| Antun Radić | |
| Birth Date: | 11 June 1868 |
| Birth Place: | Desno Trebarjevo, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary |
| Death Place: | Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
| Restingplace: | Mirogoj cemetery, Zagreb, Croatia |
| Office: | Member of the Croatian Parliament (Three terms) |
| Term Start: | 1910 |
| Term End: | 1913 |
| Nationality: | Croat |
| Party: | Croatian Peasant Party |
| Occupation: | Scientist, writer, translator, journalist, sociologist, ethnographer, politician |
| Spouse: | Vilma Radić |
| Relatives: | Stjepan Radić (brother) |
Antun Radić (Desno Trebarjevo, 11 June 1868 - Zagreb, 10 February 1919) was a Croatian scientist, writer, translator, journalist, sociologist, ethnographer and politician. He is the founder of Croatian ethnography.[1]
Antun Radić was born in Desno Trebarjevo, Martinska Ves near Sisak in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia within Austria-Hungary as the eighth of eleven children in the family of poor peasants, Ana (née Posilović) and Imbra Radić. His younger brother, born as the ninth child, was Croatian politician Stjepan Radić.
After finishing elementary school in Martinska Ves, Radić went to Zagreb where he continued his education in the elite Upper Town Gymnasium, after which he enrolled in the study of Slavic Studies and Classical Philology at the Universities in Zagreb and Vienna.[2] He received his PhD from the University of Zagreb in 1892 with the thesis "On some eschatological motifs in Croatian literature".[2]
Since 1892, Radić worked as teacher in schools in Osijek, Požega, Varaždin and Zagreb.[3] After 1897 parliamentary elections, at the request of Ban Károly Khuen-Héderváry, Radić was discharged from the service because he did not want to vote for the pro-Hungarian government candidate.
From 1897 to 1901, he worked as editor of the "Almanac of public life and customs of the South Slavs".[2] From 1901 to 1909, he worked as secretary of the Matica hrvatska and was one of the founders and editors of "Voice of Matica hrvatska" magazine.[2] Radić was also the founder of Dom magazine, published between 1899 and 1904.[2] Subtitled "Paper for the Croatian peasant for talk and lesson", it was the first Croatian magazine for peasants, which greatly contributed to the cultural and national-political development of the Croatian villages.[2] In 1917, Radić took a job as a professor at Zagreb Upper Town Gymnasium, where he taught until his death.[2]
On 22 December 1904, Antun and Stjepan founded Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). In 1910 parliamentary election, he was elected to the Croatian Parliament.[2] During his term in office, he actively advocated the reform of local government and educational system.[4] As member of HPPS, he was elected to the Parliament three times (1910, 1911, 1913).
Antun Radić died on 10 February 1919. After his death, authorities in the newly established Kingdom of Yugoslavia did not grant a pension to his widow Vilma so she lost her livelihood and when she got a court order to leave the apartment for not paying the rent, she went on July 6, 1919, to his grave and drank poison which killed her.[1] At that time, the authorities persecuted and imprisoned many leaders of Croatian Peasant Party and it was thought that Vilma actually committed suicide in protest against those persecutions.[5] He was buried at Mirogoj cemetery on 12 February 1919.[6]
Radić greatly influenced political activity of his brother Stjepan with his ethnological research. He emphasized the connection between the national liberation with social, warning that complete national freedom cannot be achieved by the simple removal of foreign national oppression. In addition to folklore, Radić also dealt with the literary and historical topics in his scientific papers and also translated works of prominent Russian writers (Pushkin, Gogol and Tolstoy).[4]
Antun Radić reputedly spoke Croatian, Latin, German, French, Italian, Czech, Bulgarian, Polish and Russian, all fluently.
Many schools, streets and squares across Croatia were named after Antun Radić. In 1995, Order of Danica Hrvatska was established. Order is divided into seven equally valuable decorations of which one aworded for special merits in education, is named after Antun Radić.[7]