Cold day, with warm hearts. January 20th, 2009. In the first seven days, more good is done then in the last seven years. Transparency in the government addressed. Guantanamo. New emissions standards for automobiles. Environmental promises in progress. Reach out to the other side of the world. Creative ambition. Very impressive start. I've never seen anything like this before. Let's hope and let's participate.
Žumberak is a Croatian region south-west of Zagreb. It is a favorite place for mountaineers, those wishing to learn about rare plants and interesting archaeological sites, or about Croatian churches of Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic rites built side by side like in Sošice. Remote villages and their hospitable inhabitants still preserve their old habits. On the photo Miroslav Peris from Sošice in Žumberak, Croatian pilot and Hero.
Croatia convincingly defeated handball superpower Spain 32:22. The match was also a revenge of Croatian handball team for the defeat they suffered from Spain in the match for the third place at the Olympics in Beijing. In a great atmosphere of Spaladium Arena Croatian players showed determination from the very beginning. Ivano Balić on the photo, one of the best players of today, playing for Croatia in his native city of Split.
Folklore ensemble "Filip Dević" was founded in 1950. Since then more than 8,000 of its members have participated in preserving Croatian national heritage by bringing back to life old customs, songs and dances. In 1970 it came home with gold medal for folk dancing from Middlesbrough, England where an International Festival was held.
The Church of St. Barbara in Zagreb is the most important example of folk wooden sacral architecture of the Baroque period in Croatia. It was built of oak timber in 1642. It is very near the Zagreb airport.
Igor Vori (left) was named player of the game in Croatia's opening match against Korea to kick off the 2009 Men's World Handball Championship being hosted by Croatia. It will be held from January 16 - February 1 at various venues in Croatia.
Boris Miksic has amassed millions from his White Bear Township business Cortec Corp. Now, he said all he wants to do is give back to his country of Croatia - as its president. If he runs for the office in 2009, it won't be the first time.
In a world where diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions, Dr. Mladen Vranić is colossal. He is recognized as a global leader in diabetes research. In 2009 he will join the group of outstanding individuals recognized by the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
The Croatian American Bar Association (CABA) is pleased to announce that Dennis J. Kucinich (left) is the recipient of this year's CABA Vinodol Code Award for his outstanding contribution to the law as a tireless advocate for workers' rights, civil rights and human rights.
Croatia has a good strategic position and unpolluted soil, which enables the production of healthy food. An investor has secured the parcel of 2,250 sq.m. with necessary infrastructure in Business zone of the town of Beli Manastir. The investment project is commercial, oriented to domestic and outlandish market. We are inviting everyone interested in this investment. Nevenka Topić on the photo is one of them.
You can't make an omelet without breaking the eggs. Likewise, you can't pretend to know a thing or two about Life, the Universe, and Everything, without breaking a few of its constituent parts. Like a child breaking his new toy, driven by a sheer desire to see what's inside, the physicists at CERN will break the protons to see what will show up.
Dr. Charles Béné, a retired professor from the University of Grenoble, France, is a European authority on 16th century literature. He studied various aspects literary works of Marko Marulić, Croatian Renaissance writer, and his discourses were published in distinguished European magazines. He has also studied other Croatian writers of the Humanism and Renaissance movements.
Ivana Marija Vidović is Croatian pianist and poet, born and living in Dubrovnik. We are happy to announce her USA tour in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, January 14-21, 2008. She is a young pianist with great natural instinct, a beautiful musicality, lovely desire to express herself artistically, with taste, poetry and extroversion. She is the founder and artistic director of the Epidaurus Festival, and involved in humanitarian work.
Prof. Dr. Goran Šimić from the University of Zagreb won the award for his discovery of the spinal muscular - atrophy mechanism and, due to that, has been acclaimed as the world's best neuropathologist in 2008. The "Kurt Jellinger Prize" is awarded by one of the world's leading magazines specialising in neuropathology, "Acta Neuropathologica." Šimić is also the first Croatian scientist whose picture has appeared on the cover of the journal.
"The Banker" magazine, which is one of the publications of a group of the most influential European newspaper, "The Financial Times", bestowed on the governor of the Croatian National Bank, Zeljko Rohatinski (left), two awards for the past year - the best governor of Europe and the best central bank governor of the world in 2008.
Dr. Ante Cuvalo (left) is preparing a book on the history of Croatians in the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana. The book will include names of outstanding Croatians from this part of the country. If you want to help with the project, e-mail him a short CV and any other information that might be useful for the project.
Captain John Dominis is the father of John Owen, the husband of the last Hawaiian queen Liliuokalani. Prof. Dr. Vinko Ribarić, on the photo, has issued a monograph in 2008 proving that both John Dominis and his son John Owen have their roots from the island of Rab in Croatia.
The principal role of the Croatian Cultural Club in Zagreb is the advancement of Croatian culture at home and internationally. The Club provides incentives and works on implementation of various programmes related to creation of works of arts, organises lectures, recitals, exhibitions and conferences. The Club has been founded by Šime Šimatović on the photo.
“Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers” is an extremely important political and cultural event, not only for the American government but also for the countries and nations which have recently suffered tragic genocidal experiences (Rwanda and Bosnia) or are experiencing them right now (Darfur and Congo).
Sa zadovoljstvom vas obavješćujemo da je odnedavno u najvišem zakonodavnom i predstavničkom tijelu Hrvatske, Hrvatskom Saboru, utemeljen Odbor za Hrvate izvan Republike Hrvatske. Kako biste se mogli bolje upoznati s radom odbora, u prilogu vam šaljemo podrobniji prikaz njegovog sastava, ovlasti i uloge.
The Australian Handball Federation has selected the members of the Men's Team which will compete in the World Championship to be held in Croatia in January 2009. CROWN’s friend, Bevan Calvert is one of these players. We saw Bevan in the game against Croatian handball team during the 2005 World Championship. Shower them with love Osijek.
On the coast of Croatia, is this gorgeous heart shaped island, lined on every side with golden sands. Honeymoon location anyone? Croatia has 1185 islands, and 66 among them inhabited.
Dear Fellow Croatian Americans: We have been asked from the Presidential Inaugural Committee 2009 Co-Chairs to invite groups and Croatian Americans to participate in a National Day of Service on Monday, January 19th which is a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King. The most popular community service events so far seem to be volunteering at food banks, senior centers, day care centers, homeless shelters and legal or medical clinics.
The Zagreb School of Slavic Studies organized an exhibition of around 500 titles of translation of Croatian fiction and assorted titles from the field of humanities in 23 languages. The exhibition was shown in Dubrovnik and Zagreb. On the photo is a detail from a pocket book "Croatian language" published in French by Assimil.
Dario Cvitanich (left) secured his hat trick in the 3-0 win over Den Haag inside the first hour of play (6', 17', 55'). He has also scored 6 goals in the last 3 games for Ajax. Cvitanich was born in Argentina but is of Croatian origin.
It is the end of the year. I thank you all for making CROWN and CROWN Constellation the most visible Croatian websites outside Croatia. Great news about individual achievements from Mirna Jukic, Ivica Kostelic and Stjepan Hauser to Martin Kotarski. Do not miss "If streets could talk" by dr. Slaven Letica. Slavonski Poduzetnik is magazine to read. Mark Begich, first Croatian American senator...we have a lot to celebrate.
Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić is known internationally through her acclaimed performances of baroque, classical and other coloratura - mezzo repertoire as well as solo songs. She holds numerous awards among which are the International Circle of Friends and Patrons of Théâtre du Châtelet and the Orlando for the best performance at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival 2004 with the Purcell Quartet.
Merry Christmas Happy New Year 2009 Happy Holidays Blagoslovljen Božić Sretna Nova 2009 Happy Hanukkah Happy Kurban Bajram Happy Kwanzaa. We wish to all of us THE WORLD PEACE more transparency in human behavior and a safe planet. NO MORE WARS. No Fear.
Thomas Morgenstern (ski jumping) and Mirna Jukic (swimming) are the Austrian Athletes of the Year for 2008. More than 300 members of Sports Media Austria voted this year for the nation's top athletes including the team of the year. Mirna Jukic is Austria's most successful swimmer ever. Born in Croatia, she came to Austria in 1999 and received Austrian citizenship a year later.
Ivica Kostelić, Croatian skier, secured his ninth career win at the Alta Badia slalom in Italy, finishing ahead of France's Jean-Baptiste Grange and Austria's Benjamin Raich. This is a nice introduction to a world skiing event "Snow Queen Trophy" that will take place on January 4th and 6th 2009 in Zagreb, capital of Croatia.
Ivan Rabuzin 1921-2008, Croatian painter, designed a curtain decorating the stage of one of the best Kyoto theaters in Japan, as well as the Takarazuka theater in Tokyo (10.5 x 24 m, 1980), and several other museums in Japan. Among numerous monographs devoted to his work we mention only Masayoshi Honme, Ivan Rabuzin, Taiji Harada, 1990, published by Kodanasha, Japan.
We are proud to report in more detail about prestigious Japanese humanitarian award conferred by the Goi Peace Foundation to Martin Kotarski, a very young Croatian student. Martin is on the photo with Natalija Jurišić, his prof. The report has been prepared on the bases of material submitted upon our request by Martin himself, exclusively for the readers of the CROWN.
Aleksandar Lysenko, Russian international chess master, is the author of an article "In the Chess Street" published by the well known Russian chess journal "64 Chess Survey", Moscow 1996. The article deals with the Chess Club (on the photo) in the Chess Street in the town of Ravna Gora in Croatia. He wrote: "It is good that such a street exists, but it is a pity that the street is not in Russia."
In 2008 we mark 500 years since the birth of Petar Zoranic, Croatian Renaissance writer, born in the city of Zadar in 1508. He is best known for his novel Planine (The Mountains), published in 1569, the first one in the history of Croatian literature. It is considered to be the oldest novel about mountains in the world. It is also one of the earliest patriotic books in the history of Croatian literature.
