"Record Protection in

WORLD CONFERENCE an Uncertain Tt'orld"

ON RECORDS
AND GENEALOGICAL SEMINAR

Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.

5-8 August 1969

.TRACING ANCESTRY OF YUGOSLAVS AND CZECHOSLOVAKIANS

Part I

Research In Yugoslavia

By

Joze Zontar

COPYRIGHT© 1969 THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER·DAY SAINTS, INC. AREA 0
-13
 TRACING ANCESTRY OF YUGOSLAVS AND CZECHOSLOVAKIANS

Part I

Research in Yugoslavia

by Joze Zontar

In order to give an overall view of the sources of genealogical research

in the Yugoslavian archives, it seemed advisable to differentiate between those

materials that contain genealogical information in a compact form and all other

records in which one must search for such data among other types of information.

In most cases, an approach to genealogical research must also take into consideration

such a differentiation. As soon as one has exhausted all possiblities offered by the

first category, or, if such possibilities don 't even exist, then, of course, one must

tum to the second type of source material and a much more tedious type of research.

Materials that may be considered as sources for genealogical studies have

come into existence through the activities of different agencies: the government,

the courts, the church, the schools, and others. Therefore, they are by no means

uniform. Their content is the result of the different practiclll needs of the agencies

which created them. We can recognize as a characteristic of the first type of

genealogical sources that they have more or less the character of specific evidence.

In the structuring of the individual collections of material they represent more or less

independent categories. The number of species of sources increased with the passage

1
of time. On the other hand, certain individual species ceased to exist. Without

going more deeply into questions of diplomacy we can establish that the book

form was chosen for most of the sources of the first type and that this form has

continued down to modern times. Concerning typology, there existed from

the very beginning the desire to assemble the individual sources according to

uniform rules. Nevertheless, this was not achieved generally until after the 18th

century.

The overwhelming majority of archival sources can generally be considered

to be in the second category of genealogical sources. For archivists and historians,

these are of particular interest concerning the older ages from which no other

appnpriate sources are available. Often the mere mention of a particular person

can serve as a source. Generally, however, such sources only become fully

qualified after the necessary archive facilities have been worked out.

AREAS AND INFLUENCES

In a general overview of the sources that are of interest to us in this report,

we see a vast number and diversity of kinds. In the area of today's Yugoslavia,

there are six districts in which the different types of materials developed. Although

this division into six areas is somewhat of an oversimplification and does not take

into consieration many shadings and details, we may consider it satisfactory in

terms of the general history of the Yugoslavian states. The areas referred to are:

n Slovenia with Istria and Dalmatia

2) Continental Croatia

3) Bosnia and Herzegovina

2
 4) Vojvodina

5) Serbia (in todays terms, Serbia in a restricted sense) with those parts
won in the second Balkan war (1913, chiefly the modern republic of
Macedonia)

6) Orna Gora (Montenegro)

Because of the extremely meager number of available sources, we do not

consider the middle ages in this division. Since then there has existed a regional

differentiation which was in the beginning relatively slight. After the Turks in the

15th and 16th centuries had conquered Serbia, Montenegro, Voj vodina, and Bosnia-

Herzegovina, thus, more than the entire east half, these provinces then represented

a unified area with respect to the kinds of sources of interest to us. Slovenia,

which up to the year 1918 included Krain, a part of the Steiermark, Karaten, Istria and

Gorz, developed under the influence of Austria. Part of Istria and Dalmatia really

belonged up until 1797 to the republic of Venice and thereafter became part of Austria

(with the exception of a few years prior to 1813) the Austrian legal system was imposed.

Croatia actually recognized the Hapsburgs as her rulers as early as 1527. However,

it acquired a more or less autonomy after the year 1779 after which time it was

placed ~ the authority of the Hungarian half of the empire and this relationship

achieved a final form in the Hungarian-Croation settlement of 1868.

With the downfall of Turkish power, there came about cllm<;JlS also in the eastern

half of today's Yugoslavia, which also had its effect on the writings and documents

originating there. Vojvodina was liberated partly in 1699 and partly in 1739 and

developed as HUIlJ arian territory (at first not completely because of the military

frontiers). After the successful second revolt in the year 1815, Serbia gained its

3
autonomy (complete independence not until the conclusion of the Berlin convention

of 1878). ,Montenegro began to develop practical autonomy as early as the ~6~h,

centur¥:. Turkey granted it practical independence after the year 1859. However,
",I! ,
this status was not recognized internationally until the Berlin convention. On the

basis of a resolution of that convention, Austria - Hungary occupied Bosnia -

Herzegovina {she completed the annexation of these areas in 1908 and introduced

a new legal system.

The main reason, therefore, for the development of differences in the archive

sources was their belonging to different national formations. In addition to this,

in considering the sources, it is also necessary to consider the differences in

religious affiliation of the inhabitants. While Slovenia, the Roman Catholic religion

was predominant, likewise in Dalmatia (along with a few Greek Orthodox) and in

Continental Croation (also with a few Greek Orthodox), Vojvodina was, on the other

hadn, in terms of religion a very mixed area (chiefly Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and

Protestant). In Serbia the Greek Orthodox faith was predominant along with a few

Moslems. Montenegro was chiefly Greek Orthodox by affiliation. Bosnia and

Herzegovina, however, were mixed Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Moslem. In this

rundown, we have not tried to consider the smaller confessions.

In the following section we will consider a few especially characteristic

sources for genealogical research.

CHURCH RECORDS

First of all, we should mention as a chief source the baptism, birth, marriage

and death records, in fact, all church records containing names which were kept

4
by the individual religious organizations. Baptismal records existed in the western

areas such as Koper and Piran in the Slovenian coastal area among the Catholic

parishes es early as the first half of the 16th century (in neighboring Triest since

1528). In the rest of the Yugoslavian provinces generally the resolution of the council

of Trente (1545 - 1563) was the determining fector and thereafter the Roman Catholic

parishes were required to keep baptism and marriage records. After 1614 the Catholic

practice also prescribed death records. Slovenia, Dalmatia, and continental Croatia

followed these rules. However, in VoJvodina, such records were not introduce

until after the period of Turkish occupation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina they were

introduced in the Catholic paris hes not until the second half of the 18th century.

In the western half of today 's Yugoslavian State, the oldest available records

reach back into the 16th century. For ire tance, in the coastal area of Slovenia, even

into the time before the council of Trente, otherwise into the last decade of the 16th

century. In Dalmatia, the oldest record comes from the year 1564, whereas, the oldest

record available from continental Croatia is from the middle of the 17th century (in the

vicinity of Hrvatsko ZagorJe). It is because they didn't introduce such records in

Vojvodina, Bosnia, Herzegovina and elsewhere that the oldest available records are

so relatively recent.

Up to now, the question of the origin of the Protestant records has not been

clear. The Protestant parishes in Slovenia kept such records during the time of

the Reformation in the 16th century. In Vojvodina, we ha ve to wait for the founding

of Protestant communities by colonists during the 18th century.

The origin of the records among the eastern Greek Orthodox church communities

is always in connection with the strengthening of their church organization. So we

5
see in the year 1732 the Metropolitan Vikentije Jovanovic ordering the parishes on

Vojvodina to begin to keep such records. In Serbia the instructions for the beginnin,

of suchrecords did not come for another hundred years (1837) at which time the

church organization was also set up there (church autonomy restored and the first

metropolitan chosen from the Serbs, the holy synod organized; the beginning of

church regulation reach back to this time.) Among the Orthodox parishes in Dalmatia,

there exist baptism records in Zadar, the seat of the Venetian governor (Providur) as

early as 1637, however, in most of the rest of the parishes they did not begin until the

beginning of the 19th century.

Among the Moslems these records were kept by the Scheriat court s. It has not

yet been determined how far back the oldest records might be available. Very probably

one would find them in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Gradually the state began to concern itself with the keeping of the records.

The decree of February 20, 1784, which was also binding on Slovenia entrusted the

keeping of records which the public might rely upon to the Roman Catholic parish

priests. In the beginning of the year 1817, a similar regulation concenring the

keeping of records came into force in Dalmatia. Since, the year 1835, a regulation

in Slovenia and Dalmatia reqt.;ired that the parishes provide also a duplicate of the

records (since 1836 including also death records) to their respecitve diocese.

To a certain extent the development in Vojvodina waslifferent. As early at

1790 the records in Hungary which were kept by the Protestant ministers acquired public

validity. This did not apply to the records of the Jews until 1848 (in a part of

Vojvodina not until 1874). In Vojvodina the orthodox church enjoyed a privileged

position in religious matters. In 1827 there appeared a law which required all

6
 priests in Hungary to provide a duplicate of their records for their county govern-

ments. The law of 1894 which took effect on October 1, 1895, gave the respon-

sibility for the keeping of public records to the state registries. This Hungarian

law, which, however, had no validity in Coratia required also that marriages be

performed by state officials. By comparison, we might mention that in those parts

of Slovenia and Dalmatia which found themselves, prior to 1813, under the rule

of the French Empire, civil registries existed which had been kept by the local

communities but very few of these are available.

In Croatia it was prescribed in the 19th century that the priests had to

provide duplicates of their records to the government in Zagreb. In the area of

Serbia, state officials were required to determine from time to time how well the

priests were handling the records.

In older times they used for these records manuscripts of different sizes

in which the entries were made in a free narrative style. The Roman Catholics

kept to the form of the Roman regulation of the yea r 1614. The books were kept quite

according to whim. Only gradually did the entries here and there begin to assume

a decent form. Gradually the books began to be kept in a tabulated form. In Slovenia

they began to use such a tabular form on the basis of a court decree of 1770, but more

definitely after a decree of 1784. In Dalamtia it began in 1817, and in Croatia, after

1848. The Eastern Orthodox priests also used the tabular form in their records.

With respect to their character we should also mention the home or

authorization protocols. In Slovenia, Dalmatia, Croatia, and Vojvodina, these

home books were begun and served their citizens since the formation of municipalities

(1848). In the collections of the communities - especially on the larger cities -

these home protocols are available in great amounts after the end of the 19th century.

