| content |
 |
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. (January 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008) |
Nada Klaić (1920 - 1988) was a Croatian historian. She was influential Croatian medievalist of the 20th century. At first, it was believed by that she modernized Croatian historiography in general, but later proved that she has falsified and misinterpreted original historical documents at the expense of Croats and Croatia. Being the granddaughter of famous Croatian historian, Vjekoslav Klaić, her blatant forgeries were "forgiven".1
Contents |
Historical studies
She was born in Zagreb as the granddaughter of the historian Vjekoslav Klaić. In 1943 she graduated history from the University in Zagreb, where she was hired as a university instructor in the same year. In 1946 Klaić got her Ph.D. with the thesis Political and Social Organization of Slavonia under the Árpád dynasty. In 1954 she became a private assistant professor; in 1968 she became a professor of the history of Croatia.
She researched the period from the arrival of the Slavs (see Migration Period) until the 19th century. She contributed to the Croatian Medievalism by writing papers about social history. The book History of the Yugoslav Peoples II (1959) includes her comprehensive overview of the history of Croatia in the Early Modern Times, including elements of economic and social history.
She paid special attention to the history of cities, as shown by several studies and books: Zadar in the Middle Ages until 1409 (with Ivo Petricioli, 1976), Zagreb in the Middle Ages (1982), Notes on Vukovar in the Middle Ages (1983), Trogir in the Middle Ages: Public Life of the City and its Inhabitants (1985), Koprivnica in the Middle Ages (1987).
She wrote numerous studies about revolts and social conflicts, which she collected in the book Social Turmoil and Revolts in Croatia in the 16th and 17th Centuries (1976). She described the role of specific nobles in the books The Last Dukes of Celje in the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen (1982) and Medvedgrad and its Masters (1987).
A large part of her work is the analysis and publication of sources. Relying partly on the contributions of earlier historians, she analyzed the entire Croatian diplomatic material of the Early Middle Ages (Diplomatic Analysis of the Documents from the Age of Croatian Rulers of Croat Descent, 1965, 1966-67), questioning its authenticity. Along with the anonymous Split chronicle called Historia Salonitana maior (1967), Klaić published several sources translated from Latin for the needs of students (Sources for Croatian History before 1526, 1972).
She provided a comprehensive and original concept of the early medieval development of the Croatian lands in the book History of the Croats in the Early Middle Ages (1971), while she collected her writings about numerous problems of the later period in the book History of the Croats in the High Middle Ages (1976). Her posthumously published books are Medieval Bosnia: Political Status of Bosnian Rulers before the Coronation of Tvrtko in 1377 (1989) and History of the Croats in the Middle Ages (1990).
Influence
Nada Klaić was the most influential Croatian medievalist in the 20th century. Some of her achievements are the innovation and general modernization of the approach to Croatian history (especially for the Middle Ages), which helped release it from the romantic nationalism of the 19th century; the foundation of a modern interdisciplinary approach to Croatian history, combining archaeology, palaeography, economic history, history of art and cultural history; the revaluation of older historical sources; and the dissolution of many myths reflecting the political function of Croatian historiography in the 19th century.
Since she often engaged in heated disputes, Klaić sometimes proposed untenable theories, such as her refusal to acknowledge the first Croatian printing press in Kosinje (Lika) or the theory that the Croats originally migrated from Carantania. Many of her theories have been proven completely wrong, because they were based on falsified interpretations and citations of original historical documents and because of her obvious anti-Croat attitude.
E.g., she changed the Croatorum atque Urbium into Croatorum atque Serborum, and urborum into srborum.
Her works were marked with subjective approach in attacks on the pillars of Croatian history (writing negatively about Zrinski and Frankopani noble families 2, whose tragic end has been isnpiration of folk poetry and artists' works for centuries, whose actions were matter of national pride and statehood).
