Milan Šufflay
Encyclopedia
Milan pl. Šufflay was a Croatia
n historian
and politician
. He was one of the founders of albanology
and the author of the first Croatian science fiction
novel.
.That is why he has in his last name pl.(plemeniti in Croatian noble) which is von in German and it is title of a nobleman in Austria-Hungary. He attended a comprehensive high school in Zagreb
and studied at the University of Zagreb
, where he got a Ph.D.
in history. He was a brilliant student both in high school and at the university. Already during his studies, he spoke French, German, Italian, English, all the Slavic languages, as well as Latin, old Greek and middle Greek. Later in life he learned modern Greek, Albanian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. Tadija Smičiklas
considered Šufflay his most gifted student and took him as his assistant when editing Codex diplomaticus of the Academy
. Šufflay became a historian of the Balkans
, convinced that the history of the Croats
can be properly researched only from that perspective. His conviction clashed with the prevailing opinion of Croatian historians that the Croats were representatives of the West as opposed to the Balkans.
He researched the medieval history of Croatia
and the history of Albania
, for which he would gain international renown. The Hungarian
historian Thalloczy, recognizing Šufflay as a great talent that should be on the Hungarian side, brought him to Budapest
, where Šufflay worked in the National Museum for a small salary.
Ignoring the proposal of the university senate, ban
Rauch
appointed him a university professor in Zagreb in 1908. However, when Nikola Tomašić
, his distant cousin and enemy, became ban in 1910, Šufflay had to leave the university. In early 1915 he was drafted, although university professors were exempt from military duty. He was soon released because of illness and he wrote his most important works in that period.
In the new state, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, he was arrested for high treason and charged with spying for a foreign power together with Ivo Pilar
, another Croatian historian. Šufflay was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The reaction to the sentence was stronger abroad than in Croatia, as scientific colleagues from numerous countries tried to obtain his release, but without success. He did his time in the Mitrovica
prison. After serving over half of his sentence, he was released from prison and returned to his scientific work.
He also wrote the first Croatian science fiction
novel, On the Pacific in 2255. Therefore, he is considered the founder of the Croatian SF literature
.
In 1924 Šufflay became a member of the leadership of the Pure Party of Rights, a right-wing Croatian political party inspired by the work of Josip Frank
, a fervent nationalist. The party had reportedly not managed to win more than a few seats in the 300-strong legislative.
On the request of the Albania
n government and the Academy of Sciences in Vienna
, he continued the work of Jireček and Thalloczy, editing the 3rd book of Codex albanicus, an archival collection. After returning from Albania he received a threatening letter, and then he was attacked several times in the press, which clearly indicated that the Greater Serbia
n circles had decided to eliminate him.
. All the later attempts of the Banovina of Croatia
to have them extradited were fruitless.
Albert Einstein
and Heinrich Mann
sent a letter to the International League for Human Rights
in Paris
appealing to the global cultural public to protest against the murder of Milan Šufflay appealing for protection of Croat scientists from the Yugoslavian regime. However, it did not prevent further political murders of Croats in Yugoslavia. Curiously, they named one "Nikola Jukitsch" as the murderer, which contradicts the local findings about Branko Zwerger.
was assassinated in the Yugoslav parliament, a year before king Alexander
would establish his dictatorship, Šufflay wrote Hrvatska u svijetlu svjetske historije i politike (Croatia in the Light of World History and Politics). He wrote that the Croatian people was suffering under the Yugoslav dictatorship and that it had to free itself. He claimed that the border between the Western and the Eastern civilization lay on the Drina
river, the "destined borderline on the Drina river on which the mighty Roman Empire snapped into two... a border both spiritual and cultural".
His prophetic words about the unfortunate unification were fulfilled only recently, when the Serbo-Montenegrin aggression on Croatia
started in early 1990s and because no common solution could be found, communist Yugoslavia
dissoluted.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He was one of the founders of albanology
Albanology
Albanology is the science that studies Albanian language and culture.The father of Albanology is often considered to be the Austrian Norbert Jokl, while the Croat Milan Šufflay and the Hungarian Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás are also among its famous founders.Among modern important Albanologists...
and the author of the first Croatian science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel.
Life
Šufflay was born in an aristocratic family in LepoglavaLepoglava
Lepoglava is a town in Varaždin County, northern Croatia, located southwest of Varaždin, west of Ivanec and northeast of Krapina.A total of 8,271 people in the municipality lives in the following settlements:* Bednjica, population 214...