7
 OTHER SOURCES OF RELIGIOUS NATURE

Significant possibilites for the research of genealogical questions are

found especially in the so-called status animarim as they are called among the

Roman Catholic officials, or similarly the anagraphs or lists of houses among the

Orthodox priests. These are surveys of their members according to communities

and families (sometimes also according to categories cf nationality). These

contain information as to the personal status, the practice of various duties, and

sometimes other personal characteristics. The priest kept these surveys in the

form of books which they supplemented from time to time. The status animarium

was first prescribed by the Catholic regulations from the year 1614. In the area

of Siovena these types of sources are still quite seldom found even up the the

second half of the 18th century: most of them not until 1800. In Dalmatia, status

animarum' can be found as early as the 17th century. From the first half of the 18th

century we know of some cases where according to the priests the bishops put

together a summary status animarum for the entire diocese. However, these contained

only a one time description. With respect to the later church organization, these

anagraphs in VoJvodina and Serbia are even of more recent date.

The books of marriage banns and confirmation records (the confirmation was

a precondition for the performance of a marriage) and books in which the performance

of the Easter confession and communion were entered (to the extent that this was not

already entered in the status animarun) are to be found in Slovenia chiefly sin::: e 1800

(this varies a great deal between parishes) and in a few cases even from the 17th

and 18th centures. In Dalmatia there are considerably more old books of this type.

(from the 17th and 18th centuries). In VoJvodina and in Servia, these books, kept by

the priests do not begin to appear until the 19th century.

8
 REGISTERS OF FEUDAL TRIBUTES, TAXES, PROPERTIES

Land registers, surveys of income from property ownership, were started

in Slovenia as early as the 13th century and probably in Coatia in the 14th century.

These contain, by communities, lists of the subservient property parcels with their

users and their tributes. Usually these registers were kept in the form of a bound

book and continually revised or renewed until the end of the feudal period in 1848.

In the later development we can detect different types of these land registers. The

stock land register served for a long time as a measure and control of income. They

continued the practice of keeping for a year or shorter period a list of the subjects

and entered in these books the income received.

In Croatia and Voj vodina, after the 18th century, there appeared in place of

the private land registers uniform legal requirements for the individual territories.

These land register regulations were preceded by the registration of farms which

were carried out by special commissions and are available in the collections of the

counties. The regulated land registers often contain, along with the usual information,

lists of the subjects.

Land registers and lists of similar character are available for the area of

Slovenia since the 13th century. However, there are relatively few cf them until

the 15th century; for Croatia they exist since the 15th century, and in Vojvodina since

the 18th century. One must remember that in Vojvodina, at the time of the Turkish

occupation, a different type of feudal system was in existence. Land registers are

to be found partly in the collections of land owners, partly in those of different

9
 offic ials, and partly in arc hi ves. For genea logic al resea rch they are very valua ble,

partic ularly when they appea r in a chron ologi cal serie s.

Next we shoul d menti on city tax books which were set up

for the colle ction
of taxes . For the city of Zagre g, the oldes t such regis ter is from 1367
and inclu des
the house and busin ess tax. For Ljubl jana, tax books run from 1600 with very few inter-

ruptio ns to 1752. Tax books are also to be found in the old collec tions of other
cities .
Becau se of a somew hat differ ent devel opme nt of the feuda
l syste m, there arose in
Dalm atia and the coast al area of Istria , the so-ca lled ~stas tiche , regist ers of
prope rty parce ls arran ged accor ding to comm unity and includ
ing the users and their
dutie s. These were set up by cities and other prope rty lords and often
includ ed a
descr iption with respe ct to its area, locati on, and borde
rs. These kasta stiche s are
to be found in the colle ction s of the Dalm atian cities and
prope rty owne rs. The oldes t
of them are from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centu ries (Dubr ovnik
1286- 1291, then 1336,
Zadar , 1421, Trogi r 1326, cathe dral in Pula 1303) .

In the centr alized syste m of the Osma n-Tur kish empir e, they
set up regist ers
of tribut e which forme d the feuda l rents in so-ca lled catas
ter books . These were set
up throu gh the activ ities of speci al state comm ission s which
listed in the field of
sourc es of feuda l incom e. At this time the comm ission also
estab lished a di vision
of the incom e upon the invid ual tenan ts. The above menti oned gener al descr iption s
includ ed the entire empir e and were redon e in speci fic perio
ds of 10 to 20 years excep t
durin g the gover nmen t of the Sulta ns. In additi on to these , simil ar descr iption s were
set up for small er areas accor ding to need in the frame work
of the local organ izatio ns.
These detai led catas ter books conta in - not like the summ
aries - the indiv idual users
of the parce ls, many times even includ ing perso nal inform
ation. The catas ter books

10
concerning Serbia, Vojvodina, and Bosnia-Herzegovina begin soon after the Osman

occupation of these areas. Generally they were discontinued about the beginning of

the 17th century. They are to be found in the central Turkish collections in Istanbul.

Let us now refer to the registers for property tax appraisal.

In the province of Slovenia in the 15th century the tax basis was chiefly the

ground rents, that is, a tax based on the income brought in by the subjects to the land

lord. The tax declarations of these ground rents included also listings of the subjects.

These exist for part of Slovenia, for instance, from the year 1542 in a collection of the

provincial government of Sterermark. For the province of Krain, it is n,:>t yet certain

whether parts of such to« declarations exist.

For regulating the property taxes, there was the so-called 'l'heresian tax

regulation which also included Slovenia and which was begun in the year 1748. Every

landed estate had to hand in a declaration. The assembled tax declarations form the

so-called Theresian Cataster or land registry, which still is in existence. This

registry includes also excerpts from property registers.

In Croatia there developed a different type of tax system but it also brought

about listings which may be ,;onsidered for genealogical research. The tax which was

collected for the treasuries of the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia had almost

exclusively the character of a property tax until the year 1753. The basis of the tax was

called der Rauch, which orginally was represented by one farm but after the 17th century

was represented by several. In order to establish these tax units, special commissions

put toge~her listings of the tenants of the farms from village to village uniformly

according to the individual estates. Because the preparation of such listings required

considerable time, they often corrected existing lists rather than make up new ones.

A considerable number of such listings is in existence" for different years from 1543 up

11
to the middle of the 18th century.

After the tax system was changed in the year 1753, the kingdom had acquired

other tax sources and they began also to enter the proceeds from the property in these

listings of farms. So, there came into being detailed descriptions of the farms and

their individual parcels, which descriptions are found in the collections of the countries.

At this point, we should mention the tithing lists which arose through the

activities of the Hungarian royal chamber and the church which established the tithe.

In the collection of the royal chamber are available such listings of those subject to

the tithe from the year~ 1594 - 1775. Tithing lists are sometimes also to be found in the

archi ves of the landed estates.

A similar tax system developed in the 18th century after the end of the Turkish

occupation in Vojvodina. Listings of the farm complexes are to be found in the

collections of the countries.

Joseph II attempted to introduce a new property tax system. In Croatia,

Slovenia, and Vojvodina, the so-called Josephine land register was put together for

the measuring of the property tax. It was founded upon a primitive survey of the

parcels. This register is available for the greater part of Slovenia. In Vojvodina,

they destroyed this work in the year 1790 at the time of the repudiation of the above

mentioned regulation. In :-::roatia this work bogged down in the beginning stages.

Upon principles similar to the Josephine register, a general survey registration

of all property was ordered for tax purposes in the year 1817. The statements of individual

pieces of property are accumulated according to parcel numbers and owners in these

registry files. These files along with the above mentioned information formed the so

called Franciscan registry, named after the emperor Francis II. For the localities in

Slovenia, this registry was established for the most part in 1825; in Dalmatia, 1830.

12
In Vojvodina, a temporary tax register was actually set up around the year 1828 (kept

in Budapest), however, they were not able to complete the survey and listing of each

property until the year 1853. In one part of Croatia, the tax registry appeared between

the years 1849 and 1864" but for the rest it was between 1869 and 1878. In order to

achieve a greater uniformity, they made in the above mentioned provinces, around 1882,

a new estimate of the net produce of the properties and fixed up new property ownership

registers. They tried to include in the register various changes which had not been

reported by inv,,,stigation and correction in the field, but always with strict dependence

on the Franciscan registry. In the provinces of Slov"mia and Dalmatia, they made such

corrections in 1869 and included the new information in the registry files. In Serbia,

they began for the first time in 1905 with a temporary survey of properties.

The above mentioned tax lists arose in connection with the tax assessment.

In addition to these books, there are often other special books which were set up to

help in the collection of taxes. They contain information about amounts paid, delinquent

taxes in specific years, etc.

In order to provide security in the transfer of real estate, there arose the

land book. In the province of Slovenia, it was started in the 18th century, at first

only for property ownership of the nobility, (the so-called land board) in which they

also included in the series of documents those of bestowal of nobility, but then also

the land for the tenants and for cities and markets. At first, the landbook was simply

a collection of documents. In 1833, they began in addition to this a master register in

which a section was assigned to each property. Here was entered along with other

things, the most important items of information about the owners themselves. Because

of certain defects, these land books were reorganized after the year 1871. The new

landbooks contain entries according to sequential numbers and are kept in separate

series, for each registry community. In one entry they usually entered all parcels

13
 owne d by one owne r in the area of a regist ry comm unity.
Conc ernin g Dalm atia, the
land book was introd uced after the year 1817, the same as
in Austr ia. The landb ook was
also set up in Croat ia after 1850 and also in Vojvo dina. Altho ugh in Vojvo dina they
chose to use indiv idual pages instea d of a bound book for
the maste r regis ter. This made
easie r chang es possi ble. In Bosni a and Herze govin a, landb ooks arose on the basis

of a law of the year 1884. In Serbi a, they annou nced the settin g up of landb ooks in

their civil lawbo ok of 1844, but in pract ice they did not do
so. They attem pted to estab lish
secur ity in real estat e trans actio ns chief ly by means of the
prepa ra tion and transf er of
publi shed docum ents conce rning the rights of owne rship in
a piece of prope rty. This
syste m was taken over from the Turki sh admin istrat ion.

