Among the distinguished members of the jury from the world of classical music, for the first time in the history of the competition, this year was someone from Croatia. Dubrovnik pianist and poetess Ivana Marija Vidović was alongside her distinguished colleagues Pietro de Maria and Stefano Fiuzzi, both of them presidents of the jury. The jury was also joined by the Mexican conductor Gabriela Diaz Alatriste, Hungarian pianist Istvan Szekely, the Italian pianist Adriana Silva, and the Austrian pianist, organist and conductor prof. Robert Lehrbaumer from Vienna.
Miro Gavran's plays in India and Indian actress Nimrat Kaur
Miro Gavran’s plays had several hundred of premiers throughout the world, so that he is not able to follow them all. Only his play “All About Women” had as many as 53 premieres (in Zagreb, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Prague, Buenos Aires, Sarajevo, etc). she had a role in Gavran’s play “All About Women”. With this play, distinguished Indian actress Nimrat Kaur had the largest number of repeats, due to which she earned a nomitation for the leading theatric recognition in India. This article is a short summary of a public lecture delivered by Mr. Miro Gavran in Zagreb, organized by the Embassy of the Republic of India and by the Croatian-Indian Society.
Dr. Vesna Bosanac 1949-2022 Croatian hero of the city of Vukovar
Dr. Vesna Bosanac was born in 1949 in the city of Subotica, and her family moved to the Borovo Naselje near Vukovar when she was less than 1 year old. Her grandmother was Bunjevci Croatian. Since July 1991, during the Serbian military aggression on Croatia, she was emolyed as the director of the famous Vukovar Hospital. Until the end of 1991, during the most savage bombing and shelling of the city, The Vukovar Hospital took care of about 4000 people. About 2250 people underwent difficult and long term operations. Each day approximately 700 (seven hundred) granades was falling on the building of the hospital.
Miho Demovic 1934-2023 distinguished Croatian music historian and St Paul's shipwreck on the island of Mljet
Miho Demović, Croatian priest, defended his PhD in Germany (Koeln), dealing with the history of Croatian music in the city of Dubrovnik. He is best known for his numerous musicological studies and monographs dealing with Croatia, especially with Dubrovnik. He initiated scholarly studies of the problem of ubication of the well known shipwreck of St Paul in the 1st century AC (described in the Acts of Apostles of the New Testament), that showed that it occured near the island of Mljet near the city of Dubrovnik, and not on Malta.
Elizabeth Kera recipient of Croatian Women's Network Award
Members of the Croatian Women’s Network are successful women from around the world, who share Croatian heritage and ancestry and come together to celebrate achievements, to inspire, champion and mentor younger generations. The aim is to connect like-minded members around the world. The Croatian Women’s Network was founded by Caroline Spivak in Canada in 2015. One of the recipients of the Croatian Women’s Network Award for 2020 is dr. Elizabeth Kera (on the photo) from New Jersey, USA, who is a specialist in the field of neuropsychology.
Yoko Nishii distinguished interpreter of pianistic works by Croatian composer Dora Pejacevic
On 5th March 2023, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Tokyo celebrated 30 years of unwavering diplomatic ties between Croatia and Japan. The esteemed presence of H.I.H. Princess Tsuguko of Takamado and other distinguished guests who have contributed significantly to our relations made the event even more special. The celebration was further enhanced by a wonderful performance of Japanese pianist Yoko Nishii (on the photo), paying tribute to the legendary Croatian composer Dora Pejačević on the 100th anniversary of her passing on the same day in 1923.
Marija Miletic Dail 1934-2022 filmmaker from "Zagreb Film" Croatia to her "Animation Cottage" USA
Maria Miletić Dail started at “Zagreb Film” in Croatia, continued as animator in Canada and Hollywood, worked upward into the position of director and producer. She was interested in meaningful filmmaking using original ideas. Worked in own “Animation Cottage” studio with twenty artists on ABC network series of specials. Tried to keep all work inside USA. She lectured at UCLA, CalArts and CCLA on animation. For her film “Think Earth” she won Presidential award in 1992. Her husband Sukhdev S. Dail (from India, Sikh) she prepared a few films dealing with Indian themes.
Miroslav Blazevic 1935-2023 legendary Croatian football trainer
Miroslav Ćiro Blažević was a legendary trainer of Croatian football representation. Under his leadership, it won sensational thrid place at the 1998 FIFA World Championship in Paris. Due to his leadership, Croatian football representation became universaly known. Under his baton, his team was composed of world class sportsmen such as Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban, Slaven Bilić, Robert Jarni, Robert Prosinečki, Igor Štimac, and others. His successor Zlatko Dalić, also born in BiH, considers himself to be a student of Ćiro Blažević.
Dubrovnik gets a new sister city – Sorrento in Italy due to an initiative of Ivana Marija Vidović
The Charter on twinning and cooperation between the City of Dubrovnik and the City of Sorrento was signed on Feb 5, 2023, by two mayors, Mato Franković on behalf of the City of Dubrovnik and Massimo Coppola on behalf of the City of Sorrento. The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the Sorrento Dubrovnik Festival, as well as the Dubrovnik pianist Ivana Marija Vidović and conductor maestro Paolo Scibilia, are the most responsible for the intensification of cooperation between the two cities.
Paul Bradbury: Life as a Croatian Postman on the island of Hvar
Of all the interviews and feature stories that Paul Bradbury has done on his Total Croatia News internet project over the years, few were as much fun as an impromptu interview with his local postman over a beer in the town of Jelsa one day in 2016, as he explained to him the incredible Dalmatian GPS system they used to deliver mail on island of Hvar, Croatia. Mr. Bradbury lives in Croatia since 2003. He has published more than two thousand articles about various aspects of culture, life and bussiness in Croatia.
