Mirko Breyer (23 October 1863 – 29 December 1946) was a known

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n writer, bibliographer and antiquarian.

Early life and education

Breyer was born in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

on 23 October 1863. He was raised in a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family of Marko Breyer. Breyer's great-grandfather Samuel Breyer moved to

Rasinja Rasinja is a settlement and an eponymous municipality in northern Croatia in Koprivnica–Križevci County, located halfway between Koprivnica and Ludbreg. Population The municipality's total population is 3,267 (2011 census), in the following ...

, Croatia from

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

during the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. His grandfather Jakov Breyer was born in Rasinja and later moved to

Križevci Križevci (; ; ; ) is a town in northern Croatia with a total population of 21,122 and with 11,231 in the town itself (2011), It is the oldest town in its county, the Koprivnica-Križevci County. History The first mention of "Upper Križeva ...

, Croatia where his son Marko (Breyer's father) was born. Breyer's father was banker and -manager of the "Križevačka dionička štedionica" (''Križevci equity savings''), longtime representative of the Križevci City Assembly and municipal prefect deputy. Breyer spent his early childhood in Varaždin. He finished elementary school in Križevci and attended high school in

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

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. Gimnazija Ivana Zakmardija Dijankovečkoga; Ivan Peklić; Križevački nakladnik Mirko Breyer; stranica 84, 85; broj 1/2003, godina V., siječanj 2004.

Career

After high school education Breyer worked in Trieste as an apprentice in a renowned trading company "Binenfeld". The company sent him to

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, at the time the important trading center of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. There he started to learn foreign languages, including

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Upon his return from Aden, Breyer pursued higher education in Trieste,

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. ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He studied commerce. In 1890 he returned to Križevci. From 1890 to 1893 he wrote poems for "Narodni list"

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 ...

(''Peoples daily''). Breyer moved to Zagreb in 1903. He spent his free time reading and collecting antiquities. In 1903, Breyer founded the educational publishing and antique bookstore "Slavenski znanstveni antikvarijat" (''Slavic research antique store'') in Zagreb. He sold the educational publishing bookstore in 1920, which was then renamed to "Jugoslavenska znastvena knjižara d.d." (''Yugoslav research bookstore''). Breyer kept his antique bookstore until 1928, when it is liquidated. From 1929 to 1940 he was the general manager of a publishing company "Obnova" (''Renewal''). Under Breyer's leadership "Obnova" published works of a prominent Croatian writers such as

Vladimir Nazor Vladimir Nazor (30 May 1876 – 19 June 1949) was a Croatian poet and politician. During and after World War II in Yugoslavia, he served as the first President of the Presidency of the Croatian Parliament (Croatian head of state), and first ...

and

Antun Gustav Matoš Antun Gustav Matoš (; 13 June 1873 – 17 March 1914) was a Croatian poet, short story writer, journalist, essayist and travelogue writer. He is considered the champion of Croatian modernist literature, opening Croatia to the currents of E ...

Assimilation, persecution and World War II

Breyer was a supporter of a

Jewish assimilation Jewish assimilation (, ''hitbolelut'') refers either to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture or to an ideological program in the age of emancipation promoting conformity as a potential so ...

in Croatia, and a longtime member of the Israelites Zagreb community (now Jewish community Zagreb). In 1922 he founded the society "Narodni rad - društvo židovskih asimilanata i anticionista u Hrvatskoj" (''Peoples work - Society of Jewish assimilates and anti Zionists in Croatia''). Breyer's aim was to gather all Croatian and Yugoslav Jews regardless of political view. On numerous occasions he called for Croatian Zionists to join him, and objected them on their lack of Croatian and Yugoslav patriotism. In 1924, on a second anniversary of a society, Breyer again called all the Croatian and Yugoslav Jews to join them in their society. Some of society notable members were; Samuel David Alexander,

Šandor Alexander Šandor Alexander pl. Sesvetski (April 5, 1866 – December 17, 1929) was a Croatian nobleman, industrialist, philanthropist, younger brother of Samuel David Alexander and member of the Zagreb prominent Alexander family. Background and fa ...

and Vladimir Šterk. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Breyer was imprisoned, as a Jew, at

Stara Gradiška concentration camp Stara Gradiška was a concentration and extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. The camp was specially constructed for women and children of Serb, Jewish and Romani ethnicity. Victims also included commu ...

for six months. Later he was imprisoned two more times. During his incarceration he wrote a poem "U sabirnom logoru" (''In the

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

camp'').

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

officials excluded Breyer from wearing the star of David

Yellow badge The yellow badge, also known as the yellow patch, the Jewish badge, or the yellow star (, ), was an accessory that Jews were required to wear in certain non-Jewish societies throughout history. A Jew's ethno-religious identity, which would be d ...

. He managed to survive the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and after the war he worked as a bibliographer at the "Hrvatski nakladni zavod" (''Croatian publishing bureau''). Despite this well-known fact, during the time of

communist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

he was falsely put on the list of the

victims killed by

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

as a part of communist anti-Croatian propaganda. This false information was also accepted by the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

during a massive unchecked import of data.

Antiquities and donations

From an early age Breyer collected antiquities. While in Aden he directed several shipments of ethnographic antiquities to Zagreb museums. Breyer donated to

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 ...

around 80 autographs of notable Croats from 18th and 19th century. He also donated

Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb The Museum of Arts and Crafts () in Zagreb, Croatia, was established in 1880, by the initiative of the Arts Society and its former President Izidor Kršnjavi. Drawing on the theoretical precepts of England's Arts and Crafts movement and the intel ...

and

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (), commonly referred to as (), is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened in 1834, housed in the present-day Old City Hal ...

. After Breyer's death, his heirs donated to

National and University Library in Zagreb National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) (, NSK; formerly , NSB) is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb. The Library was established in 1607. Its primary mission is the development and preservat ...

353 books and a large number of vintage magazines.

Death

Breyer died in Zagreb on 29 December 1946. He was buried at the

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, ), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery (), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members of all religious groups: Catholic, Orthodox, M ...

. Gradska groblja Zagreb: Mirko Breyer, Mirogoj EVG-2A-I-1

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breyer, Mirko 1863 births 1946 deaths People from Varaždin Croatian Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian people of Austrian-Jewish descent Croatian writers Croatian bibliographers Croatian antiquarians 19th-century Croatian historians Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Writers from Austria-Hungary Croatian anti-Zionists Anti-Zionists from Austria-Hungary