REGISTRIES OF INHABITANTS

The oldes t listin gs of inhab itants arose chief ly out of taxati

on moti ves. In
the form of lists of those liable for the perso nal taxes witho
ut partic ular conce rn over
wheth er it had to do with only the perso nal tax or the comb
ined capit al - perso nal tax.
So there arose for one part of Slove nia in 1445 a listin g of
"firep laces " (hear ths· - home s),
where in they inclu ded in a "hom e" all who lived in a partic
ular house . Recor ds
conce rning the poll tax were made in Slove nia, for instan
ce in the years 1523 and 1527.
Howe ver, only parts of these were saved in the provi ncial
archi ves. In the 18th centu ry
we begin to find in Slove nia a new type of record appea ring
chief ly as a result of the
gener al need of the absol utist state for an overv iew of the
popul ation ( since 1754 ).
Then, also for milita ry evide nce/a s they introd uced the draft
for the major ity of the
popul ation ( since 1769 ). Up to and includ ing 1850, the censu s remai ned conne cted

with milita ry consc riptio n. They pra cticed regul ar perio dical censu s taking or at least

revisi ng on the basis of repor ts conce rning chang es in the

popul ation. We do not know
wheth er there are any other detail ed censu s mater ials avail
able excep t for the surve y of 1854
for the paris hes of the dioce se Ljubl jana which is prese rved
in the cathe dral archiv e there .

14
 In Dalmatia there are occasional censuses even from very early times.

For example, in Dubrovnik there exists a census of the population from the years

1673/74 in the documents and files of the city archives. There were censuses,

however, as early as the 14th century. In the Venetian part of Dalmatia are mentioned

local cens uses of the population as early as the 16th century. In the year 1817, they

did not carry out any military conscription on Dalmatia and the census was left to the

civil authorities, hut in every other respect the system was quite similar to that in the

province of Slovenia. Closer research is required to determine whether any of this

material is still available today.

The first military census in Vojvodina and Croatia was carried out in the year

1785 (in the following years this cens US was revised), then there was a ci vil cens us

in the year 1804/05, but did not take place again until 1850 after the establishment of

absolutism. From all of these, however, there are no detailed materials available.

In those provinces which were under Turkish occupation (Serbia, Bosnia, and

Herzegovina) there developed different types of personal taxes of which some were

combined with the capital tax. The ordinary tax of Haratsch counted every male person

who was over seven years old and the poll tax all married persons, etc. In this

connection, lists of those liable for taxes were drawn up from time to time and they

are still available in different series of tax books. One copy of these was kept by the

lower municipal organizations and anotl1er copy was turned over to the provincial

authorities. Up to now there is no exact picture as to what extent these records,which

were kept by the local authorities,are available in Yugoslavia. In any case, it would

be very few. Therefore, one must seek these records chiefly in the collections of the

central government (in Istanbul·).

15
 The tax system just described was kept by Serbia also after the year 1815

along with various taj{ records and inventories of the population for tax purposes.

The greater part of these records still exists in the collection of the finance ministry

of the Serbian government, with some others in other collections. They begin with the year

1819, however, most of them date from after 1830. After the year 1835, these taxes

were replaced by a uniform personal tax which also, however, took into consideration

the capital or property tax. The population registries which arose in connection with

this tax are also in the collection of the finance ministry from the year 1862 (for one part

of Serbia), 1863, for the rest of Serbia and 1885 (again for only one part of Serbia).

The censuses in a general sense, begin in Slovenia, Dalmatia, Croatia, and

Vojvodina in the year 1857 and then they occurred again in the years 1869, 1880, 1890, 1900,

and 1910. The carrying out of the census was in the hands of the local communities,

and therefore, such e:~nsus materials must be sought there. Generally, one can count

on finding such material in great amounts for more recent censuses but very seldom

for the older ones. For instance, a very complete census is available for the city of

Ljubljana.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there were censuses in the years 1885, 1895, and

1910. Up to now it has not been established to what extent this material is available.

In Serbia the general census began in the year 1890 and fOllowed in the years

1895, 1900, 1905, and 1910. In the adjoining southern areas the census was carried

out in the year 1913. In the collection of the commerce ministry of the Serbian

government, there is a fragment of the detailed census material of the year 1905. There

may be somewhat more in the collections of the lower agencies.

In Montenegro there were censuses in the years 1898 and 1913.

In connection with the census, W3 should mention other evidences of the

movement of population. This is available in some of the larger cities at the beginning

of the 20th century chiefly in the form of various card systems (as for instance in

16
Ljubljana) .

OCCASIONAL RECORDS OF SOME CATEGORIES OF THE POPULATION

In connection with elections at various levels, they assembled lists of

those entitled to vote, so-called voter lists. Normally these differentiated themselves

according to the type of election: an election for parliament or for representation in

different intermediate levels or for election of representatives in the community, all

of which depended on the constitutions of the individual states. The measure in which

the populace was contained in the voter lists depended on the election laws. In

Austria, for instance, general suffrage was introduced for the imperial legislature

whereas it had depended on personal and ownership qualifications. Up until the

introduction of a uniform election law, such as in Austria in 1907, the voter lists

were put together according to classes of voters. In Slovenia and Dalmatia the voter

lists were put together all over again for each election. In 1907 they became permanent

and they were added to at the end of each calendar year. In Croatia and Vojvodina,

this custom had been introduced even earlier. The voter lists are available in the

collections of the agencies in whic!) the elections were carried out. Thus, for instance,

the voter lists for the election to the Krain provincial parliament are to be found in that

parliament from 1861 to 1914. This is so also for the collection of the Istrian provincial

parliament. Concerning city elections, for instance, Ljubljana continues to possess

the voter lists for that city from 1858.

The next category of sources that are to be considered for our study are

the military lists. First of all would be the lists of recruits (service eligibles) which

are to be found in the collections of the cities because they originated there. Or they

might be in the collections of military units of intermediate level/because copies of

the lists were made available to these units. The next type of military record are the

17
enlistment records in which were entered the results of the enlistment. Mostly the

oldest military lists are from the end of the 19th century.

A large part of the population is also included in the school records. Along

with records which were kept now and then by the government concerning school age

children, which are to be found in the collections of the particular agencies, there are

also, particularly appropriate for our purposes, the records which the schools themselves

kept. These are the records of the elementary and intermediate schools which kept

lists of students according to class along with personal data and the entry of their

grades and graduation, etc. However, such school records from the second half of the

18th century are still very seldom found (e. g. the gymnasium in Zagreb, Sremski

Karlovci .and Ljubljana) and are very erratic in form. Later they became more numerous,

are to be found even the eastern areas of Yugoslavia and they begin to take on a more

constant form.

Acceptance in a university was made possible by the matriculation whereby

the student submitted to the appropriate faculty information as to his nationality,

family, previous studies, and the course he proposed to take. Up until the year 1918,

there were in the area of modern Yugoslavia two universities: in Belgrade, founded

in 1863 and in Zagreb, founded in 1873. In the records of these universities are to

be found the above mentioned sources.

GENEALOGICAL COLLECTIONS

Under this general heading, we mean collections of documents which have

been collected from different collections or indi vidually, copies and other matierals

that have already arisen in connection with particular historical literary efforts.

These collections have been made either by pri vate persons or in arc hi ves. In more

recent times the formation of such collections in archives has been discontin~ed and

therefore such collections will be chiefly found in archives of older tradition.

18
 Collections of letters patent bestowing titles of nobility (16th to 18th centuries)

and marriage announcements of the aristocracy ( 18th to 19th centuries) are to be found

in the Arc hi ves of Slovenia in Ljulbljana. A collection of Partezetteln of particularly

influential persons from the 19th and 20th centuries are in the Archives of Croatia in

Zagreb and in the Archives of Slovenia.

Quite often, there are also COllections of coats of iirms. In the Archives of

Croatii;l there arose after the year 1890 a collection of documents which had to do with

the acquisition or changing of coats of arms, and which covers the period from 1454

to 1918. As a further example r the museums of Kater and Split have a significant

collection of pictures of coats of arms. For the province of Slovenia the chief source

of coats of arms is the book by Zacharias Bartsch from the year 1567. There is also

the handwritten manuscript of the Krainian historiographer J L. Schdnleben, "Appendix

ad Annales ..• si ve Genealogica Fragmenta Fimiliarum Nobilium Carnioliae" (1674)

which is kept in the Archives of Slovenia and the handwritten manuscript of J. V.

Valvasor "Opus Insignium Armorumque Regum et Regnorum nec non tam aliorum quam et

Carnioliae Principum, Baronum, Nobilium, Ci iTitatum et Oppidorum S. S. ", which

appeared 1687-88 and is kept in the Southern Slavic Academy of Science in Zagreb,

and the record book of the Dismas Brotherhood of Krainian aristocracy which appeared

before 1801 and can be found in the Archives of Slovenia.

In the Archives of Croatia, a significant collection is that of genealogical

data of aristocratic families which was compiled by the then state archivist, E.

Laszowski and which covers the times from the beginning of the 19th century until the

year 1945. In the city archives of Ljubljana is preserved the genealogical collection

of Lazzarini wherein is contained in card form, excerpts and articles about the genealogy

of the Krainian aristocracy and some other significant families.

19
 We often find pedigree charts and family trees in the archi ves of noble

families. Partly of private origin and partly, however, as the work of recent

genealogical studies is the collection of pedigree charts in the archive of Croatia

which reaches back into the beginning of the 14th century. A similar collection is in

the archive of Slovenia, and in fact, is for the most part the work of Franz Anton Breckerfeld

(1740-1806) and the family trees are also to be found in his own works. Oftentimes

the archives preserve genealogies as independent manuscripts, as for instance in

the archives of Dubrovnik and Rijeka.

OTHER SOURCES

In some cases, as we have already mentioned, for genealogical research

one must often look to other materials. We would now like to mention some other

types of these materials.

Mostly out of technical considerations, but partly also as the result of

old habits, the archives usually preserve medieval documents of various origins

separately from other materials. Usually such collections are the oldest materials

in the archive and are for that reason alone significant for genealogical research.

In case one does not want to consider the central archives in Austria,because

they are outside Yugoslavia, there is much information about the aristocracy in the

province of Slovenia in the collections of the state parliaments. Most of their members

were of the aristocracy. This is also true in the case of the countries. In Croatia,

a collection of further significance is that of the commission of Sabor (imperial and

state parliaments) which had the job of determining the rights of nobility of those

persons about which there was some conflict concerning their titles. This commis sion

was active in the years 1752 to 1848. In the years 1849 until 1853, there came into

existence for the assistance of this Croatian council a collection of copies of coat

20
of arms certificates out of the Hbri regii (royal register) which was kept by the

central government in Budapest. These copies cover the period from 1542 to 1700.

