Franjo (Fran) Novljan (7 August 1879 – 12 January 1977) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n educator, andragogue, and

Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperant ...

.Istarska enciklopedija
Josip Šiklić: ''Novljan, Fran'' (pristupljeno 23. ožujka 2020.)

Biography

Novljan was born in

Novljani Novljani ( sr-cyr, Новљани) were a medieval Serb tribe, which became the component part of the Drobnjaci tribe in Old Herzegovina (in Montenegro). According to folklore, the Novljani was a Serb tribe that settled Bosnia (region), Bosnia at t ...

, Boljunsko Polje, Istria (now

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, at the time

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

). He went to classical grammar school in Sušak. There he founded the student society ''Nova nada''. He studied mathematics and physics in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1901, during his studies, he founded with I. Ivančić the ''Istrian Committee of the Croatian Academic Society Zvonimir''. He was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army, and later became a teacher of mathematics and physics at Pazin Private Women's Teacher Training College and at the Croatian Gymnasium of Pazin.Gimnazija i strukovna škola "Jurja Dobrile" u Pazinu
120. obljetnica (pristupljeno 23. ožujka 2020.) On his initiative, a kind of public college was established in Pazin in 1907. He gave public lectures at the ''Narodni dom'', collaborated with the Academic Society "Istra", and worked in the Pazin Student Support Society. Returning from the army in 1918, he became involved in politics and diplomacy. participating in the establishment of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, of which he was a commissioner in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. He was member of the delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He was given the task by the National Council of organizing the reception and accommodation of refugees from Istria. From 1920 he taught in Zagreb, then in

Bjelovar Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats. Histor ...

, then in

Nova Gradiška Nova Gradiška is a town located in the Brod-Posavina County of Croatia, population 14,229 (2011). It is located in the historic region of Slavonia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first word in the name means ''New'', and there ...

. In 1920 he became the editor of the Zagreb newspaper ''Radiša''. In 1934 he gave impetus to the activities of the People's University in Nova Gradiška. In the same year, he became the editor of Novi Grad's ''Sadašnost''. In 1939 he became the principal of a grammar school in Zagreb. The NDH sent him into retirement him in 1941. He was a prominent member and commissioner of Matica hrvatska for Istria.Matica hrvatska
Branimir Crljenko: Kako je u prvoj regionalnoj Enciklopediji prešućena Matica hrvatska, Vijenac, Broj 333 - 335, 21. prosinca 2006. Novljan was an active

. He was among the founders of the ''Prosvjetnoga saveza'' (Educational Alliance), of which he was first secretary. He organized Esperanto institutions in Zagreb. Novljan collaborated with Esperanto newspapers and magazines. He was the author of the Esperanto textbook ''Internacia lingvo esperanto i Esperanto en tridek lecionoj''. Novljan had been collecting, writing and describing ethnographic material in and about the Boljun region since he was young. This effort resulted in the work ''Boljun, kmiečki život i už (a) nci''. He wrote the work ''Gospodarstvo, prosvjeta, politika'' with Josip Predavec and Stjepan Radić, and published it in Zagreb in 1907. He died in Zagreb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novljan, Fran 1879 deaths 1977 deaths Croatian politicians Croatian writers Croatian Esperantists 20th-century Croatian historians