Joginder Singh Nijjar recipient of an Indian state recognition for streghtening links with Croatia
Mr Joginder Singh Nijjar, Croatian citizen of Indian origin, received the presitigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2023 in recognition of his contribution in the field of Art & Culture/Education. Mr. Singh was awarded during the Valedictory Session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2023 on 10 January 2023 by the President of India Mrs. Droupadi Murmu, also in the presence of Mr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, serving as the Minister of External Affairs of the Governement of India. The ceremony took place in the city of Indore, capital of the state of Mhadya Pradesh in central India.
Buddha – one of the most popular saints in the Christian calendar of the Middle Ages
Could you ever imagine that one of the most popular saints in the Christian calendar of the Middle Ages was – Buddha? After ten years of researche, Katarina Livljanić and her ensemble Dialogos, bring the incredible story of saints Barlaam and Josaphat, a christianized version of Buddha’s life, which crossed over at least four religions and was transmitted through almost all the medieval languages. Powerful songs sing the legend about the king’s son, prince Josaphat, who leaves the noisy world of opulence to search for inner peace – songs which follow the path of his story from one medieval language to another, from Greek, Latin to Old Croatian, Italian, Church Slavonic…
Janica Kostelić eternalized in 2002 at Salt Lake City Winter Olympics
Janica Kostelić is without any doubt the greatest female skier of all times: she won three gold medals and one silver at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, USA. She also won five gold medals at the World Championships. In World Cup competition, she won thirty individual races, three overall titles, three slalom titles, and four combined titles. She is the greatest Croatian sportswoman in history. Her brother Ivica Kostelić is the most successful Croatian skier in history. Their successes are a result of a long-term family project, directed by their father Ante Kostelić.
National Mathematics Day of India marked in Zagreb Croatia on 22nd December 2022
According to the initiative of H. E. Mr. Raj Kumar Srivastava, the National Mathematics Day of India was marked in Zagreb on 22nd December 2022. Each such event is dedicated to the memory of Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), the greatest Indian mathematician in history. Several Croatian mathematicians participated in the event: Professors Hrvoje Kraljević, Marko Tadić (Fellow of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts), Marcela Hanzer, Rudi Mrazović, and Neven Elezović. The first such event was organized in Zagreb in December 2021.
Ivana M. Vidovic in Granada with Frano Kakarigi – encounter of pianist and double bassist
For any musician who has been involved in music, in this context classical, since early childhood, performing in the imposing and magnificent Granada with a Spanish-Hispanic repertoire perfectly arranged with great colleagues in the ensemble, but also with another Croat, Frano Kakarigi, our respected double bass player from Dubrovnik with an address in Granada, it is probably like one of the dreams come true that all those who are truly involved in music could long for!
Anthony F. Lucas the father of Petroleum Engineering entering into the history of cooking
Anthony F. Lucas (1856-1928), born in the city of Split, Croatia, discovered the first major gusher in 1901, in Texas, Spindletop. He is the father of Petroleum Engineering. An excellent illustration of the possibilities of this petroleum was provided at a dinner given at Port Arthur, Tex., in 1901 to the directors of a large producing and refining company. A special salad was served with some show of ceremony and, after the guests had partaken of it, the toast-master asked them for their gastronomic opinions. The verdict was favorable — unanimously so. They then were informed that the oil used on the salad was not a ‘ ‘Lucca oil,” but a “Lucas oil”.
MICROBLINK a mobile vision software development company founded in Croatia in 2012
Microblink is a mobile vision software development company. BlinkID enables scanning of over 100 international identity documents including driving licenses, national identity cards, passports and others. PDF417 SDK or WEB API enables scanning and parsing 1D and 2D barcodes such as QR, PDF417, and others. PhotoPay SDK captures payment information from standardized and non-standard payment slips and it’s often used in mobile banking apps. BlinkReceipt SDK captures raw OCR data or structured information from retail receipts. This technology grew out from experience accumulated from PhotoMath, created by Jurica Cerovec and his colleagues in Croatia’s capital Zagreb.
Croatian football team winning bronze medal of golden glitter at the 2022 World Championship in Qatar
Croatia 2 – Marocco 1 is a result in Qatar which enabled Croatia winning its second bronze medal (in 1998 in France and in 2022), besides silver medal won in 2018 (in the Russian Federation). Continuity of excellent results of Croatian team are due not only to talent, but also to perserverance and hard work, under the baton of Zlatko Dalić, and under the baton of Ćiro Blažević in France. The result is all the more amazing when one sees some truly top quality representations being left behind Croatia: Brazil, England, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Japan, Marocco, Italy, Belgium, etc. (altogether 211 countries).
United States and Republic of Croatia sign new Income Tax Treaty
The National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation (NFCA) is pleased to announce that on Wednesday, December 7th at the U.S. Department of State that Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez and Croatia’s Minister of Finance Dr. Marko Primorac, signed a comprehensive income tax treaty between the United States and Croatia. This article was written by Mr. Steve Rukavina, USA (on the photo).
Croatia 1 (4) – Brazil 1 (2) at the World Football Tournament in Qatar 2022
Croatia, opponents should know by now, does not exit the World Cup without a fight. The Brazilians got a late goal. The Croatians answered with an even later one scored by Bruno Petković (on the photo; born in the city of Metković). The game went to a penalty-kick shootout. And only then, with eight quick kicks breaking a tie after 120 minutes could not, was it over. Croatia was heading to the semifinals. (The New York Times. Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić: “We have a strong character and we do not give up. We were prepared for everything today. We knew that as the game unfolded, our chances would improve.”