In Dalmatia a significant collection is represented by the Dalmatian Heraldic commission,

which was active in the years 1817 to 1887 in carrying: out a revision of the system of

noble titles.

Up to the year 1848 there were special courts for the aristocracy in Slovenia

and Croatia. From these courts there are available as early as 1406 testaments, and

after the 16th century even, lawsuit files, guardianship matters and such materials.

In the colorful contents of the city arc hi ves - they concern all aspects of

city archives - one can also find data for genealogical research. One must note a

difference between the coastal cities as they developed in Istria and Dalmatia and

the continental cities in the areas of Croatia and Slovenia as can be seen in the

collections themselves, In the first group we see a continuity from the earlier Roman

cities, whereas, the continertal cities were chiefly formed about the 13th century.

In the 14th and 15th century, the number of these cities grew partly from financial

and partly for strategic reasons. Between these two groups of cities there are dif-

ferences in their makeup. The coastal cities followed more the pattern of Venice,

and furthermore they formed their own city aristocracy which took over the running of

the city.

The records of the cities which may be considered for genealogical research

are chiefly in the records and listings of the citizens, in probate and guardianship matters,

in collections of wills, in writings that have to do with the transfer of ownership of

property and houses. in transcripts of lawsuits, in records of setting up of businesses,

and generally in different books of the guilds and business houses, etc. Further sig-

21
nificant sources can be the books concerning the memberships of brotherhoods,

religious and charitabl e communities, of the workers in particular profe asions,

as many brotherhoods practically functioned like gUilds.

While the oldest available materials in the coastal cities goes back to

the 11th (Dubrovnik) and 12th (Piran) centuries, the archives of the continental cities

begin in the 13th century (Zagreb). Of course, the biggest groups of such materials

come from later centuries.

The development of the cities in the eastern part of todays Yugoslavia was

quite different, first under the Byzantine influence and later that of the Turkish

empire, so that materials from the time before the 19th century are very seldom to

be found.

From Italy the coastal cities of Istria and Dalmatia gradually assumed the

custom of executing written contracts in the presence of special persons which be-

cause of their position or other personal characteristics, were ac corded special

trust, so that the contracts which were written down by them possessed unassailable

power. Such persons, who enjoyed the "public trust" were usually the notaries, but

also in the coastal cities of northern Istria (Koper and Piran) also the Vicedomini

(vice regents). In the continental cities in the area of Slovenia and Croatia, the

cities I scribes practiced now and then the notarial functions. However, there the

notariat developed in a much less pure form than that in the coastal area. In the

area of continental Croatia, the notarial functionaries provided also the so-called

loca credibil1a and, in fact, ecclesiastical capital.

In the coastal cities where the notariat was especially well developed,

there arose collections of documents chiefly in the form of copies bound in books,

often in different series.

22
 Relatively early, they introduced the custom that regularlY upon the death

of a notary, his books would be turned over to be preserved by the city court. The

oldest available notary books are from the 13th century in Dubrovnik, whereas. in the

other cities. Lot until the following century, varying from city to city. In the 13th

century, the material from the cathedral in Zagreb also began.

From the collections of the landed estates in the area of Slovenia and Croatia,

we should mention at this point the probate files, lawsuit files, and the transcripts

of guardianship matters insofar as they concern the subject people. In the 16th

century, this type of material is still quite seldom to be found but becomes more

general as time goes on.

In the private archives - wherein we are concerned chiefly with the archives

of the aristocracy and middle class families and also with the estates of single per-

sons - there are available for genealogical research the personal documents, files

concerning ownership questions, trial transcrip ts, etc. Often, in these collections

we even run into genealogical compilations. Some of these family archives reach

back into the 13th century.

)< ACCESSIBILITY OF THE MATERIALS

The majority of the materials considered up to now are gathered in historical

archives. According to the federal organization of the state, there are in Yugos lavia

the ?rchives of the six republics, which preserved chiefly the material of the state

agencies and those independent agencies which qualified at the highest level, and

also materials from other institutions which make significant contributions in the

development of the national culture. For the areas of the provinces of Vojvodina and

Kosovo, the provincial archives in Sremski Karlovci and Pristina are similarly active.

23
The rest of the materials are gathered and preserved by the regional archives which

are designated by differen t names (historical archive, provin cial archive, city

archive) and which cover more or less the entire national area. Inasmuch as the

majority of the regional archives have been developed in more recent times, whereas

the archives of the republics possess an older tradition, we can find here and there

in the archives of the republics older material which also has regional significance.

For material concerning the time before 1918, the National Archive of Yugoslavia

should not be considered, since it gathers only material of the central organization

which begins with the founding of Yugoslavia in the year 1918.

Most material of church origin is preserved in those places where it arose.

Only a small part of this type of material is to be found in archives of a more general

type. This does not apply to the civil registers. In the course of carrying out the

law of 1946 concerning the state civil registers, the state civil officials took over

as a continuing activity also the more recent civil registers, as, for instance, in

most of the areas, those which appeared after 1850. However, in Serbia, they took

over all such records since they didn't go back much further than that anyway. At the

same time, they often took over older civil records and then later turned them over to

the general historical archives. They did this for the most part in Croatia but also

partly in Slovenia and Vojvodina.

The older private archives., to the extent they still exist, are mostly pre-

served in the historical archives, but partly also privately.

How can a person gain access in the Yugoslavia archives to the desired

genealogical data? If the interested person knows in which archive the desired

materials are to be found, he may simply apply to that particular archive. If he does

not know thiS, then he ~ha.J1d ask for direction from the appropriate archive of the

appropriate republic. The archive will either answer his questions directly - insofar

24
as the available material allows - or they will refer him to that archive where the

necessary sources are available. Direction to the appropriate material is always

given free of charge.

The researcher may always have access to the material for inspection in

the reading rooms of the archives free of charge. In those cases where it is desired

to put together genealogies which will require a time consuming research and col-

lection of data, arrangements must be made with the particular archive which will

charge an appropriate fee for the time consumed. There are no uniform rules estab-

lished concern ing the fees throughout the nation. This is left up to each individual

archive. The researcher can also order from the archive microfilms or other mechanical

copies of the material for which reasonable costs of the work will be charged. To

the extent the archive does not possess the necessary facilities for this service, they

will procure the required reproductions from some other agency in the area.

A general overview of all the archives and their materials for the entire

nation is provided by the Broschure Les archives de Yougoslavie, Belgrad, 1956. A

similar general overview for modern Croatia is in the booklet by A. Bauer - K. Nemetn,

Muzeji i arhivi (Museums and Archives), Zagreb, 1957. A somewhat more comprehensive

overview of the archival collections for most of the archives in the nation appears in

the appendices to the Archivist from 1953 on and for all archives in Vojvodina in a

special publication, Arhivski fondovi u Vojvodina (Archival collections in Vojvodina),

published in Novi Sad, 1962. More exhaustive overviews of the materials for all the

archives in Slovenia are available. For instance, for the Archive of Slovenia there is

a booklet published in Ljubljana in 1960, and for the city archive of Ljubljana a

booklet by S. Vilvan entitled 60 Years of the Ljubljana City Archives published in

Ljubljana in 1959. Further information for these two archives and for the others:

25
Guide through the Archives of Slovenia, Ljubljana, 1965, and for the Archive of Serbia,

a booklet published in Belgrade in 1967. The rest of the archives contain more or

less detailed reports of their materials.

General information concerning the materials in the archives can be obtained

from reports given out by the information offices of the archives of the republics.

The notariat archive materials are published by individual categories in an

article entitled "Les archives notariales en Yougoslavie" in Archivum, Vol 12, 1962,

1965, and for the city archives by K. Nemeth for Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and

Herzegovina and by S. Vilfan - B. Otorepec for Slovenia in Archivum Vol 13, 1963,

1965. In Croatia, Vojvodina and Serbia in recent years, detailed indexes of the

civil books have been prepared without consideration for where the records are pre-

served. This work is not going forward in Slovenia and had as its goal a publication

concerning the civil books which would give an overview of these records going into

considerable detail. The indexes of these civil books which are now available can

be seen in the archives of the republics as also in the provincial archi ve in Sremski

Karlovc1. In these republics indexes of the church archi ves have either been or are

being made and will be completed in the near future. Those indexes which are completed

are also to be found in the archives of the republics and in the provincial archive in

Sremski Karlovc1. For those collections which are most often used (chiefly the older

ones) the archives are working out special helps (indexes, detailed lists, etc.).

It is often possible, also, to rely on helps which were made up at the time of the

birth of the materials such as lists and indexes to the civil books. etc.

MIGRATIONS IN THE YUGOSLAVIAN AREA FROM THE 18TH

TO THE 20TH CENTURY

Questions concerning migrations in the area of todays Yugoslavia which are

26
very closely connected with genealogy have been the object of numerous studies.

Within the aims of this report, we would like to call attention to only the most

important phases of these migrations since the 18th century and to the basic, especial-

ly more recent literature in this area.

The forward drive of the Turks had as a consequence in the lands of todays

Yugoslavia, decisive currents of migration. As the Turks pressed in, the population

began to pull back toward the north and toward the Adriatic Sea. In order to occupy

and utilize the localities which had been desolated in the war, and also to provide

for military security, the Turkish Empire had resettled these areas. This colonization

in the 15th and 16th centuries, consisting chiefly of Wallacha, reached far into the

north into Hungary and toward the west between the Drau and the Adriatic Sea. A

number of Mohammedan people also settled in these areas.

After the great Viennese war of liberation of 1683-1699, new currents of

settlement began to form again in the Yugoslavian areas. This time it was a movement

from the north toward the south. This concerned chiefly the Mohammedan elements,

which, with the retreat of the Turkish conquerors out of Europe, emigrated to the

south into areas that remained under the control of the Turkish Empire. So, the

Moslems pulled out of Hungary, Slovania, the Lika and Dalmatia even during the

Viennese war, across the Danube, the Sava, and the Dinara mountains. They re-

mained in significant masses in the border cities and also in the interior of Bosnia

and Herzegovina, which states had already contained more of the Moslem settlers

than the rest of Yugoslavia anyway. Many of them, however, moved further, across

Serbia and Macedonia to Bulgaria and the areas along the Aegaean Sea. These

currents toward the south continued in the 18th and 19th centuries in connection

with the liberation of Serbia and the occupation of Bosnill and Herzegovina by

Austria, etc.

