In addition to the editor-in-chief of the book Čuvarice niti, Jelena Nadinić from Buenos Aires, two of the twenty-five authors from South America attended the Split promotion of this magical collection of short stories: Isabel Wilhelm Kovac and María Daniel Latorra…
The Croatian digital edition of the book Čuvarice niti: 25 priča o hrvatskoj baštini ispričanih glasom žena iz Latinske Amerike was presented on September 27 at the Croatian National Theater in Split. CroActivas, a network of Croatian women from Latin America, prepared the collection, and Diana Arias edited it, with Jelena Nadinić serving as editor-in-chief and the Croatian Heritage Foundation as publisher. It was originally published in Buenos Aires in Spanish and Portuguese as Guardianas de la trama and Guardiãs da trama. The Croatian edition consists of 252 pages and was edited by Vesna Kukavica. The book was translated by Renata Garbajs (translation from Spanish), while the four stories in Portuguese were translated by Maja Kvaternik Fernandes Leite and Dubravka Sidonija Šuto.
The first book presentation of the Croatian edition of Čuvarice niti was held in Split. Participating in the program, emceed by Edita Lučić Jelić, were the book’s editor-in-chief, Jelena Nadinić, Ph.D., from Buenos Aires, and Croatian Heritage Foundation Director Zdeslav Milas, M.Sc.
On October 2, CHF Director Zdeslav Milas, the author of the foreword to the Croatian edition, especially emphasizes in the book that the history of the diaspora cannot be understood only through migration waves, numbers and destinations, but above all through individual human destinies. He highlights that a special place in this history belongs to women who were the first language teachers, family storytellers, and guardians of customs, religion, and Croatian identity.
“We are particularly honored that the Croatian Heritage Foundation is the publisher of the Croatian translation of the collection of stories Čuvarice niti. With the publication of the Croatian translation, this collection becomes available to Croatian readers worldwide. Croatian women in North America, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, and throughout Europe will also recognize the women’s stories from Latin America, because the threads that connect family, language, heritage, and homeland are universal. They transcend borders and oceans and testify that the Croatian global community lives through people, their stories, and their interconnectedness. For us in the Croatian homeland, this book is much more than a collection of stories. It is an opportunity to understand more deeply the diaspora identity, the everyday life of Croatian communities around the world and the silent but constant love for the Croatian homeland that is passed on from generation to generation,” said Director Milas.
Editor-in-Chief, Jelena Nadinić, Ph.D., one of the founders of the CroActivas network of Croatian women of Latin America and a longtime cultural worker in Argentina’s Croatian community, arrived in Split from Buenos Aires. In addition to editorial and cultural work, she is also an active member of the women’s “klapa” group Valovi.
“When we started with the idea for this book, we invited women to open their memories and family albums, to tell their stories and, in fact, to open their hearts. We didn’t know what we were going to get, and we got a lot – honest, strong and emotional stories in which each of us could find something of our own. It is these personal stories that have shown how important family, language, customs and memories are in preserving Croatian identity through generations,” said Jelena Nadinić, Ph.D.
She especially thanked the Croatian Heritage Foundation for recognizing the project’s value and enabling the collection to be published in Croatian and thus become available to readers in Croatia.
At the presentation, Jelena Nadinić said they were already thinking about continuing the project and preparing new stories for a future edition of Čuvarice niti; two authors, Isabel Wilhelm Kovac and María Daniel Latorra, also arrived in Split.
Her participation linked the book presentation to the program of the 4th Festival of Klapa Groups Outside the Republic of Croatia, held on September 28 at the Croatian National Theater in Split, in which the klapa group Valovi participated. The group from Buenos Aires made a special musical contribution to the book promotion, filling the audience with emotion as they performed two songs at the presentation. They opened the program with a performance of U zemlju latinsku, and the promotion concluded with an emotional performance of Diva Grabovčeva.
With the Split presentation of Čuvarice niti, the stories of Croatian women from Latin America symbolically returned to the country from where their family stories began. What has been passed down in families over the decades, through language, prayer, cuisine, song, photos, and memories, has, with this book, gained a common space and a permanent record.
The book was published with support from the Central State Office for Croats Abroad and is available on CHF’s portal at the following link: (https://matis.hr/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/CUVARICE-NITI-_-KNJIZNI-BLOK-25_08_2026-02-3.pdf).
Text and photo: CHF
