Richelieu, a famous French minister at the court of King Lui XIII, wrote the following: A miracle was necessary for the Habsburg Empire to survive. And the miracle happened in Sziget . Ivan Zajc has composed the opera Nikola Šubić Zrinski in 1876, which is very popular in Japan, especially its tune “U boj, u boj!”. Zrinski’s helmet and sward, kept in Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, have been shown in Croatia in the city of Čakovec in September 2016.
Marinko Marco Radakovic to appear in the film "Patriot's Day"
Marinko Marco Radakovic (left) will appear in the film “Patriot’s Day” directed by Peter Berg, and is about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent terrorist manhunt led by Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Dawhich. This visceral and unflinching chronicle captures the suspense of one of the most sophisticated manhunts in law enforcement history and the strength of the people of Boston. Radakovic will be playing a Boston police officer.