27
 Furthermore, the Turkish government carried out certain colonization

efforts as defense measures. As the treaty of Belgrade of 1739 established the

border between Austria and Turkey along the Danube and Sava, the Turks syste-

matically settled Mohammedan people into the border section of the Danube, Sava,

and Una chiefly with those people which had just fled from those areas which the

Austrians had just conquered during the Viennese war. Because of the rebelliousness

of the Montenegran tribes since the end of the 17th century, Turkey surrounded these

tribal areas with a zone of cities which they settled with Moslems.

In the opposite direction, however, the Christian peoples settled themsel ves

independently into the liberated areas. The movements were very strong out of the

Bosenska krajina into the Lika and Banija. There was also movement into Dalmatia

which had been conquered by the Venetians. These emigrations from the south to-

ward the north added to other significant migrations which were brought about by

the further developments of war. In the war of 1683 -1699, the Austrian forces drove

as far as Stip, Veles and Prizren. However, as they were forced to retreat in 1690,

many people moved with them, particularly those who had taken part in uprisings in

northern Macedonia, from Kosovo and modern Serbia, moving toward southern Hungary

and even further to Budapest and Szent-Andre. Out of Bosnia and Herzegovina emi-

grated especially into Slavonia the Bunjevci and Sokei, and also the Baranja and

Backa, after the march of Prince Eugene of Savoy on Sarajevo in 1697. Because of

their participation in the Austrian-Turkish and the Russo-Turkish war of 1737-1739, a

part of the Serbian-Macedonian population emigrated all over again over the Sava and

Danube. Then, again, a part of the Serbs even during the war of 1788, but especially

at its end in 1791, moved into Hungary.

In the 18th and partly in the 19th centuries, we see special emigrations out

of commercially passi ve areas into more .active ones. This took place in the form

28
of constant flowing in of immigrants moving out of the mountainous areas into the

fruitful lowlands. It was determined that up to the year 1912, more than 80 per-

cnet of the inhabitants of Serbia were colonists who had moved in since the begin-

ning of the 18th century. There were three chief migrations in this colonization:

The Dinaric, the one from Kosovo-M"tchija, and the 0;"18 from the Morava-Vardar,

which overran these areas in the 18th century. W"stern Serbia between the Drina

and ,he Kolubara was settled chiefly by the Herzegovinans. Central Sumadija was

settled by the inhabitants from old Serbia and Monenegro, the valley of the Morava,

however, was settled from the area of southern Morava and the Vardar, and further,

from that part of old Serbia which is on the Kosovobecken and from the Metohija and

the Sandschak from Novi Pasar. The new inhabitants were able to settle under very

favorable conditions. The land was endowed with a fullness of the riches of nature

and there was plenty of undeveloped ground. Very quickly the new elements melted

together and a new ethnic group was formed.

The emigration out of the areas of Macedonia and old Serbia had as a

consequence that the Albanian cattle raisers in the 17th and 18th centuries first of all,

overran Kosovo, and then extended themselves further to the southern slope of the

Sar-Planina and the Korab. They took over the area watered by the Vardar River and

settled themselves along with the other Albanian colonists in Tikves and Polog. In

the second half of the 18th century, this Albanian ethnic wedge remained between

Serbia and Macedonia and pushed into the valley of the Lab and the southern Morava

so that it surrounded Skopje on two Sides and extended toward Nis and the greater

Morava. The Albanians had chiefly their conversion to Islam to thank for the fact

that the Turks helped them in thiS colonization.

A significant colonization effort was made in the 18th century and partly

also in the first half of the 19th in Vojvodina. There, Austria carried out a planned

29
political colonization along with broad attempts at reclamation projects which would

have made from the swampy areas of modern Vojvodina a chief grain supplier of

Europe. Banat and Backa had in the year 1720 at the most approximately 50,000

inhabitants, whereas toward the end of the century they already had approximately

320,000.

So the royal treasury took over this area in the first half of the 18th century

and brought in ,at first chiefly in Banat, Germans out of Germany. Among them were

handworkers and qualified laborers and also trained people in agriculture and mining.

Representati ves of other peoples also came in, among them, for instance, Bulgarians.

Other land owners also carried out colonization, bringing in individual groups of

farmers out of Hungary. Among them were also Slovaks, Ruthenians. Magyars, and

even a few Rumanians.

This systematic settlement of Vojvodina began to unfold in the middle of

the 18th century. The royal treasury brought in chiefly Germans. They were brought

into Voj vodina at the ex pense of the state. They recei ved land, houses and equipment.

There were also immigrations of Serbs, Magyars, and Rumanians. The larger land-

owners also continued the colonization with Magyars, Slovaks and Ruthenians. In

this manner Vojvodina acquired a colorful mixture of peoples (chiefly, however, in

separate communities) not seen in any other land in Europe at that time.

The consequences of the above described migration in the Yugoslavian

States was therefore significant in every respect.

According to Yugoslavian law, the arrangement of stipulations concerning the

use of archive material is left to the respective archives insofar as this is not regulated

by the laws of the republics, e.g. Croatia. Furthermore, in connection with genea-

logical material one must act in accordance with the regulations of the law concerning

30
 Ethnic and Religious Groups of Yugoslavia

• HUNGAJT •

IO/lllAHI.4

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 GUIDE TO
GENEALOGICAL
RESEAHCIl

YUGOSLAVIA: SLOVENIAN VOCABULARLY LIST

The Slovenian language has a complex grammar Hhich causes words to have different
endings depending on their grammatical usage. In actual use words may appear in a
form different from that shmm here.

ali - or grBko-katoliski - Greek nas - us

avstrijski - Austrian Catholic nns - our
n[lslov - address
babica - grandmother, hei - daughter ne - not
midHife ne morem najti - we
bil, bila, bilo - Has jme - given name cannol.: find
bivalii~e - residence in - [Inc! nel;l!;ki. _. Gc n'l.111
brat - brother iz - out of ne-po.snan - uilkno\.;.n
brskali sma - we searched izpisek - extract nevesta - bride
italijanski - Italian nczakonski - il1e~itim~ltc
cerkev - church njeni - her
jutrisnji - tomo,rrO\·l njcgov - his
da - that (conj.) nl - is not
dan - day kcr - b0.cause nilnamo - we do not ll~lve
danasnji - today kl - who nisrno mogli nnjti - we
datum - date kmet - peasant, farmer could not find
decek - young man knj iga - book
ded - grandfather kraj place, locality o - concerning
deklica - girl, maiden krst - christen oba - both
dekliski priimek - maiden obcina - district, county
name leta - year obrezati - to circumcise
delavec - laborer leta - years ace - fa ther
dete - infant, child aceta - of the father
deva - maiden madlarski - Ilungarian ad - from
dne - on the day majhen - I i ttle opazki - remarks
do - into, up to mati - mother ot,rok .... child
dobili sma - we received matere - of the mother otroka - of the child
drugi - second, other matiena knjiga - vital
ddavljanstvo - records register pismo - letter
citizenship, maticni urad - vital plemstvo - nobility
nationality records office podatki - infonllation
med - between, during poljedelec - farmer
evangel ski - Evangelical mesee: - month porocenke - bride
Lutheran mesto - city, town paraeil - married
mladi - young poroeni list - marriage
moski - male certificate
fara - parish moz - husband, man poroka - marriage
prababica -
grb - coat of arms na - at, on great-grandmother
rr:Jt-'1{'\! -
rl·0~'t-gl~dI1drnther
v - i.n
vas - yOll
-_._
NUMBeRS
...
CARDINAL ORDINAL
~;I ~!\'OSl~\\'l:i - Orthodox v~ S - village
-1,2,3
--- lst,-2nd--;3rd
rrl~dnik - 2 -~cslor vas - your
pr i ilr~('k .... ~;Urnm;H! v~0raj§nji - yesterday 1 pc! ("0, en prvi
prvc - f.ir~:t vek - age 2 elV;} )dve drugi
vellki - big, great 3 t ri , trije trctji
rilZVC;~~ - divorce vera - religion 4 stiri cctrtl
~il~sko--~atoli§kj - Romnn vdova - wido\-l 5 pet -i
C~ t bolie vdovec - widower 6 sest -i
rodhini\ - family vpisan - recorded 7 sed em sedmi
(e:,t~nd,-d) . 8 ose!TI osmi
rnllilR - slle nav~ birth z - of, with 9 devE t -i
rej. - ,born, maiden name za - for 10 deset ~~ i
rojen .. born zekupnik - farmer 11 enajst -i
rojstlli Ust - birth zena - wife, woman 12 dvannjst -1
certificAte zenin - bridegro-om 13 trinaj"t -i
roj"tva - of birth zenski - female 14 stirin[ljst -i
11dovski - Jewish 15 petnajst -1
s - wi th 16 scstn<1j'sl. -i
(il'stra- sister MONTHS OF' THE YEAR 17 se00:;i 11;1 j oS L -i
sin - son 18 osemnajst -i
rl"'pi:clnn nbelne Jan j;lt1uar or prosinec 19 dcvetnnjst -i
d.l strict Fch - fcbrllHf or svc~an 20 dV.:ljt;('t -j
r,o\,erm . lent Mar - marec or SUSgC 21 cnindvnjsC't: -1
Cor,H:1i t tee Apr - april or mali 22 dvain·,lv aj .sl~ t -i
gmrt- death traven 30 tridc~;et -1
pmrtni list - death May - maj or veliki 40 stiridcset -j
certificate traven 50 petdeset -i
so - they nre Jun - junij or rolnik 60 sestdcset -i
so bili - they were July - julij or mali 70 sedemdeset -i
~or0dnik - relative srpan 80 osemdeset -i
. i.ol - 8(.=:X Aug - avgust or velikl 90 devetdeset -i
stAlno prebivalisce - srpan 100 sto stotl
pel~anent residence Sep - september or 1000 tisoc tisoci
stAra .. old kimavec
stAra mati - grAndmother Oet - oktober or vinotok Slovenian dates are often
starsi - parents Nov - november or written with numbers
strana - page listopad only; with the day, month
stric - uncle Dec - december or gruden and year. Thus 9.6.1886
svoj - his t her 01ffi would be read as 9 June
DAYS OF THE l'IEEK 1886.
teden - t-/eek
teta - aent Sunday nedelja
tu1:ajSi - of this place Honday ponedeljl'k /1" __. Genealogical Department
TuesdDy torek ,:1." Librery July 1981: D:-1Sch
tljec - m~ternol uncle Ivednesday srcr:1a Copyright 1981 by Corporation
tJi:lrl - eli (:0 Thursday cetrtl;-~k Ii; . . of thE President
ura - hour Friday petck /" ,- The Church of Jesus Christ of
urad .. office Saturday nedclja Latter-d~y Saints

