Josip Runjanin

Josip Runjanin (Serbian: Јосиф Руњанин, Josif Runjanin; 8 December 1821 – 2 February 1878) was a Croatian Serb soldier and composer from the Austrian Empire best known for composing the melody of Lijepa naša domovino, which later became the Croatian national anthem.

Josip Runjanin
Јосиф Руњанин
Born
Josif Runjanin

(1821-12-08)8 December 1821
Vinkovci, Slavonian Military Frontier, Military Frontier, Austrian Empire
Died2 February 1878(1878-02-02) (aged 56)
Újvidék (today Novi Sad), Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary
NationalityAustrian
Occupation(s)Soldier and composer

Life

Runjanin was born Josif Runjanin[lower-alpha 1] to a Serb[3][4][5] family on 8 December 1821 and baptized in the Serbian Orthodox Church of Pentecost in Vinkovci. He received his education in Vinkovci, and then Sremski Karlovci. He served in the Imperial Army as a cadet in the town of Glina along the Military Frontier in the Croatian Military Frontier district.[6]

While serving in Glina, he attained the rank of captain, and became proficient in playing the piano, being taught by the military bandmaster of Glina. There, he was introduced to the Illyrist circles, where he met noted poet Antun Mihanović.[7] It is generally agreed that Runjanin, an amateur musician, composed the music for Mihanović's patriotic Croatian poem "Horvatska domovina" in 1846 using inspiration from Gaetano Donizetti's aria "O sole piu ratto a sorger t'appresta" from the third act of his opera Lucia di Lammermoor, according to Croatian musicologist Josip Andreis.[8]

His song "Ljubimo te naša diko" was composed using motives from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.[6] "Ljubimo te naša diko (Hrvati svome banu)" was composed in honour of the Ban of Croatia, Josip Jelačić.[7][9][10]

The Croatian anthem by Mihanović and Runjanin would be first played in the streets of Zagreb in 1891 during the Croatian-Slavonian exhibit, so both men only achieved postmortem fame.[11] An obedient soldier, Runjanin was later made colonel.

In 1864 at the age of 43, Runjanin married the daughter of the pensioned captain Toma Perković.[12] As a representative of the First Banate regiment, he entered the Croatian Assembly in 1865.[12]

After retirement, Runjanin moved to Novi Sad where he died at the age of 57 on 2 February 1878 and was buried at the Serbian Orthodox cemetery.[13]

Legacy
Monument to the Croatian anthem

There are several schools in Croatia named after Runjanin, most notably the Elementary Music School of Josip Runjanin (Osnovna glazbena škola Josipa Runjanina) in Vinkovci.[14]

Notes
  1. His baptism record documents his given name as Josif, the Serbian variant of the given name Joseph. His name is often incorrectly spelled Josip, the Croatian variant of the name.[1] His surname comes from the name of the village Runjani in western Serbia, where the family of his ancestors came from.[2]

References
  1. Pavkovic, Aleksandar; Kelen, Christopher (2016). Anthems and the Making of Nation States: Identity and Nationalism in the Balkans. London, England: Bloomsbury. p. 223, note 6. ISBN 978-0-85772-642-1.
  2. Mitrić, Vladimir. "Runjani - za ponos Srbije: Poreklom iz ovog sela srpski kompozitor Josif Runjanin, a ovde rođena i majka Tomanije Obrenović". novosti.rs. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  3. Kuzmanovic, Jasminka (15 August 1995). "After Centuries of Coexistence, End of Serb Community in Croatia". Associated Press. Retrieved 8 December 2018. A Serb, Josip Runjanin, composed Croatia's national anthem.
  4. Rihtman-Auguštin, Dunja (1999). "A Croatian Controversy: Mediterranean–Danube–Balkans". Narodna Umjetnost. 36 (2): 116. ISSN 0547-2504.
  5. Mark Biondich (2005). "Croatia". In Richard C. Frucht (ed.). Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 419. ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6.
  6. Runjanin, Josip (in Croatian). Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  7. Šarčević, Josip (7 April 2008). "Josip Runjanin (Josif)". Hrvatski povijesni portal. Prelog: Inter nos. ISSN 1846-4432. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  8. Tomasović, Mirko (20 March 2003). "Vrsni katalog emocija i epiteta (Runjanin i Donizetti)" [An excellent catalog of emotions and epithets (Runjanin and Donizetti)]. Vijenac. Matica hrvatska (236).
  9. (in Croatian) ZAMP Baza autora: Ljubimo te naša diko (Hrvati svome banu)
  10. (in Croatian) Republika. Page 41, note 2
  11. "Josip Runjanin". Na današnji dan - 12. prosinca (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05.
  12. biografije.org. "Josip Runjanin". Biografije. Archived from the original on 2008-05-26.
  13. Kovačević, Snežana. "Kompozitor "Lijepe naše" počiva na novosadskom pravoslavnom groblju". Politika Online. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  14. "Josip Runjanin" (in Croatian). Vinkovci: Josip Runjanin Music School. 13 May 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
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