Anton Franki (November 2, 1844 – January 30, 1908) was a Croatian

church historian Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of th ...

who was politically active in the

Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement (; ) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of the 19th century, around the years of 1835 t ...

, which made him a victim of the

Magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

of the Ban

Károly Khuen-Héderváry Count Károly Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár, born as ''Károly Khuen de Belás'' (; ; 23 May 1849 – 16 February 1918) was a Hungarian politician and the ban of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in the late nineteenth century. Khuen's reign w ...

. He was professor in Zadar and Zagreb and was rector of the Greek Catholic Seminary in Zagreb.

Biography

Anton Franki was born in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

, in the city of

Omišalj Omišalj is a coastal municipality in the north-west of the island of Krk in Croatia. The population of Omišalj itself is 1,887 (2021), while the municipality also includes the nearby village of Njivice, bringing the total population to 2,992. Om ...

. He was ordained a priest in 1867 for the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Krk The Diocese of Krk (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church active on the Croatian islands of Krk, Rab, Cres and Lošinj, as well as a few smaller ones and also a mission serving the Croatian people of ...

and continued his post-graduate studies in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. After his doctoral studie in Vienna he returned to Dalmatia and became professor for

Church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

and

Canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

in the Diocesan Seminary in

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

in 1878.Svećenik, znanstvenik, profesor dr. Anton Franki (1844 – 1908)
/ref> Beside his theological work he was very interested in the

Greek Catholic Church Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gre ...

of Croatia and an exponent of the Croatian national movement. Because of this he moved to Zagreb, where the center of the movement was, and became a close friend of

Tadija Smičiklas Tadija "Tade" Smičiklas (1 October 1843 – 8 June 1914) was a Croatian historian and politician. He was a professor at the Zagreb university and a member of the Croatian Academy. A member of the Illyrianist People's Party (Kingdom of Croatia), ...

, a vanguard of the movement and professor at the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

. Smičiklas attacked Ban

already and tried to focus all the Croatian intellectuals to defend the interest of Croatia against the

.Smičiklas' biography.
/ref> Franki became 1882 professor for Speculative theology at the University of Zagreb, later he became professor for Church history. In 1885 Franki became rector of the Greek Catholic Seminary in Zagreb. Franki became a leader and important advisor in the

Eparchy of Križevci Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administrative structure ...

. But in 1891 his secrete work against Ban Károly Khuen-Héderváry became public by an internal opponent and traitor. Franki lost his position as professor at the university and rector of the Greek Catholic Seminary. He had left the capital and returned to his hometown in poverty.

Selected bibliography

* *

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franki, Anton 1844 births Eastern Catholic priests Croatian Christian clergy 1908 deaths 19th-century Catholic theologians Historians of Christianity Croatian Eastern Catholics Academic staff of the University of Zagreb People from Primorje-Gorski Kotar County