,. ," \
 MONTHS· OF THE YEAR IN THE LANe IF EUROPE . Slavic

"~czecb' .Russian mtrainian Bulgarian Serbo-Croatian Slovenian

::ngl ish ;. Polish ---,.__-'--,--....--..'------;-.,---.-.--....-----,-,.--.---.-~,---.;.--.-~--.O"~--··O....
,, i
• I Zeann JlHGapb C7: t lCHlJ ;myapwl janl,W.ro januaro
'nuary styczen •. ~
Convar I . 9 ichcn' [il,iunrii sijciJanj pl'osinec
I
-,b-r-u-'a-r-y- ili--·--z-u-t-y---JI:---l-tn-o-ro-.----11-
.-<fi-e-Q-/X-u-l-lJ---1--/I·/(A°-'-nl-a-----1--r/i-,e-,u-.;J-y-a-p-Z-/i'-l---1--j'<-e-,b-r-!-la-r---- --j'<-e-.-b,,·-!/{·.·I-
l' ' - - ' - - 0 ' . ' •.. -

,
I 'fevral' li.\Ityi fcvrunril vel-jaJe BveiJan
___ ~.---_-__~-----I---·----!i---·······--·--r------+------1.------1----
i
H1pn mart maroec
lrch Jo1apn 6epc367l1:>
mal'zee bilezen mart berczcn' mart o8ujak Gusee
---'1--._----+,------1-------_. -- -.--- --·0.---.---- --.. --.----+-----. - - -
'ril I kwiecien I duben anpe.llb I )cuimclllJ anpWl april. aproiZ
troavanj maZi tl'aoan
I aprel' Iwiten' april

:=I
lY"

Jne 1
maj

,I
Ii kveten
,
Jo1QU

i-'..---- ---'"1i----'-----I-..;.....c.=--·---t·-·--'-·--·----.;·-------I
mai'

WOHi:I
mp2-(Je71 i:I

I tlepsellb
'travcn'
pau
mai

lO'/UU
maj
sv'b
~ anJ
juni
'
maj
veZiki travan
junij

_ ____ ~---e-8el'lJ~ee
rooinik
._--;,' ceroven ilun'
+...=.=::~
i cherven'
_ _.J_ :lunit Upanj

t,l Zipiee
..
!I eervenec Ii WC.Ili:l \ .IluneltlJ
i
KlfluU juZi juZij
. _.: ..-. ......_.1 t ~,
ilUl 11._ _ 1Y~~~1_•..
I r-
t-_l-U-l-i-I---+-S-l"p-an-J_.---+-m-,a-Z_i_G_l"p_a_n_+ _

,gust sierpien i sl'pen aecycm CermeHi:I ae2ycm avgust avgust

--~._.l 1 av::~~~__. J__s_e_r~.:~~ t__B_V_g_U_s_t .I_k_O_Z_O_V_O_'3 lo.v_c__Z_i_k_i_1l_l'.p._ClI"!_+- _
'I'tember j wl'zesien ! zari CeltmJl6Pi:l! GepeceHi:I ceruneMepuu septembaro septembe1'
7<imavea
_ /' I
: to ber- ',1- ~:id~ieronik ! Hj en
sentLabr'
Ol(TlUl6Pb
'veresen'
'I:
septemvrir roujan
~e·m-e·-H·-i:l-:---t·--O-KlI1.::-OM-e-p-uu-.--·I-O-k-t-O-b-a:t'-. ---+-O-k-t-o-b-e-ro-- - . - - -
, oktiabr' zhovten' Zistopad virzotek
I, .------~-:-----_1~..:..:.:.:.~::.::...---+......;.~::::.~~---+-'-.::o~k!t£o~m~v!r2:.i:!T_ _·I-~~~:::---
I

lvember Zistopad i Ustopad HOf!6pb 1,1 .Ilucmonaa HOeMepUU noveb(22? . -n-o-v-c-m-be-r----·--·

noLabr' lystopad noemvril studcni Zistopad
, ,
~cember
I gru&:ien
I

pr'olJincc
aelca6pi:l
dekabr'
,II zpy<3ellb.
hruden I dekemvriT
dccclI7bar
.....".,"" ... .., '" ...... "'"
da(Jr!UI};er'
nrudm1.
 THE SERBIAN AND CROATIAN ALPHABETS

CYRILLIC LATIN
Printed Written I Printed Written Pronunciation

a A £IdY{ a A A-A English a In fafflu

J"~'
..
(I 6 b B ttB English b
- ....
."1J-U//~' . -- .. - - .......

..t$
., ." .
.' -~

B V.
B
. or V

'(j
English ..

r L:f
~.~
r 9 G English ~ In 110

. .f!),
fI~
A on d 0" English d

o/'~~{
!/ff [ d (dj),OJE> " lOUftd like j In Jew.
1j b but slightly lofter

e E e E -ecg..
.
Engll'" • In pel

>K >K ;)I£9f{ ~ 2 xr;l { English 6 In pleasure

French J In jou,

:3 3 33 z Z X q{- English z .. . . -.~

H J,1 u.UIi i I iY Engll'" I In macl.iine

~~
j J if' j J English 7 In yet

K K ~J{ k K Engllih it

n· n ~Jl I L
.... . "
12 English I

.n. Jb .-6Jt Ij Lj
1'$ { English /Ii In ml71ion
Illlilan gl In ellO
,

M M ~VIt m M m,~ English m

11Ie sIpha_ ardor "' ... "'lin

al"",bet Is ... foll_"lI'
.. II, c, to to d, d1, G, e, f, .. II, I, J, II, ~ q, ..... nl, 0, p, r, ..., t. .,Y, Z. 2.
 'ffiE SERBIAN AND CROATIAN ALPHABETS

,
CYRILLIC . LATIN
Printed Wrillen Printed Wrillen Pronunclat'lon

H H ?if n N nJ1l En~lish n

.. I-b u0J6 nj Nj 7~;.# ( English ni In onion

French g.n In Boulo~ne

0 0 h(!) 0 0 ~(!) Engllih. 0 'n flat, sometimes

as or In lord

.n n .ag[ p p ;ft' fl. EngUsh p

tt 9
-
p P r R ')£r!ll Scottflh r In merf7,

C C ~~' s 5 4:/ EngUsh u In fl/os.

T T .a£!Ji[ t T -tY, English f

1; n -n ex 'c 6 '-c.~ { A sound between the

English t In tun.
and eli 'n d1t>/K

y Y Jfo/ u U aUli Engli.h ri In mil

4J en rf; (/). f F Iff: Engli.h f

X X x% h H i£:It· . { Scoltl.h di In loen.

EngU.h Ii

.,c~
~

'I
w
I.f ;1# ~
c C

c '.c~ .
._~
y

'
Engli.h a In loa

EngU.h di In ctialJ.
-
. ,

~'9I'." &
,

U 1,1 dz,9,Dz y
. EngU.h J In Joiin

W W
,
.at'i1Jj ,~ S "J// EngU.h m In 6M

The Serbian alphabet I. strtctly phonetic; the pronunciation of each leller I.

alwey. the aame.
 -2-

Latin Genealogical terms

Latin: English:

mater meretrix unmarried mother

matrinonium matrimony
mensis month
miles gregarius private soldier
mortuus deceased
natms, nata born
necessitate baptisatus compulsory baptism
nepos nephew, grandchild, descendant
neptis granddaughter, niece
nu·ptiae wedding
obi i t deceased
dbiit eadem anna died same year
pagus village
parentes parents
paroch parish
par'ochus minister
pater father
patres forefathers
in patria hometown, native land
popula, populi illegitimate
praesentibus in presence of
puella girl(maiden)
puer son
proavia great grandmother
proavus great grandfather
promulr,atio marr. announcement
pronepos great grandson
relicta widow
requiescat rest in peace
sepultus buried
socer father in law
socrinus brother in law
socrus mother in law
soro sister
sponsus, sponsa betrothes, fiancee
spurius,spuria ill. son or dau~hter
s.u.p. buried
stuprata pregnant out of wedlock
Sllsceptor sponsor at baptism
testimonium testified
testes witnesses
trigemini triplets
tutor guardian
sub tutela under guardianship
vidua, relict widow
viduus widower
villicus inhabitant of villa~e or far~
vir,virgo man,maiden(virgin)
 LATIN GENEALOGICAL TERMS:

LATJN: I';NGLJ ml:

llh hoc menRe from this month on.

abavu5 2nd g.g.father
abavia 2nd.g.g. mother
abbas abbot
acatholicus not catholic
actum completed
adolescens young man
aetas age
aetatis aged
affinitas reI. in law
agricola farmer
alias ca·lled
alumnus student(also inhabitant)
alutarius tanner
amicitia relationship, friendship
amita aunt
an, annc year
apud near by
arcularius carpenter
avia grandmother
avunculus uncle(mother's brother)
aVilS grandfather
avi ancestors
baj,tisatus baptized
bis twice on same page
civis citizen
caelebs bachelor
calciator shoemaker·
cippus gravestone
circa about
conjuges married couple
conjux husband,wife
consanguinitas bloodrelationship
defunctus deceased
d.sine prole died without issue
denunciatio pub. of banns
dictus named
duxit to marry a wife
ecclesia church
ego I
eodem die the same day
filia daughter
filiaster step-son, son in law
filius son
frater brother
frater germanus twin brother
gemelli twins
genitores - parens parents
illegitimus illegiti_te
infans infant
jus civitatis(civitatis) citizenship
levantibus god parents
lictor town official
 }\Cl\THS OF THE YEAR IN THE LAN( OF EUROPE Slavic
_ _------'__1

English _. Polish
---
C.:ech Russian Ukrain1an
--_._-_
,
...
Bulgarian
_
Serbo-Croa:ian
....-.....---.-- ... --------3lovenian
j
. . ..- .--_.- ........... - - -- __ .
.,-- -.~ .

