Antun Bonifačić (Croatian pronunciation: [ǎntuːn bonifǎt͡ʃit͡ɕ]; 8 October 1901 – 24 April 1986) ^[1] was a Croatian Ustaša politician, professor, and writer. ^[1] He served as the head of the Department of Cultural Relations for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Independent State of Croatia, ^{[1] [2]} a fascist puppet-state of Nazi Germany.

Biography

Bonifačić was born in Punat on the island of Krk on 8 October 1901. ^{[1] [2]} He went to gymnasium in Pazin and Sušak. ^[2] In Zagreb, he studied Slavistics and the Romance languages, specializing in Croatian and French, respectively. ^[2] He received his doctorate with the thesis Les éléments romantiques under the tutelage Gustave Flaubert in 1924. ^{[1] [2]} He then left Yugoslavia to study French literature at Sorbonne University for three years. He later returned as a teacher in Sušak, Sombor, Krk, and Zagreb, where he taught French at the University of Zagreb. ^[2] During World War II, he worked as the head ^[1] the Department for Cultural Relations at the Foreign Ministry of the Independent State of Croatia ^{[1] [2]} and served as the president of the Croatian Writers' Association. ^[2] After the Axis powers lost, he escaped to Rome, ^[1] then lived in Argentina and Brazil for sometime before immigrating to the United States in 1954. ^{[1] [2]} Between 1975 and 1981, he was the president of the Croatian Liberation Movement, ^[1] a far-right political party founded by Ante Pavelić, the former dictator of the Independent State of Croatia.

Bonifačić died in Chicago on 24 April 1986. ^[1]

Selected works

• People of the West: Essays on André Gide and Henry de Montherlant ( Croatian: Ljudi zapada. Eseji o André Gideu i Henry de Montherlantu, 1929)
• The Blood of Mother Earth ( Croatian: Krv majke zemlje, 1935)
• Sprouts ( Croatian: Mladice, 1938)
• Between Jupiter and Mars: Croatia and Europe (French: Entre Jupiter et Mars. La Croatie et l'Europe, 1944)
• You Will Be Like Gods ( Croatian: Bit ćete kao bogovi, 1950)
• Let There Be Light ( Croatian: Neka bude svjetlost, 1950)
• Eternal Croatia ( Croatian: Vječna Hrvatska, 1953)

References