Zlata Bartl (1920-2008) is known as inventor of Vegeta, an original, natural, and universal condiment of unique taste. Vegeta was created in 1958 in Podravka company in the town of Koprivnica, Croatia, and is used in over 40 countries. It is one of the most popular of European condiments.
On December 5th, 2008 Stjepan Hauser won two first prizes at the International Music Competition "Francesco Forgione" in Verbania, Italy near Milano. He won 100 points out of 100 and became absolute winner in two different categories (Solo and Solo with Orchestra). A part of the prize includes 70 concerts in Italy.
The city of Rijeka plays host to the 12th European Short Course Championships to be held at the Kantrida Swimming Complex from December 11-14, 2008. More than 600 top athletes, from some 50 European countries, accompanied with quite a number of distinguished persons related to this wonderful sport.
Many people think that the City of Dubrovnik is one of the most beautiful in the world. Marin Šperanda, living in Dubrovnik, is amateur photographer, and his photos indicate in his very convincing poetic way the beauty of his native City. Dubrovnik is the unique city in the world lovingly called by its citizens simply as GRAD, i.e. the City.
Pope Benedict XVI met with a group of 33 bishops from Chile, who were in Rome on their ad limina visit. Three of them are of Croatian origin. Moreover, Msgr. Alejandro Goic Karmelic (on the left with the Pope), whose both parents come from Croatian island of Brač, is the president of the Chilean Conference of Catholic bishops. He was a guest at Croatian program of the Radio Vatican where he spoke in Croatian.
An important book by Ignjat Đurđević published in 1730 in Venice was released in 2008, in The Year of St Paul, i.e. two thousand years after the birth of St Paul. It is the Croatian translation of Ignjat Đurđević's monograph written in elite Latin language, in which he proved that St Paul spent three months on the island of Mljet in Croatia, and not on the island of Malta.
In the last 7 years, MSC Cruises fleet brought over 700,000 guests to the Croatian city often nicknamed The Pearl of Adriatic - Dubrovnik, the only port in Croatia where passengers can embark MSC ships and start a vacation of their dreams. In 2008 alone MSC ships have called Dubrovnik 73 times carrying onboard over 200,000 passengers.
Vlaho Paljetak (1893-1944) is a famous Croatian pop singer born in Dubrovnik, known for several still very popular songs, among them Marijana. It is not widely known that this Croatian song had two Japanese recordings. It was sung by Seiji Tanaka in 1976.
If Croatian streets and squares could talk, what a thrilling story they could tell about the meaning of all the name changes, and the dramatic, bloody, and tragic history that lies beneath. In my book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, I decided to "freeze history", at least for a brief moment. I gambled on posthumous recognition for my efforts, fully aware that any such appreciation in Croatia is always fleeting, and never long-lasting.
Miro Gavran, the most succesful contemporary Croatian playwright, will have three premieres of his plays in three European countries in only two weeks. His three playes "All About Men", "Greta Garbo's Secret" and "Othello from Susak Island" will be performed Latvia November 28, 2008. Slovakia December 11, 2008 and Czech Republic December 13, 2008 in respective languages.
Vladimir Mihajlović, on the photo, is a newspaperman of Slavonski Poduzetnik - Slavonian Entrepreneur. He sent us a few very interesting stories published in this monthley issued in Osijek, a major town in Slavonija. Slavonia is a very fertile historical region on the north of Croatia. The editor in chief of this excellent bussiness journal is Tihomir Jelavić.
Mark Begich's victory in the U.S. Senate race in Alaska is being celebrated in a Croatian village where his grandfather once lived. Begich's grandfather left the small village of Podlapaca in central Croatia almost a century ago to seek a better life in America. Croatian Nikola Begic, who says he's the new senator's cousin, was quoted by one paper as saying their extended family had endured poverty and wars in the past, so the senator's victory "may be God's reward now."
An injured eagle owl was brought to the Falconry centre near Šibenik, Croatia, with its wings badly damaged. Under carefully measured anaesthetic, 30 damaged feathers have been changed with new feathers. The operation was done by Emilio Menđušić, director of the centre (on the photo). The resulting film prepared by Hrvoje Gunjača was awarded by CNN.
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) increased his lead over convicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to 3,724 votes on Tuesday with almost all of the remaining ballots counted, and the Associated Press has now called the race for the Democrat. Smile of relief, so well deserved. Croatians all over the world are celebrating tonight, a historic race. Mark is entering Senate at the right moment in history as a critical democratic Senator.
Lavoslav Leopold Ružička (1887-1976) is one among three Croatian winners of the Nobel Prize. Born in the town of Vukovar, he obtained the Nobel Prize for chemistry while working et ETH, Zurich, Switzerland. In Vukovar the home of his birth has been renovated in 2007 from the 1991 destruction, now known as the Ružička House.