, janual"
i Jl!/(JaplJ C7: l leluJ Jlllyapuu janual"
J.:1t1uary stucz /21i leden pr·osinec
, lal1var' I H"l.chcll l
(il nlln r i i sijceanj
,---
I
i
I
-_._-- _ _ _ _ _ w.·

fabl"tlQl" fC'hru(lr
february lIlt!) I
I ltnor' .r/iccJ!.Xl./ltJ .tIWILI ii r/iuo pya pWI
i tJe ljaJe :;veean
I Tevral' li.lltyi fevrlla r il
e.--. ,I ....... ,,
i rrarec
6epC.1ellb w.rpn mal"t
t·la rch
mQr'zec brezen
/>1Qpn
t
I
\
mart berczen mart ozujak I susec
- I
. -----_. ---_.,..... _------ ----~_ . --~._--
-------
I,
a.npe.llb I(() ill/a 11 b anptl.ll a:prU apl"il
April
\
klJieaien I duben I travanj mali tl"avan
I a pre 1 • kvlten' april

Nay

June
I ,
I
I
maj
---- -.

azel"lJiea
I, kveten
!
,
,i
I ael'tJen
~
.f>'.au
mn i

wei(/)
! traven
mp20ellb

!-._._-------_...
I ""pOellb
m:J i I
w.rLi

JOilUU
!
maj
svibanj
juni
maTi
tJeliki travan
jur;ij

~ I lipanj roznik
- ! irun ' cherven' iunii:
I
I
I I I We.llb I .IluneltlJ 1ClIluLt juri julij
.july
____..___ i
I , lipiea
_. __ I
I cel"venea
i iwl' I __I
iUlii srpanj mali arran

:l-
I, lypen I
... _.. ..... .~

11
~ --- ---. ._---

Augus t I, siel'pien i sl"pen I aezycm II cermellb aeeycm avgust avgust

I avgugt , serpen' kOlovoz _veZ,iki sr'pan. .
-I,, ,,! -...------ ---1---
I

_..__.___.__ avgus t
-
September I wrzesieri :; zaN
,
ce 1!I1lJ!6Pb !, aepecelib cenmeJ~epuu septembar september
7<imavec
-----··1------ ,
I sentlllbr'
i
veresen' septemvr1r
rujall
_._-
II paidziernik I
r
October
Mjen olO7lJ!6p/> , xoemelib
I
01Ol1QMepuLt oktobax' oktober
N

, .
!
, oktinbr 1 I
I "
zhovten' oktomvr iT listopad vinotek w
...
, -
November I listcpad lilltopad 1l0Ji6Pb I .Ilucmonao II Oe.f>lB puu novebi"2? nover.7oer
I I noUi br I I, lystopad noemvril studeni listopad
I
! ,
December
I
oe/m6p/> I
2p1Joellb. oCl(eMepuu deaembal" dac.!f!mbeyt
i
I !ll'ud::ien
r
I 1J!'oDil1ea dekabr I
I
I
I hrll(lpn I rtr:ak(:ln,,,,,,,';-;- . (7
.
l,l rUi{l'l LETTEI( 1\

Arhive (ARCHIVE NANE AND ADDRESS) Date

Moj predak rodjen/rodjena je u Jugoslaviji (B1RTIlDATE)

Ime: (NAME)
Rodno Mesto: (BIRTHPLACE)
Vera: (RELIGION)
Ja, ~elim znati informacije 0 njegovom/njezinom datomu rodjenja. vjen'1'anja, smrti
Takodjer bih ~elio znati podatke 0 roditeljima moga predka. Molim Vas mozete Ii
mi pisati gQjg mogu dobiti spomenute informacije? Saljem Vam Medjunaredni KUpo~
za .odgovor.
Uz Pozdrav i stovanje
(NAME)

My ancestor was born (masculine/feminine) in Yugoslavia on (BIRTHDATE)

Name: (NAHE)
Birthplace: (BIRTHPLACE)
Re ligion: (RELIGION)
I would like information about his/her dates of birth, marriage, death. Also
I would like information about the parents of my ancestor. Please, could you
inform me as to where I can obtain the requested information? I enclose 2
International Reply Coupons.
Respectfully yours,
(NAME)

Pc FORM LETTER B
(NAME AND ADDRESS OF ARCHIVE OR
REGISTRY OFFICE) Date

Dobio sam informacije od Arhiva (ARCHIVE NA}IE) da se podaci 0 mom predku mogu nati
u Vasem arhivu/uredu. Molim Vas, mozete Ii prepisati za mene sve 'podatke 0 njem/
nje.
Ime: (NAME)
Rodjendan: (EXAMPLES 20. jula l877/koliko 1877)
Rodno Mesto: (BIRTHPLACE)
Vera: (Religion)
Takodjer ~elim znati informacije 0 njegovim/ njezinim roditeljima i ihovoj drugoj
djeci. Molim Vas prepisite podatke kakvi su uoriginalu i navedite izvore sa
stranicom i rednim brojem.
Molim Vas posaljite mi racun 0 Va8em poslu. Ako je cijena Vaseg posla veea od 250
dinara, molim Vas pisiti mi prije Vaseg posla. Saljem Vam Medjunarodni Ku~on za
odgovor. Unaprijed Vam zahvalujem.
uz pozdrav i stovanje
(NA}IE)

I was informed by the (ARCHIVE NA}lE) Archive that records my ancestor can be
found at your archive/registry office. Would you please extract for me the
records about him/her.
Name: ( NAME)
Birthdate: (EXAMPLES 20 July l8n/about 1877)
Birthplace: (BIRTHPLACE)
Religion: (RELIGION)
Also I wou19 like to know information about his/her parents and their other children.
Please extract the record exactly as given in the original, noting the record,
volume and page number.
Please bill me for your service. If the price is more than 250 Dinar (about $13.00)
please let me know before you start the research. I enclose 2 International Reply
Coupons.
Respectfully yours,
(NAME)
 USING THE CROATIAN ARCHIVES FOR
GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH AND FAMILY HISTORY

Kresimir Nemeth

Resides in zagreb, Yugoslavia. Manager of information and documentation, Croatian

State Archive. Ph.D. Teacher, author, archivist.

Up to now, neither the Croatians nor the Croatia is not unlike research among the
other southern Slavic peoples have other cultural groups of Europe.
compiled an extensive and complete "

treatise on genealogical research, In considering these questions, we may

although there have been a considerable distinguish between two time periods.
number of individual efforts made in the The first period extends from the
last hundred years. These efforts have beginning of the Middle Ages to the
been mainly concerned with families of eighteenth century. In this era, the
the nobility, in fewer instances with private interests of the nobility were
outstanding personalities in Croatian prevalent. The nobles strove for
history; whereas family histories of political power, tried to strengthen
comnon citizen families have been almost their economic position and thus add to
totally neglected. For historians, these the fame of their family. As a conse-
studies were always a sideline; and if quence, this was also a time of falsifi-
they did pay any attention to them, it cation of all types of documents. At the
was almost exclusively a concern for the same time, there were professional his-
old and famous families of noble lineage torians who began to work on genealogical
from the distant past, a phenomenon that studies because of scientific motives.
characterizes our historians of the
·pre-war era. The second time period begins with the
national rebirth in the second half of
I would like to note here that as a rule, the past century and is linked with the
the available books and other studies of progress in historiography, which was
heraldry contain historical-genealogical brought about by the restructuring of
.comnentaries. And many genealogical data modern thought and the improvement of
are to be found, especially in the working methods in this field. These
biographies. events also reflected favorably in the
development of the historical auxiliary
The Croatian provinces of Dalmatia, sciences. This then is the period of the
Croatia and Slavonia were part of a entry of the scientific method into
foreigo domain for centuries. Because genealogical research and family history.
the Croatians lived in so multinational a In this presentation, an overview of
state as was the Danube Monarchy, and on these efforts and their effects will be
account of the interrelation of Croatian, given.
Hungarian, German and Italian families it
is necessary to consider related works Like the other famous European families
concerning Croatia's neighbors when doing of nobility, the ancient Croatian noble
family histories. family, Frankopani, from the Island Krk
(Veglia) which played an important role
Consequently, genealogical research in through centuries of Croatian history,
Nemeth/520 2

tried to link their origin with the short life, he gave lectures in theology
ancient Roman family of Frangipani. at the University in Klinigsberg. Skalic
After Nikolaus Frankopani I s return from was born in 15434 in Zagreb and died in
Rome in 1432, he not only took the name Danzig in 1574.
of his alleged relatives, but he also put
their emblem into his coat-of-arms. Around 1480, a certain man by the name of
Later genealogists tried to support this Ohmucevic compiled the pedigree of the
fictitiyus story with various quotes and Lords of Bosnia. He wrote it on parch-
proofs. ment and afterwards pasted it on a
picture. (At one time it was in the
Another family of noble lineage, the Franciscan Cloister in Sutjeskaj today it
counts of Blagay or BaboniC'i, who played is in the collection of the Yugoslavian
a leading role in medieval Slovenia, Academy in Zagreb.) The members of this
claimed to be the relatives of the Roman family, who were to be in the service of
family, Orsini. In their efforts to hold the Spanish King in the following
their own against the new dynasties of centuries, were originally from Bosnia,
the Frankopani and the counts of Cilli, whete they found refuge from the Turks in
the Baboniei used falsified documents, the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik). Just
some of which are true masterpieces of before his departure to join the "Great
the art of diplomacy. The most powerful Armada" on its way to England, Peter
proof of their claim was the heraldic Ohmucevic stibnitted his pedigree based on
legend: the similarity of the Slavic falsified documents, to the Consul of
star in the coat-of-arms of the ~unt of Ragusa in Genoa for confirmation. In the
Blagay and the rose of the Orsini. first half of the seventeenth century,
Franciscus de Petris, a meDlber of the
The counts of Orsiei purported themselves Neapolitan academy "degli oziosi" (of the
to be descendants of the Kings of Bosnia. idle), wrote a treatise entitled "Breve
This was supported by a docunent from the corso genealogico della antiquissima et
year 1675, which after jnly a few years nobilissima famiglia Ohmuchievich-
was m longer mentioned. Gargarich" (Brief genealogical sketch of
the most ancient and noble family
llut commoners were also involved in Ohmuchievich-Gargarich.) P.ased on this
falsification of genealogical data, publication, the descendants of the
especially those who were more adven- family OhmucevlC became knights of the
turous or were striving for fame. The highest chivalric order of Spain (1648).
highly educated Croatian Pavao SkaliC' was Thus, this family was aDte to become
one of them. He tried to prove that he well-known all over Europe.
was a descendant of the Italian family
Scaliger, and his claims were all based Nearly all the works of the historian
on falsified docunents. He invented a Mrnavic (Johannes Tomco Maranvich) of
pedigree, according to which, he was Sibenik (1580-l637?) are marked by his
related to many of the most respected genealogical mania. According to him,
families of mble lineage, indeed even the Hapsburgs are the descendants of
with some royal families in many European Emperor Constantine the Great, and
lands. He called himself Prince Scaliger Emperor Justinian was a slave. In order
of Verona, who supposedly had been to glorify his family, he connected it
disinherited from his Croatian and with the Serbian dynasty of Nemanjiden,
Italian riches because he was a with the Mrnjavcevici family, Mathias
Protestant. Skalie (alias Scaliger) Corvin, Skenderbeg-Kastriota and the
lived for a time at the imperial court in Croatian Bans, Berislavie. To prove his
Vienna and was acquainted with the claims, Mrnavcevic falsified some
princes and scholars of practically the documents from the fourteenth and
whole of Europe. He belonged to the fifteenth centuries. His comments and
group of Croatian and Slavic Protestants remarks about the Emperor Justinian
in Tiibingen, and towards the end of his became a part of the comnentaries on
Nemeth/520 3

