Dragutin Lerman (24 August 1863 - 12 July 1918) was a Croatian

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Biography

Lerman was born in Požega,

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

, but he left his home very early. He was a member of the 1882

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician famous for his exploration of Central Africa and search for missi ...

expedition to Congo and was one of Stanley's most trusted men. ''("The

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

is energetic, cautious, in high spirits...")'' Later, he was the confidant of

Leopold II, King of the Belgians Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...

and the very representative of the

Belgian government The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the polit ...

in the Congo. His first exploration trip lasted from 1882 to 1885, the second from 1888 to 1890, and the third between 1892 and 1894. The fourth lasted six months during 1896. During the journey through Congo in 1882, he discovered huge waterfalls on the Kouilou River, (or

Kwil KWIL (790 AM, "KWIL For Christ") is a commercial radio station licensed to Albany, Oregon, and serving the Willamette Valley. It broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format and is owned by Extra Mile Media, Inc. The studios and tra ...

), and named them the Zrinski chutes to honor the national family of rulers (

Nikola Zrinski Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg ...

and

Petar Zrinski Petar IV Zrinski () (6 June 1621 – 30 April 1671) was Ban of Croatia (Viceroy) from 1665 to 1670, general and a writer. A member of the Zrinski noble family, he was noted for his role in the attempted Croatian-Hungarian Magnate conspiracy to ...

of Međimurje) from his native country. His diary was transferred into two books. The first, published in 1891 under the title '' Dnevnik iz Afrike'' (Diary from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

), was written and printed by his friend from Požega,

Julije Kempf Julije Kempf (25 January 1864 – 6 June 1934) was a Croatian historian and writer. Kempf was born in Požega, Slavonia. After graduating from Požega gymnasium, he attended teachers school in Zagreb. Afterwards, he worked in Novi Vinodolsk ...

, whom Lerman informed about the course of the exploration. The second one was published in 1894 with the title '' Novi dnevnik iz Afrike'' (New diary from Africa). Lerman provided inspiration for two additional explorers (

Mirko and Stjepan Seljan Mirko Seljan (5 April 1871 – c. 1913) and Stjepan Seljan (19 August 1875 – 7 June 1936) were Croatian explorers. Early life The brothers were born in Karlovac, Croatia (at the time part of Austria-Hungary). After receiving a basic edu ...

) who were mapping

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

at the turn of the 20th century. A big part of the collection that Lerman brought home from the Congo, 493 artifacts, was donated to the

Ethnographic Museum Ethnographic museums, also known as ethnological museums, conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include: List by country or region Albania * Ethnog ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and has been part of the permanent exhibition ever since. His original diary is in the archives of the

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...

. He died 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 the ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, where his gravestone is still visible.

Sources

External links

Croatian Cartographers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerman, Dragutin 1863 births 1918 deaths People from Požega, Croatia Croatian explorers Explorers of Africa Explorers from Austria-Hungary Congo Free State people