.That is why he has in his last name pl.(plemeniti in Croatian noble) which is von in German and it is title of a nobleman in Austria-Hungary. He attended a comprehensive high school in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and studied at the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
, where he got a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in history. He was a brilliant student both in high school and at the university. Already during his studies, he spoke French, German, Italian, English, all the Slavic languages, as well as Latin, old Greek and middle Greek. Later in life he learned modern Greek, Albanian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. Tadija Smičiklas
Tadija Smiciklas
Tadija Smičiklas was a Croatian historian and politician.Smičiklas finished gymnasium in Zagreb at the Greek Catholic seminary, and went on to study history and geography in the then imperial capital Vienna...
considered Šufflay his most gifted student and took him as his assistant when editing Codex diplomaticus of the Academy
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the national academy of Croatia. It was founded in 1866 as the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts , and was known by that name for most of its existence.- History :...
. Šufflay became a historian of the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, convinced that the history of the Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
can be properly researched only from that perspective. His conviction clashed with the prevailing opinion of Croatian historians that the Croats were representatives of the West as opposed to the Balkans.
He researched the medieval history of Croatia
Medieval Croatian state
Medieval Croatia can refer to:* Principality of Pannonian Croatia - medieval duchy in existence between the 7th and 10th centuries A.D.* Principality of Littoral Croatia - medieval principality in existence between the 8th century and 925 A.D....
and the history of Albania
History of Albania
The history of Albania emerges from the prehistoric stage from the 4th century BC, with early records of Illyria in Greco-Roman historiography. The modern territory of Albania has no counterpart in antiquity, comprising parts of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia , Macedonia , and Moesia Superior...
, for which he would gain international renown. The Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
historian Thalloczy, recognizing Šufflay as a great talent that should be on the Hungarian side, brought him to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, where Šufflay worked in the National Museum for a small salary.
Ignoring the proposal of the university senate, ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
Rauch
Pavao Rauch
Baron Pavao Rauch was a Croatian politician who served as Ban of Croatia-Slavonia between 1908 and 1910.His was the son of Levin Rauch. Pavao Rauch was appointed as vice-roy on 8 January 1908. Ten thousand protesters met Rauch upon his arrival in Zagreb on 15 January, hurling abuse and throwing...
appointed him a university professor in Zagreb in 1908. However, when Nikola Tomašić
Nikola Tomašić
Nikola Tomašić was a Croatian politician, who served as ban of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In 1903 he served as Minister without portfolio of Croatian Affairs.-References:*...
, his distant cousin and enemy, became ban in 1910, Šufflay had to leave the university. In early 1915 he was drafted, although university professors were exempt from military duty. He was soon released because of illness and he wrote his most important works in that period.
In the new state, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, he was arrested for high treason and charged with spying for a foreign power together with Ivo Pilar
Ivo Pilar
Ivo Pilar was a Croatian historian, politician and jurist, considered the father of Croatian geopolitics. His book The South Slav Question is a seminal work on the South Slav geopolitical issues.- Early career :...
, another Croatian historian. Šufflay was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The reaction to the sentence was stronger abroad than in Croatia, as scientific colleagues from numerous countries tried to obtain his release, but without success. He did his time in the Mitrovica
Mitrovica
Mitrovica, which stems from the name "Saint Demetrius" or "Sveti Dimitrije" may refer to:- Places :* Kosovska Mitrovica, a city in the disputed region of Kosovo* Sremska Mitrovica, a city in Srem, Serbia...
prison. After serving over half of his sentence, he was released from prison and returned to his scientific work.
He also wrote the first Croatian science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel, On the Pacific in 2255. Therefore, he is considered the founder of the Croatian SF literature
Science fiction in Croatia
-Authors:-Magazines and annual publications:*Ubiq*Futura*Sirius*Annual Collections of Croatian SF *IstraKon annual collections-Fandom:Fandom has been around in Croatia since the 1976, when the SFera SF society was established...
.
In 1924 Šufflay became a member of the leadership of the Pure Party of Rights, a right-wing Croatian political party inspired by the work of Josip Frank
Josip Frank
Josip Frank was a Croatian lawyer and politician, a noted representative of the Party of Rights and the Pure Party of Rights in the Croatian Parliament, and a vocal advocate of Croatian national independence in Austria-Hungary.- Early life :Frank was born into a Croatian Jewish family, and he...
, a fervent nationalist. The party had reportedly not managed to win more than a few seats in the 300-strong legislative.
On the request of the Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
n government and the Academy of Sciences in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, he continued the work of Jireček and Thalloczy, editing the 3rd book of Codex albanicus, an archival collection. After returning from Albania he received a threatening letter, and then he was attacked several times in the press, which clearly indicated that the Greater Serbia
Greater Serbia
The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia applies to the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology directed towards the creation of a Serbian land which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to the Serbian nation...
n circles had decided to eliminate him.
