We believe that there is no child, as well as no adult, who hasn’t heard of apprentice Hlapić and the forest Stribor. However, few people know that the author of these popular children’s stories, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, was the first female member of the then JAZU (now HAZU) and was even nominated twice by the Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature: in 1931 and 1938.
From the very first editions, her modest opus was well-received by the public, both by writers and literary critics, as well as children. Her works are beloved by the youngest readers, faithful followers for whom she created, even a hundred years after the release of her first book. In fact, according to data from Croatian libraries, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić has been the most borrowed children’s author for years.
Childhood and Youth
She was born on April 18, 1874, in the city of Ogulin, which belonged to the noble Frankopan family, a place she loved dearly and constantly returned to. Unfortunately, the Mažuranić family house no longer exists, but the city museum reconstructed it.
Her room and the room of her family with original furniture, and the city of Ogulin plans to open a museum – The House of Fairy Tales by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić.
Ivana comes from a very famous family. Her father was a prominent state attorney, a deputy county prefect, and later vice president of the Ban’s table. Fran Mažuranić, Ivana’s cousin, was a well-known writer and poet, and Ivana and Fran’s grandfather was the great Ivan Mažuranić, a politician, Croatian ban, writer and poet, creator of the poem “The Death of Smail-aga Čengić” which first made the name Mažuranić famous. The Mažuranić family actively participated in the creation of modern society, and apart from the mentioned individuals, they also produced several other names significant for our politics and culture. But the list of famous people from this family does not end there: Ivana’s grandmother Aleksandra, the wife of Ban Mažuranić, was the sister of writer Dimitrije Demeter.
Although all of them strongly influenced her internal shaping, the greatest indirect influence on Ivana was her famous grandfather Ivan Mažuranić. Namely, Ivana was
In the branched Mažuranić family, at a time when it was still a common custom to gather around the table for daily family gatherings, such gatherings often turned into discussions about poetry, literature, or social events. Growing up in such an environment, as a young girl, Ivana showed a passion for reading, eagerly choosing from the rich home libraries of her parents and relatives.
With the support of her famous and influential relatives, she received a good education. She received excellent lessons in the Croatian language from her uncle, Professor Antun Mažuranić, who was also a personal collaborator of Ljudevit Gaj. However, she considered her own learning to be insufficiently systematic because She actually finished only two school grades. The main reason is the fact that her family, due to her father’s job, frequently moved during her early childhood. However, on the other hand, she mastered five languages, with French being her favorite. She learned it at home from her mother, who also came from a prestigious family.
Ivana spends her youth between city life, long summers on the hills of Varaždin, at her mother’s family vacation home, and travels to Ogulin and Novi Vinodolski, the hometowns of the Mažuranić family. It is there, in these idyllic landscapes and untouched nature, that the desire to dedicate herself to writing was conceived.
These were her youthful dreams that took flight one summer when, as a fifteen-year-old, she had the opportunity to get to know her relative Fran Mažuranić, who was already a famous poet. They spent their time in long walks and conversations. Following his advice, Ivana started writing a diary, and since then, she diligently fills the pages with impressions and thoughts every day. Jima, meticulously recording important events, which will greatly contribute to the development of the future great master of written words. She always carried her precious notebook with her, and soon her first youthful verses emerged.
“Marvelous Adventures” The wind in the forest, fragrant meadows, the gentle river Dobra, everything was mysterious; did the twin siblings Jaglenac and Rutvica outsmart the evil fairies in this mountain, while Potjeh searched for the truth? Here’s what she says herself: The peculiar and striking forms of the juniper and the romance of the Dobra provided my imagination with so much food that late into the night I pondered the strangest images and fantastic possibilities in my mind: what all takes place in the deep night around the juniper. (…) Moreover, these images that appeared to me, I did not consider them creations of imagination, but rather as a revelation that revealed to me the true inner life of the juniper from a distance. (Autobiography)
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić appeared relatively late in literature. Although she became the mother of six children, she did not live confined to her family; she remained active in social life with her husband as much as her family obligations allowed. However, for years she did not write or publish anything because it was not in line with the duties of a woman at that time. In her biography Fiji says: This struggle between a strong desire to write and this (right or wrong) sense of duty tied up my public writing work until about 15 years ago.
Instead of writing, I was constantly searching for valuable readings for my children, which would be age-appropriate and interesting enough to hold their attention. As she says in her autobiography: My children want to read – what a joy for me (…) to open the doors to that magical, colorful world that every child enters with their first reading – to direct their bright and curious eyes to those sides of life that I want them to notice first and never lose sight of.
Over time, the idea was born in her to put the stories she had imagined in the long winter evenings on paper to entertain her children. The desire to write that had been smoldering in her all these years finally found its practical purpose. And so, the first book “Valjani i nevaljani – tales and poems for boys” is created. It was published in 1902, in her own edition, for the family and friends circle. Four years later, her book “School and Holidays” was released, which, like the first collection, was intended for a pedagogical role. Her book of poems “Pictures” was printed in 1912, and the following year saw the light of day with the “Wonderful Adventures and Misadventures of Apprentice Hlapić”, which definitively drew attention to Ivana as a writer. Hlapić’s adventures and misadventures are described simply and closely to children, containing elements of adventure; on the border of playful imagination and reality, with many unexpected turns and events. Altogether, it includes a moral message that good and love always prevail in the end.
