Vinko Nikolić
| Vinko Nikolić | |
|---|---|
 Vinko Nikolić holding a speech on a grave of Ante Starčević | |
| Born |
2 March 1912 Šibenik, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died |
12 July 1997 (aged 85) Šibenik, Croatia |
| Occupation | Writer, poet, journalist |
| Language | Croatian |
| Nationality | Croat |
| Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
| Genres | Poetry |
| Subjects | Patriotism |
| Notable award(s) | Order of Duke Trpimir |
Vinko Nikolić (2 March 1912 - 12 July 1997) was a Croatian emigrant writer, poet and journalist. During much of World War II he was an adjutant at Supreme Ustaša Headquarters, which effectively ruled over the fascist and genocidal Independent State of Croatia (NDH).
Biography
Vinko Nikolić was born in Šibenik in 1912. He attended elementary school and Catholic gymnasium in his birth town. After that he attended seminary. He joined the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb and graduated in 1937.
As a professor at the Commercial Academy he saw political changes in Yugoslavia in 1939, of which the most significant was the creation of Banovina Croatia.
For much of World War II he was an adjutant at Supreme Ustaša Headquarters. Supreme Ustaša Headquarters directed the operation of the Independent State of Croatia, a fascist puppet state responsible for the deaths of around 200,000 Serbs and almost all of the Jews and Romani people of the puppet state.
At the end of World War II he retreated to Austria with the rest of the Croatian Army and civilians, after which Yugoslav Partisans started a revolt which took at least 100,000 lives. During his stay in Austria he gained status as a prisoner of war, and left for another camp in Italy. During his transfer to the other camp, he jumped out of a train and thus become a political migrant.
The situation in Italy was changing; many Croats who escaped the communists were later arrested and extradited. To avoid this, Nikolić went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, arriving there on 8 June 1947. At first he lived in an old house with Ante Pavelić. They did not have much money and lived very cheaply. He worked as a journalist, and along with Franjo Nevistić, he published the magazine Hrvatska which he edited until June 1950. In the same year, along with Antun Bonifačić he published the Croatian emigrant magazine Hrvatska revija, which he edited from the first published issue of magazine in 1951 until his death.
Reporting on the Bleiburg tragedy, he claimed that 200,000 people had been killed.[citation needed]
He edited other Croatian emigrant magazines, including Ave, Hrvatski vitez (Croatian knight), Oganj (Flame), Novi život (New life), Za Boga i Hrvatsku (For God and Croatia), Danica, La Croatie, Osoba i duh (Person and spirit), Islam, Glasnik društva Muslimana Austrije (Herald of Muslims of Austria), Hrvatski radnik (Croatian worker), Hrvatska gruda (Croatian land), Hrvatska sloboda (Croatian freedom) and Rakovica.
After the fall of Yugoslavia, he returned to Croatia and died in his birth town on 12 July 1997.
Yugoslavia saw Croatian émigrés as enemies of the state, but Nikolić's work made him very respected and influential, even among his enemies. After his death, some Serbian magazines also praised him.
Poetry
His poetic works entered the body of Croatian poetry in the second half of the 20th century. His songs were published as a collection named Skupljena baština (Collected heritage) by Stijepo Mijović Kočan. Some of his works were translated into Polish in Łucja Danielewska's work Zywe zradla (Living sources; 1996).
Works
- Proljetna svitanja (Spring dawns), Zagreb, 1935
- Svijetli putovi (Lights and ways), Zagreb, 1939
- Moj grad (My town), Zagreb, 1941
- Oslobođeni žali (Free from regrets), Zagreb, 1943
- Duga nad porušenim mostovima: izabrane pjesme (Rainbow above destroyed bridges: chosen poems), chosen by Rajmund Kupareo, Buenos Aires, 1964
- Pred vratima domovine: susret s hrvatskom emigracijom 1965: dojmovi i razgovori (In front of fatherland: meetings with Croatian emigration 1965: impressions and conversations), Buenos Aires, 1966
- Gorak je zemje kruv (Bread is bitter because of land), München-Barcelona, 1977
- Povratak: izabrane pjesme (Return: selected poems), prepared by Božidar Petrač and Ivan Tolj, Zagreb, 1990
- Stepinac mu je ime. Zbornik uspomena, svjedočanstava i dokumenata (Stepinac is his name. Collection of memories, testimonies and documents), prepared by Vinko Nikolić, Zagreb, 1991. (First ed. München-Barcelona, knj. 1, 1978., knj. 2, 1980.)
- Opjevani grad (Singed town), Šibenik, 1994
- Tragedija se dogodila u svibnju: jedna (prva) godina egzila u dnevniku "ratnog" zarobljenika broj 324.664 (Tragedy occurred in May: one year of exile in a diary of the prisoner of war no. 324,644), Zagreb, 1995. (Prvo izd. Barcelona-München, 1984.)
- U službi domovine: studije, ogledi, portreti (In service of fatherland: studies, essays, portraits), prepared by Ivan Rodić, Zagreb, 1996
Posthumously:
- Izabrane pjesme (Selected poems), prepared by Cvjetko Milanja, Vinkovci, 1998.
Awards
- 1995: Order of Duke Trpimir[1]
Notes
- ↑ Narodne novine: Odluka kojom se odlikuju Redom kneza Trpimira s ogrlicom i Danicom Preuzeto 12. lipnja 2011.
;Bibliography
- Jandrić, Berislav (2006). Stajališta Hrvatske političke emigracije o hrvatskom proljeću iznesena u najznačajnijem emigrantskom časopisu Hrvatskoj reviji. Zagreb: Časopis za suvremenu povijest.