Fra Grgo Martić (1822 – 30 August 1905), also known as Grga or Mate Martić, was a Bosnian

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

and writer in the

Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena (also ''Bosna Argentina''; officially la, Provincia OFM Exaltationis S. Crucis - Bosna Argentina) is a province of the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their headquarters a ...

Biography

Martić was born in Rastovača village near

Posušje Posušje ( cyrl, Посушје, ) is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Name The name Posušje is derived from ''suša'' ...

Eyalet of Bosnia The Eyalet of Bosnia ( ota, ایالت بوسنه ,Eyālet-i Bōsnâ; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; sh, Bosanski pašaluk), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. He was educated 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 Pest, and ordained on Christmas Day, 1844. He served for three years in

Kreševo Kreševo ( sr-cyrl, Крешево, ) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kreševo is a mountainous town, located in a narrow valley of th ...

and Osova. From 1851 to 1879 he served as a parish priest in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

. As a friar of the

, Martić served the majority of his life, and carried out most of his work while at the Franciscan monastery St. Catharine in

. In his youth he was a supporter of

Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian inte ...

as a nationalist and romanticist, before switching to a more moderate view. Martić worked as a writer and translator, translating works of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

and

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

into the Bosnian language. At the time of the

Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The campaign to establish Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 29 July to 20 October 1878 against the local resistance fighters supported by the Ottoman Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Army entered the country in two large mov ...

, he was politically active on behalf of the Catholics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Influences and legacy

He opened a school in

in 1847 and a gymnasium in

. His best-known literary work was ''Osvetnici'', an epic about the struggle against Ottoman rule. Martić made contributions to Albanian culture as well, influencing young Albanian writer Gjergj Fishta who attended Franciscan schools in Kreševo where he met Martić and Croatian writer

Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević (; 17 February 1865 – 29 October 1908) was a Croatian poet. His reflexive poetry, reaching its zenith in the 1890s, was a turning point that ushered modern themes in Croatian poetry. Early life Kranjčevi ...

, who at that time also lived in Bosnia.Pater Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940)
slideshare.net; accessed 24 October 2016. Grgo Martić Zagreb

* His life has also been commemorated with a postage stamp from Bosnia and Herzegovina. * Central place in Old Town of Sarajevo, in front of the

Sarajevo Cathedral The Sacred Heart Cathedral (Serbo-Croatian: ''Katedrala Srca Isusova/Катедрала Срца Исусова'') is a Catholic church in Sarajevo; commonly referred as the Sarajevo Cathedral (''Sarajevska katedrala/Сарајевска кат� ...

, bears the name of fra Grgo Martić. * A monument in his honor is erected in front of a church in Posušje. while another is also erected in Zagreb. * A commemorative stone cross with a plaque stands in the village Rastovača noting his birthplace, his life and his work.

Literary works

* Slavodobitnica svijetlomu gospodaru Omer-paši (epic poem, 1852) * Narodne pjesme bosanske i hercegovačke (with Ivan Frano Jukić), I (1858) * Osvetnici, I-III (ep, 1861/65.), IV (1878.), V (1881.), VI (1881.), VII (1883) * Početni zemljopis za katoličke učionice u Bosni (epic poem, 1884) * Narodne pjesme o boju na Kosovu godine 1389 (1886) * Obrana Biograda godine 1456 (ep, 1887) * Pjesnička djela fra Grge Martića, 1-7 (1888) * Pjesnička djela fra Grge Martića, I (1893) * Zapamćenja/1829-1878, po kazivanju autorovu zabilježio janko Koharić (1906.) * Izabrani spisi (1956)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martic, Grgo 1822 births 1905 deaths People from Posušje Franciscans of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia 19th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina Roman Catholic priests Bosnia and Herzegovina writers Bosnia and Herzegovina essayists