Mažuranić’s epic poem The Death Of Smail-aga Čengić has now seen its seventh French translation. Canadian publisher Dominis Publishing recently released a translation by Croatian linguist Jugoslav Gospodnetić with a foreword penned by professor Mirko Tomasović.
Mažuranić’s epic poem The Death Of Smail-aga Čengić has now seen its seventh French translation. Canadian publisher Dominis Publishing recently released a translation by Croatian linguist Jugoslav Gospodnetić with a foreword penned by professor Mirko Tomasović.
Last year AMCA presented a performance of the epic poem by the Theatroom theatre troupe at the Croatian embassy in Paris. On hand to speak of Mažuranić the politician and of the societal and political situation in Croatia during the national revival period was historian and ambassador Ivo Goldstein. In 1873 Mažuranić was elected to the office of Croatian ban (viceroy) and is remembered as the first plebeian to hold the office.
AMCA secretary Vlatko Marić presented the epic poem, published in 1846, as it stands in the context of Croatian literature. Professor Paul-Louis Thomas offered his precise philological analysis.
The Theatroom theatre troupe created a stage play adaptation of Mažuranić’s verse. Vera Ana Goldstein, the only professional actress in this troupe, was joined on stage by translator Yves-Alexandre Tripković, who also shone as the brilliant director of this play. The third actor was the translator’s son Neven Gospodnetić.
The Almae Matris Alumni Croaticae (AMAC/AMCA) network, an alliance of the former students and friends of the University of Zagreb, was founded at the dawn of Croatia’s regained independence twenty-seven years ago. The organisation is a loose federation of eighteen academic organisations, with robust activities and unpretentious multiannual projects. The organisation’s mission is to promote the reputation and good standing of the University of Zagreb and to strengthen bonds between the university and generations of former and present students and their friends in the country and around the world. Since the 1st of July 2013, when Croatia acceded to the European Union as a full member, the organisation has awarded the Žarko Dolinar prize for development and progress to the alumni movement and AMAC groups in Croatia and abroad.
The organisation’s first president was a victimologist of global renown and the former rector of the University of Zagreb, respected jurist, politician and professor Zvonimir Šeparović PhD. The current president is professor Helena Jasna Mencer PhD. It is worth noting that of all associations active in the diaspora communities AMCA Toronto has developed for the most diverse programme of activities over a quarter century. It published Gaudeamus, an excellent bilingual journal that appeared during the height of the battle to regain Croatian independence. Last year editor Ana Bačić revived the journal in an electronic edition with exemplary digital typography. The organisation includes France’s AMCA Paris, AMAC UK in Great Britain, AMAC Deutschland in Germany, AMAC Sweden, AMAC CH in Switzerland, AMAC Sydney in Australia, AMCA Toronto and AMAC Quebec in Canada and a number of chapters in the United States of America, from California to New England and Washington. Many of the AMCA organisations, along with those in Canada and Germany, have published journals of varied durations, including our sedulous academic community in France (Cahiers Croates, Paris, 1997–99) whose president Lamie Ruzdic-Barbier recently offered a review report.
Link: AMCA-Paris www.amca-paris.comprimili AMCA – Almae Matris Croaticae Alumni, Paris.
By: Maja Cioni