Murder
The members of the regime organization, Young Yugoslavia, under the royal protection, ambushed him at his doorstep in Zagreb and broke his skull with a hammer, killing him. Then they broke into his apartment and took the manuscript of the 3rd book of Codex albanicus. There was never any investigation about the criminals. The authorities denied any knowledge of the assailants and banned activities related to Šufflay's funeral. The murderers were the police agents Belošević and Zwerger, who fled to BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. All the later attempts of the Banovina of Croatia
Banovina of Croatia
The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1943 . Its capital was at Zagreb and it included most of present-day Croatia along with portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia...
to have them extradited were fruitless.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
and Heinrich Mann
Heinrich Mann
Luiz Heinrich Mann was a German novelist who wrote works with strong social themes. His attacks on the authoritarian and increasingly militaristic nature of pre-World War II German society led to his exile in 1933.-Life and work:Born in Lübeck as the oldest child of Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann...
sent a letter to the International League for Human Rights
International League for Human Rights
The International League for Human Rights is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City.Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human rights advocates who risk their lives to promote the ideals of a...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
appealing to the global cultural public to protest against the murder of Milan Šufflay appealing for protection of Croat scientists from the Yugoslavian regime. However, it did not prevent further political murders of Croats in Yugoslavia. Curiously, they named one "Nikola Jukitsch" as the murderer, which contradicts the local findings about Branko Zwerger.
Šufflay on Croatians in Yugoslavia
In 1928, when Stjepan RadićStjepan Radic
Stjepan Radić was a Croatian politician and the founder of the Croatian Peasant Party in 1905. Radić is credited with galvanizing the peasantry of Croatia into a viable political force...
was assassinated in the Yugoslav parliament, a year before king Alexander
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
would establish his dictatorship, Šufflay wrote Hrvatska u svijetlu svjetske historije i politike (Croatia in the Light of World History and Politics). He wrote that the Croatian people was suffering under the Yugoslav dictatorship and that it had to free itself. He claimed that the border between the Western and the Eastern civilization lay on the Drina
Drina
The Drina is a 346 kilometer long river, which forms most of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps which belongs to the Danube river watershed...
river, the "destined borderline on the Drina river on which the mighty Roman Empire snapped into two... a border both spiritual and cultural".
- The Croatian people have passed through the Roman-Western retort, while the Serbian people passed through the Byzantine-Turkish. Therefore the psyche of the two peoples is essentially different, even if the languages are similar. Unification of the two peoples would mean neutralization and careful constraining. To centralize here would mean to make Croatia a guinea pig for vivisection experiments. It is my thesis that the Croatian nation, as a citizen of the great empire of the western civilization, has the right to raise its voice against any oppression.
- Those who know history know that the Yugoslav idea has no dynamics. It is nothing compared to the mighty Croatian idea. In Croatia, the Yugoslav idea is a shallow wreckage under which the Croatian national volcano boils; only a subtle push is necessary to make it erupt.
- To me personally, as a philosopher and an open-minded Croat, it is the same whether I sit shackled at the court or a penitentiary, or whether I get out into the false freedom hiding the larger dungeon in which – thank God, only temporarily! – the Croatian nation is suffering!
His prophetic words about the unfortunate unification were fulfilled only recently, when the Serbo-Montenegrin aggression on Croatia
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
started in early 1990s and because no common solution could be found, communist Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
dissoluted.
Works
- Hrvatska i zadnja pregnuća istočne imperije pod žezlom triju Komnena (Croatia and the Last Efforts of the Eastern Empire under Three Comnenuses, 1901)
- Die Dalmatinische Privaturkunde (DalmatiaDalmatiaDalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n Private Deeds, 1904) - Acta et diplomata res Albaniae mediae aetatis illustrantia (Diplomatic and Other Documents on Medieval Albania, with Jireček and Thalloczy, Vienna, first book in 1913, second book in 1918)
- Kostadin Balšić (1392-1401): historijski roman u 3 dijela (Kostadin Balšić: A Historical Novel in Three Parts, 1920)
- Srbi i Arbanasi (Serbs and Albanians, 1925)
- Na Pacifiku god. 2255.: metagenetički roman u četiri knjige (On the Pacific in 2255: A Metagenetic Novel in Four Books, first printed as a book in 1998)
- Hrvatska u svijetlu svjetske historije i politike : dvanaest eseja (Croatia in the Light of World History and Politics: Twelve Essays, 1928, reprinted in 1999)
- Hrvati u sredovječnom svjetskom viru (Croats in the Global Medieval Upheaval, 1931)
- Izabrani eseji, prikazi i članci (Selected Essays, Criticisms and Articles, 1999)
- Izabrani eseji, rasprave, prikazi, članci i korespondencija (Selected Essays, Discussions, Criticisms, Articles and Correspondence, 1999)
- Izabrani politički spisi (Selected Political Works, published by Stoljeća hrvatske književnosti, 2000)