Tales from Long Ago
With her “Tales from Long Ago”, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić has opened the doors for us to a mysterious world, ancient, yet at the same time familiar, a world that is as much a product of imagination as it is real. Fairy Kosjenka, the giant Regoč, house spirits-protectors, fisherman Palunko, Potjeh, the Sea King, the Queen of all bees, the Dawn maiden… Oh, dear Svarozic… the old deities and characters from the lost Slavic mythology. Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić placed them in their natural form: a mythological story, a fairy tale, appealing to children and pedagogically justified.
The themes and events are universal and in that sense, these fairy tales speak about reality. The heroes of “Priče iz davnine” search for lost purity, for love and goodness that empower everything, for truth and meaning of life. They realize that naivety can cost them their lives, that loyalty always pays off, that luck helps the brave, etc. All of this is brought to life through original plots and gentle, measured humor.
“Priče iz davnine” are written in the style of folk tales, skillfully and convincingly, which led to the public opinion that they are actually just interpretations of old Slavic legends. However, the author decisively denied this in her letter to her son Ivan. Nevertheless, her stories, in which she skillfully combined elements of Slavic myths and folklore, fittingly filled a void. a space of lost Croatian mythical treasure. Secrets entrusted by our ancestors to the forests and waters, one day suddenly burst out like sparks from the hearth of an ancient Slavic home.
Apprentice Hlapić to young readers
This is a story about the miraculous journey of the apprentice Hlapić.
Hlapić was as small as a forearm, cheerful as a bird, brave as Prince Marko, wise as a book, and good as the sun. And because he was like that, he successfully escaped from many hardships.
Hlapić’s journey was initially as easy as child’s play, so readers will say at the beginning of this book: “What does Hlapić need so much wisdom and courage for on such an easy journey? (…)
But later Hlapić’s journey became increasingly difficult and dangerous, as is often the case. So when readers see little Hlapić in great danger and trouble, they will say: “Hlapić did well to bring a lot of kindness, wisdom, and courage with him for every safety when he set off in the early morning. “world.”
“And that’s exactly why everything ended up as it was best.”
“But let no one run away from their home. No one has suffered as much as Hlapić did at Mrkonja’s master, and who knows if anyone would be lucky on their journey like Hlapić. You will be amazed anyway that everything turned out so well for him.”
“So, sit on the doorstep and read!”
“Letter to son Ivan”
“A letter sent by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić to her son Dr. Ivan Brlić in 1929, and which was published in the Croatian magazine the following year, is less known to the wider public. The letter is interesting in terms of content as well as artistically and sheds light on her unique personality, her writing talent, which can rightfully be called unsurpassed by a literary historian. Although written without the intention of reaching the public, we can consider it another literary gem of hers, which, with its simple, warm expression, confirms that she is a storytelling magician.”
“Dear Ivo!
Boat on the Sava River, November 30th” .1929.
From the letter of Mrs. (…) I see that what I have long suspected has become clear. The book “Priče iz davnine” has already found its “destiny”. And that destiny (…) is the same as the destiny of Homer’s works. Only this time it is happening at an accelerated pace, 100:1. Barely 10 years have passed since these stories were published, and already most readers are asking: “Who wrote these stories? Was it the people? The masses? Or an individual? Is Homer a living being, an individual, or is he a fiction, a legend, a concept, a spirit of folk poetry?” – This analogy, which (if destiny persists) I will gratefully and joyfully embrace as its greatest gift after several centuries, I want to modestly set aside for now.
Successful or unsuccessful, flawed or perfect, these Stories are in their essence, as well as in their execution, purely and completely my original work. They are composed around the names and characters taken from Slavic mythology, and that is the only external connection they have with folk mythology. Not one scene, not one plot, not one development, not one tendency in These stories are not found fully formed in our mythology (Anyone who has studied mythology knows, unfortunately, that our Slavic mythology is a collection of almost completely nonsensical speculations, a field of ruins, from which only names emerge as upright pillars.).
It’s a pity that something with a true and original beginning cannot be found in such disarray. (…)
I embrace You, and the beautiful autumn evening calls me out into nature, into that indescribably wonderful story, for which, thank God, we futilely search for its genesis.
I.B.M.”
Children’s playing cards “Black Peter”.
IVANA BRLIĆ-MAŽURANIĆ IN THE WORLD
The first translation of Tales of Long Ago into English was published in London as early as 1924, under the title Croatian Tales of Long Ago. It seems to have been an important cultural event, as it elicited a strong reaction accompanied by reviews and commendations in as many as thirty prestigious English magazines and journals. The Daily Dispatch calls Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić is considered the Croatian Andersen, and the Church Times says that her stories express the ethical genius of the Croatian people, which will enchant not only children but also allow adults a glimpse into the soul of a lesser-known nation.
After being published in English, Tales of Long Ago and the novel about the apprentice Hlapić have been translated into Swedish, German, Czech, Slovak, Danish, Russian, Ukrainian, and have been translated into 40 languages worldwide, including Chinese and Esperanto. This makes Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić the most translated Croatian writer to this day.
In fact, we can say that Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić is more present today than ever before: besides numerous editions of her works, there are also numerous adaptations for the stage, puppets, animated films, and in 1971, an award for the best text for children was established in her name, the unique Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić.
Newer critics suggest another flattering comparison: they call her the Croatian Tolkien because, like the famous J.R.R. Tolkien, she successfully delves into the realm of fantasy, creating rich worlds and captivating characters. Reviving forgotten myths with snippets and fragments, she gains more and more recognition as time goes by, confirming her status as a truly talented artist.