Vladimir Nazor

Who was Vladimir Nazor?

Vladimir Nazor was Croatian poet and politician. He was the first Speaker of the Croatian Parliament. He began his political career as the head of the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia, the provisional Croatian World War II deliberative assembly, moving on to head the first post-war Croatian National Parliament. In that post, he was by law concurrently the first head of state of Croatia in general, and the first head of state of the current Croatian republic. His position carried little real political power, however, which was instead invested in the office of the Prime Minister of Croatia and with the Secretary of the Communist Party of Croatia. Today he is most remembered, however, as a well-known poet, writer, translator, and humanist. Although he was not an active politician until 1941, he had a significant political influence through ethical aspects of his work during prewar Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Nazor's early work paralleled the rise of the Young Croatian literary movement. He acquired much literary popularity in Croatia writing about folk legends and stories. The tale Big Joseph is still popular: it features a helpful and kind hearted giant named Jože, living in the area around the town of Motovun. His verses in Hrvatski kraljevi established him as the great patriot poet in Croatia. Istrian Tales revealed his storytelling skill and mastery. By illuminating the personality of the South Slavs through tales of Croatia, he contributed a great deal in creating the Yugoslav national consciousness.