VESNA KRMPOTIĆ (1932–2018), writer and translator. She graduated from the general education secondary school in Zagreb in 1951 and earned a degree in English studies and psychology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1959. She worked at Radio Zagreb from 1960 to 1962, then stayed in India, where she completed her studies in the Bengali language in 1964. In a series of poetry books, alongside the fundamental motifs of love and addressing the other, she reflects influences of Indian spirituality and Eastern mysticism. These are evident, among other things, in the transcendence of individuality and the abstraction of romantic experience, creating, according to most critics, a distinct poetics within the context of modern Croatian poetry (collections Raskorak, 1965; Dvogovor, 1981; Orfelija, 1987, and others). She is the author of several genre-diverse prose works, including Košulja sretnog čovjeka (1981), Pir sunca i mjeseca(1989), Bhagavatar (1990) and Put Jednote (1998), which share an ontological and metaphysical foundation with her poetry. She lived in Cairo from 1967 to 1971, and part of her work is inspired by Egyptian culture (Dijamantni faraon, 1975). She poetically confronted the traumatic experience of losing her son to illness in the collection Ljevaonica za Igora (1978) and explored it in the diary-like prose work Brdo iznad oblaka (1987), which is considered the central work of her creative activity. In the 108×108 edition (2006), the most extensive poetry collection in Croatian literature (11,664 poems), she compiled a series of books titled Stotinu i osam. She also wrote the study Indija (1965). Her plays were performed on Radio Zagreb from 1978 to 1991. She primarily translated from English. She is the compiler of anthologies of Indian and Egyptian literature, as well as collections inspired by the teachings of Sai Baba. She was a professional writer; from the 1960s, she mostly lived in Belgrade, from 1973 to 1977 in Washington and from 1981 to 1983 in Accra. She was awarded multiple times, including the “Vladimir Nazor” Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999.
dr. sc. Ljubica Josić, Lexicographer
SLOBODAN NOVAK (1924–2016), writer, is considered one of the most important prose authors of contemporary Croatian literature. He attended the general education secondary school in Split, graduated in 1943 in Sušak, and graduated in Yugoslav studies in 1953 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. He joined the Partisans in 1943 and was demobilized in 1945. He worked in Zagreb in the 1950s as a journalist and editor, then in Split as the director of Drama at the Croatian National Theater (HNK) and an editor at Slobodna Dalmacija. Returning to Zagreb, he worked as an editor in the literary department of Radio Zagreb and in publishing houses Lykos, Zora and Naprijed (retired in 1983). He initially entered literature with poetry but soon became a prose writer focused on exploring the relationship between the individual and society, masterfully utilizing modern narrative techniques. His debut novel, Izgubljeni zavičaj (1955), showcased his remarkable storytelling sensitivity and existentialist poetics, a style that would define his later works – especially Mirisi, zlato i tamjan (1968). Recognized by critics as one of the most significant achievements in 20th-century Croatian literature, the novel uses a monologue-driven narrative to explore social realities and their ideological forces, both political and religious. Through themes of death, illness and absurdity, it deals with fundamental questions of existential meaning, often using irony. Irony also permeates his prose collection Tvrdi grad (1961), in which the novellas Badessa madre Antonia, Južne misli and Treba umrijeti logično stand out for their anthology-worthy significance. The author is known for the notable three-part novel Izvanbrodski dnevnik (1976), which features prominent autoreferential and metafictional elements, as well as the novel Pristajanje (2005). In addition to novels and novellas, he wrote radio dramas, film scripts, reviews, polemics and critiques. He received the “Vladimir Nazor” Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1989. He has been a regular member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) since 1991.
