Ivan Franjo Čikulin (3 June 1681 – 17 June 1746) was a Croatian nobleman and poet writing both in Latin and Croatian.

Biography

He was born on 3 June 1681 in

Oroslavje Oroslavje () is a town and municipality in Krapina-Zagorje County in Croatia. Oroslavje is often referred to as The Gate of Croatian Zagorje (''Vrata Hrvatskog zagorja'') because of its geographical position and its proximity to The City of Za ...

as the son of baron Stjepan Čikulin. He was schooled 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 Sl ...

Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' (Trnava Region) and of an ''okres'' (Trnava ...

and

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popu ...

, where he received his doctorate in philosophy. He subsequently went to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

to study law. In 1706 he was awarded the title of count by the emperor

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 *Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

. In 1706 he was sent to act as a diplomat to the court 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 ...

, subsequently becoming the captain of Tounje and working his way up to the position of the royal chaplain and advisor. In 1726, he was among the first members of the newly established

Tabula Banalis The Tabula Banalis ( hr, Banski stol) was the supreme court of Croatia. It was established in 1723 by Charles VI, ruler of the Habsburg monarchy. The court was presided over by the Ban of Croatia or by his deputy. For more important trials it was ...

in Zagreb. He served as captain of Kostajnica between 1730 and 1738. Čikulin also participated in the War of Succession in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. He died in

Konjščina Konjščina () is a village and municipality in Krapina-Zagorje County in Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are 3,790 inhabitants in the area, absolute majority which are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic et ...

on 17 June 1746.

Literary career

During his studies in Zagreb, he was active as a poet, and also practiced drawing and copper engraving. A Zagreb canon, Grgur Paravigić (who was his prefect during Ivans' studies at the

Classical Gymnasium ''Gymnasium'' (and variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term '' preparatory high school''. Bef ...

) called him a great poet and humanist in 1706, having many of his work printed. His only surviving work, a collection of Latin poems ''Ideae magnanimitatis Illyricae et Pannonicae'' was published by the notable

Pavao Ritter Vitezović Pavao Ritter Vitezović (; 7 January 1652 – 20 January 1713) was a Habsburg-Croatian polymath, variously described as a historian, linguist, publisher, poet, political theorist, diplomat, printmaker, draughtsman, cartographer, writer and prin ...

, who also had his own verses printed at the beginning of the book as a dedication to Čikulin. His opus includes 24 historical works, 2 lamentations and 4 poetical dedications in which he lauded the heroics of Croatian and Hungarian individuals who fought against the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

, namely

Tamás Erdődy Count Tamás Erdődy de Monyorókerék et Monoszló (, ; 1558 – 17 January 1624), also anglicised as Thomas Erdődy, was a Hungarian-Croatian nobleman, who served as Ban of Croatia between 1583-1595 and 1608-1615 and a member of the Erdődy magna ...

Petar Zrinski Petar IV Zrinski ( hu, Zrínyi Péter) (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 Ma ...

, ''Miles anonymus Croata'' and others. In doing so, he used various historiographical works by

Juraj Ratkaj Juraj Ratkaj (also known as Juraj Rattkay, born in Veliki Tabor, on December 22, 1612 — Zagreb, on September 1, 1666) was a Croatian historian, priest and nobleman. Born in the Ratkaj Croatian noble family, barons of Veliki Tabor, he was ...

Miklós Istvánffy Baron Miklós Istvánffy de Baranyavár et Kisasszonyfalva ( la, Nicolaus Istuanfius; 8 December 1538 – 1 April 1615) was a Hungarian politician, Humanist historian and poet, who served as Palatinal Governor of Hungary ( hu, nádori helytartó) ...

. Vitezovićs' thematic and conceptual influence is visible in these verses, and can be observed in other works by Čikulin, such as the

Kajkavian Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and n ...

song about the deaths of Christian warriors under

Bihać Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovi ...

in 1697, likewise printed in 1703 by Vitezović.

Works

*Žalost i javkanje turskih, a radost i veselje keršćanskih duš, koje se leto 1697. na Ivanje pod Bihaćem s teli razlučiše (Zagreb, 1703) *Pictures of bravery of Illyria and Panonia (Ideae magnanimitatis Illyricae et Pannonicae, Zagreb, 1705) *Chosen heroes of Savian Panonia (Delecti Pannoniae Saviae Heroes, Bon, 1723.)

References

External links

Ivan Franjo Čikulin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Čikulin, Ivan Franjo Croatian nobility 18th-century Croatian poets Croatian male poets Croatian Roman Catholics 1681 births 1746 deaths Habsburg Croats Counts of Croatia 17th-century Croatian nobility 18th-century Croatian nobility 17th-century Croatian poets