"Minimalism in Croatian historiography is most tightly binded with her name". 3
She was known for that, that "for everything that belonged to Croats and Croat culture outside of SR Croatia, she declared as non-Croat and as such she deleted from Croatian history..." 3
Famous historian Dominik Mandić described her this way: "She claims a lot, prooves a little; she takes many things as prooved, although she had to proove them. Passionate subjectivity of Nada Klaić often blinds her, so she doesn't see and doesn't understand historical sources in their real, objective meaning, and instead of it, she comprehends them and interpretes them in her own way." 3
Dominik Mandić described her scientific efficiency this way: "Wrongly comprehended and, at the expense of Croats, interpreted words are not at only one place in works of Nada Klaić. With that, Nada Klaić se minimized and impoverished history of Croats during times of rulers of Croat blood. Especially, she reduced Croat ethnicum, areas of Croat people, areas of Croat state on the miserly levels." 3
Dominik Mandić concluded: "...I deeply regret, that Nada Klaić has her natural historical talent and technical knowledge turned against her Croat people. That's the reason why I find her work as subjective and very harmful for the present and the future of Croats.". 3
In her works, "she repeated the "fouls", that did the authors she criticized. She arbitrarily handles with historical sources: she accepts some of them, while the others Nada Klaić rejects, denies their authenticity, or she interpretes them in bizarre flat way, with only criteria is: are these sources in accordance with her assertions or not." 4
On of most important Croatian historians Miroslav Brandt, in his autobiography "Život sa suvremenicima - političke uspomene i svjetonazor", marked her as negatively.
He claimed that Croatian historiography in the times of socialist Yugoslavia was consciously reduced at national minimalism and reduced at solely orientation towards criticist historiography, towards fight against alleged myths in Croatian historiography, with Nada Klaić as representant. Brandt claimed that Nada Klaić was protégé of Communist authorities, only because of their perception that her work has destructive effects on national pride of Croats. 5
Works
- Političko i društveno uređenje Slavonije za Arpadovića (Political and Social Organization of Slavonia under the Árpád dynasty, 1946)
- Text in Historija naroda Jugoslavije II (History of the Yugoslav Peoples II, 1959)
- Diplomatička analiza isprava iz doba hrvatskih narodnih vladara (Diplomatic Analysis of the Documents from the Age of Croatian Rulers of Croat Descent, 1965, 1966-67)
- Povijest Hrvata u ranom srednjem vijeku (History of the Croats in the Early Middle Ages, 1971)
- Povijest Hrvata u razvijenom srednjem vijeku (History of the Croats in the High Middle Ages, 1976)
- Društvena previranja i bune u Hrvatskoj u XVI i XVII stoljeću (Social Turmoil and Revolts in Croatia in the 16th and 17th Centuries, 1976)
- Zadar u srednjem vijeku do 1409. (Zadar in the Middle Ages until 1409, 1976)
- Zagreb u srednjem vijeku (Zagreb in the Middle Ages, 1982)
- Zadnji knezi Celjski v deželah Sv. Krone (in Slovenian, The Last Dukes of Celje in the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, 1982)
- Crtice o Vukovaru u srednjem vijeku (Notes on Vukovar in the Middle Ages, 1983)
- Trogir u srednjem vijeku: javni život grada i njegovih ljudi (Trogir in the Middle Ages: Public Life of the City and its Inhabitants, 1985)
- Koprivnica u srednjem vijeku (Koprivnica in the Middle Ages, 1987)
- Medvedgrad i njegovi gospodari (Medvedgrad and its Masters, 1987)
Published posthumously:
- Srednjovjekovna Bosna: politički položaj bosanskih vladara do Tvrtkove krunidbe, 1377. g. (Medieval Bosnia: Political Status of Bosnian Rulers before the Coronation of Tvrtko in 1377, 1989)
- Povijest Hrvata u srednjem vijeku (History of the Croats in the Middle Ages, 1990)
Translations
- Historia Salonitana maior (1967)
- Izvori za hrvatsku povijest do 1526. godine (Sources for Croatian History before 1526, 1972)
References
- ^ Emil Ćić: Glazba je potvrda povijesnosti hrvatske državnosti, in Fokus magazine, from January 4, 2008, (part of text is here Fokus)
- ^ Marijan Horvat-Mileković: Nesuđeni hrvatski standard, Fokus, November 11, 2007, (partial text Fokus)
- ^ a b c d e Portal HKV Branimir Souček, Pod povećalom: Opća i nacionalna enciklopedija u 20 knjiga (2) , article from Hrvatsko slovo
- ^ Recenzije Recension of her book Srednjovjekovna Bosna
- ^ Miroslav Brandt: Život sa suvremenicima - političke uspomene i svjetonazor, Naklada Pavičić, Zagreb, 1996, ISBN 953-6308-22-3