dr. sc. Ljubica Josić, Lexicographer
GUSTAV KRKLEC (1899–1977), a prominent Croatian poet of the first half of the 20th century, prose writer and translator, was born in Udbinja near Karlovac on 23 June 1899. He spent his childhood in Hrvatsko zagorje, completed his general education secondary school in 1918 in Sušak, attended the Higher Agricultural School in Vienna, studied philosophy and psychology in Zagreb in 1921, and studied directing in Prague, where he assisted K. Čapek. He lived in Belgrade, Zemun and Slankamen until 1945, and then in Zagreb. He died on 30 October 1977. He published humorous stories in the journal Koprive (1915). He wrote poems under the influence of German Expressionism and collaborated with the journal Juriš (Lirika, 1919; Srebrna cesta, 1921). In his mature phase, he returned to a traditional style (Ljubav ptica, 1926; Izlet u nebo, 1928; San pod brezom, 1941; Darovi za bezimenu, 1942). Krklec's poetry, created between modernist and traditional frameworks, is a characteristic example of Croatian Expressionism, but also a unique and distinctive revival of traditional lyrical forms. His simple, confessional poetic language, woven with cheerfulness and directness, in nostalgic experiences of childhood and nature, free from arcadian sentiment and inspired by real images and social themes, reveals the poet's true rootedness and personal connection with the themed local space. With stylistically and metrically refined, sophisticated and melodic verses, sometimes even artificial, and with pantheistic and joyful moods, as well as elegiac echoes of the past, he occupies a prominent place in Croatian literature. In his work for children, his witty and original Telegrafske basne (1952), Zvonce o repu (1954) and Majmun i naočale (1967), featuring characters from the animal world, are examples of the highest level of poetic epigrammatic writing. He also wrote literary and journalistic notes on cultural and artistic life, polemics and literary criticism, and continued Matoš's tradition of travel writing and feuilleton prose (Lica i krajolici, 1954; Noćno iverje, 1960). He translated from Russian, Slovak, German, Czech and Hungarian. He was the president of Matica hrvatska from 1950 to 1954, the president of the Croatian Writers' Association (DKH) in 1964, 1974 and 1976, and the president of the Writers' Union of Yugoslavia in 1975. He received the “Vladimir Nazor” Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1968. He also signed as Martin Lipnjak.
dr. sc. Nevenka Videk
GEORGE MARTIN SKURLA (1921–2001), an American aeronautical engineer of Croatian descent, was responsible for the production and success of the lunar modules for NASA's Apollo program, which enabled humans to land on the Moon, as well as the production of military aircraft such as the F-14 Tomcat and A-6 Intruder. During the Cold War, George M. Skurla held the highest positions in the then-largest American military corporation, Grumman, where he also became president.
George M. Skurla's main contribution to the Apollo program was the production of lunar modules for the Apollo missions, the spacecraft that carried astronauts to the Moon's surface during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. This achievement marked a milestone and a strategic victory for the United States over the Soviet Union in the space race. In the military industry, he is distinguished by leading the project for the production of the F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft (famous from the 1986 film Top Gun), which served for decades as the main and strategic fighter jet of the U.S. Navy, as well as the A-6 Intruder aircraft. In his long career as an engineer and manager, he held numerous high-ranking positions in the largest American military corporation during the Cold War – Grumman Corporation, eventually becoming its president in 1985. This led him to become a close associate and friend of American presidents. George M. Skurla was born in the United States, in Newark, New Jersey, on 2 July 1921, to parents who were both immigrants from Croatia, and his surname was originally Škurla. His father was Martin Škurla from the Dubrovnik area, and his mother was Marija Kraljević from Zagreb. He was educated in public schools in his hometown of Newark and West Orange, New Jersey, and later went on to study at the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1944 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. In the same year, he started working as an intern at Grumman Corporation, where he achieved his greatest career successes. His career developed rapidly; by 1950, he had his first management role as the head of aircraft testing, followed by becoming the chief engineer at a company owned by Grumman. He then returned to Grumman, taking on other high-level positions, and in 1965, he was appointed director of Grumman operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. There, he gathered a team of 1,600 experts responsible for the assembly, testing and final checks of the lunar modules, which were the crowning achievement of the Apollo program. After the success of the Apollo 11 mission, his lunar module saved the crew of Apollo 13, who, after an accident in space, safely returned to Earth with it, despite the spacecraft not being designed for that purpose. In 1973, Skurla was appointed chief operating officer at Calverton on Long Island, where he led the production projects for the F-14 Tomcat and A-6 Intruder aircraft. In 1976, he became the director of Grumman Aerospace Corporation, the division responsible for the development and production of all the aircraft manufactured by the corporation, and in 1985, he was appointed president of the entire corporation. A year later, he retired and continued working as a consultant. He died in Melbourne, Florida on 2 September 2001, and was buried in Westbury, Long Island. During his lifetime and posthumously, he received numerous honors and was a member of many prestigious organizations. At the Florida Institute of Technology, the aeronautical school building is named after George M. Skurla, and there is an annual award for outstanding alumni who have achieved success in the aviation and space industries.
Antun Kraljević,
Master of Political Sciences (mag. pol.)