Procopius' work, Anecdota (Anecdotes), work. The first edition was apparently
and through the scholarly scribe of the published in Vienna in 1701, and the
Vatican Library, Nicolo Alemani, who second in Zagreb. Soon after, i t was
published them, tgey joined the ranks of translated into the Slavic-Serbian
world literature. language by Hristofor tefarovic. The
second work of Ritter-Vitezovil,
The people who falsified documents of "Banologia sive de banatu Croatiae cum
nobility continued their work with such continua chronologia banorum ab anno
clever methods and in such great. Christi 576" (Banalogia or the Banat of
quantities that there was a. great court Croatia with unbroken Chronology of the
""se against them in 1750 in Zagreb, in Bans from the year of Christ 576), has a
which about 0"7 hundred forty noblemen somewhat biographic as well as heraldic
were sentenced. Interest in ancestors character. It has been preserved only in
increased particularly in the seventeenth manuscript form, and is now in the
century. During that period of time many University library of zagreb.
genealogies of famous families were
compiled. Examples include genealogies The renown enjoyed by this Ritter-
for the DraskoviC, Ratkay, von Blagay and Vitezovic is illustrated by a letter from
Zrinski families. /fst of them remained a Roman prelate. in the service of Pope
in manuscript form. Clement XI. This official, of Albanian
origin, addresses the Bishop of zagreb
Johannes Lucius, the author of the most with a request that Ritter-Vitezovic
important work of older Croatian histor- compile the pedigree of his family
iography, added three pedigrees after the because this Ritter knows "where the
title page of his major work, De regno devil, himself lives."
Dalmatiae et Chroatiae libri sex (Six
Books of the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Ritter also published the first genealogy
Croatia) (Amsterdam, 1666). These pedi- of the famous noble family, von Krbava,
gree charts concern the kings of from the Gussichi line (Laibach 1681).
Hungaria, the court of Breberia (the Among the other genealogical treatises,
ancestors of the counts of Zrinski who the one for thioKeglevichi line has a
later became famous in Croatian and prominent place. .
llungarian history) and the 9'0urt of the
Tininii (Croatian Nelipici). After Ritter-Vitezovic, Aleksandar
Patachich (1697-1747) was the only
However, in the field of family history, compiler of family history. Until the
our polyhistorian and heraldist Pavao national rebirth in the nineteenth
Ritter-Vitezovic (1652-1713) played a century, no other genealogical wrks were
very special role. His great ideal was written. Only a few foreign scholars
to compile an exhaustive work on the have included our area in their studies,
families of the "famous Slavic or Illyric for example, Charles du Cange. Riceputi,
tribe. " In the first volume he wanted to Emperor-General Count Harsigli, and
gather the genealogies. histories, and others.
coats-of-arms. To this end, he appealed
in 1696 "to all Lords, ministers, Charles du Cange, the famous French
nobility, to the rulers, administrators Byzantinologist, historian, and linguist,
and judges of the royal free cities, to included genealogical research in his
the free markets, and so forth." This work "Hystoria Byzantina" (History of
representative work was to be printed in Byzantium) (1680). In this work are the
zagreb, but it was never published. He genealogies not only of the Byzantine
published several interesting heraldic Emperors and Turkish Sultans, but also
works instead, but without any scientific those of the Serbian, Croatian, Bulgar-
value. A small book entitled Stemmato- ian. and Bosnian rulers. His genealogies
graphia (Pedigree) was most likely of the south Slavic dynasties were of
conceived as an introduction to his great benefit for the historical work
Nemeth/520 4

"Illyricum vetus et novum" (Illyrica: century, discovered at the beginning of

Ancient and Modern) (1746), written by an the sixteenth century in Dalmatia and
unidentified author, and through that inmediately translated, contains, with a
work have become part of Geschichte der few reconstructed names, the genealogy of
verschiedenen slawischen V8lker, vorne- the Croatian Bngs up to the death of
hemlich der Bulgaren, Kroaten und King Zvonimir. Still, it was Professor
Serben ..... (History of the Various Slavic Sillic in our time who was the first to
Peoples, Mainly the Bulgarians, Croats set "J!6 an accurate royal pedigree
and Serbs), written by the Serbian his- chart.
torian, Jovan Raie. This work published
in four volumes in Vienna (1794/95), was The second half of the last century is
considered exemplary until the middle of the beginning of a new era for our
the nineteenth century, and made a strong historiography. At that time the
impression on t:pr Croats because of its necessary prerequisites for a compre-
patriotic tone. The Italian polyhis- hensive and profound concept of national
torian Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli history were increasingly met, in
put much genealogical data regarding the connection with the general progress of
Slavic peoples in his codex under the scholarship and science. The genetic
title "Monarchia Hungarica in sua Regna, concept of history became dominant from
Principatus et Ducatus divisa..... (The that time on. The use of archival
Hungarian Monarchy, Divided into its documents, manuscripts, and other
Realms, Origins, and Leaders). This writings, and the sophistication of tools
manuscript is part of his literary and improved work methods are particular-
legacY,'and is kept today in the library Iv characteristic of that period. The
of the University of Bologna. The source development of national history
for his data is a well-known work, II paralleled the develolJIlent of the basic
regno degli Slavi (The Reign of the historical sciences, including among
Slavs) (Pesaro 1601), written by a others those of genealogy and family
Benedictine Monk of Ragusa, Mauro Of~ini, history. Unfortunately, almost all
otherwise of little literary value. efforts in this area have remained
virtually unknown to foreigners because
An Italian Jesuit, Filippo Riceputi, of language barriers.
apparently compiled a so-called
"Catalogus ducum et regum Dalmatiae et Ivan Kukuljevic, the founder of lIXldern
Croatiae" (Register of the Rulers and Croatian historiography (1816-1889),
Kings of Dalmatia and Croatia) (1742) in wrote many family histories, of which I
which he covers the genealogies of the would like to mention the histories of
Croatian Princes and Kings from the his mID family and of the Counts of
second half of the seventh century until DraSkovic. In addition, he did much
the end of the eleventh century. This research about Croatian artists and poets
manuscript is, however, an ordinary of the Renaissance whose biograpWs he
compilation; and as a stI~rce it should be has published in various editions.
used with much caution.
After him, almost all Croatian historians
It may be mentioned here that the have concerned themselves with family
genealogical data of Croatian rulers in history. For instance, one of the most
the first half of the tenth century are important historians, Vjekoslav Klaie
at least partially contained in (1849-1928), wrote about the families
Konstantin Porphyrogenetos' "De Keglevici Subiei, NelipiiA' Krbavski,
Administrando Imperio" (Regarding the Frankopani, and Kegleviei. The well-
Imperial Administration), a work of known book of heraldics Der Adel von
particY¢ar importance for the southern kroatien und Slavonien (The Nobility of
Slavs. Also, the Croatian edition of Croatia and Slavonia) by Ivan Eo jnilii6
the old and famous "Chronicle of the (Nilrnberg, 1899), contains, in addition
Priest of Duklja" from the twelfth to the coats-of-arms, short remarks about
Nemeth/520 5

the history of more than eighteen hundred excellently written .studies. Among these
families. Its counterpart is the less we can mention here only the well-known
successful work by Heyer entitled Dal- Hungarian historians Thaloczy and
matiner Adel (Dalmatian Nobility), c0n=- Wertner. Their research is also directed
taining a description of six hundred and towards medieval lineages, as is the
ninety families (1873). Both volumes great work of the German historian
were published in the series of the great Irmgard Mahnken, c02zerning the patrician
Siebmacher. families of Ragusa.

As a supplement to these works, Sammlung As was already mentioned, the common

der Ade1 in kroatien, Slavonien und citizens were very' seldan the object of
Dalmatien (Compilation of the Nobility in professional research. The historian
Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia), by V.A. Ferdo Sisie has written a treatise on the
Main should be mentioned. Only two lineage of Gay, the family of Ljudevit
small volumes appeared; the additional Gay, who was the leader of the so-called
publications we § interrupted by the Illyric mov~'}t in the first half of the
1
second World War. last century.

The same Bojnil!ie also compiled an There is also a study of the ancestors of
alphabetical index of the Noblemen who the Ragusa comic playwright, Marin Ddic,
were made citizens by the Croatian called the Croatian Moliere. Family
Parliament. As an appendix he added histories of comnoners in zagreb were
sixty-four pedigree charts about these mostly written by amateur genealogists.
families who were documented in the years These were published mainly in Revija
1752 and 1753, occasionally including zagreb, before World W"25 II and contain
court pr~edings to establish proof of very useful information.
nobility.
Contemporary researchers of family
Emil Laszowski (1869-1949) also compiled history are similarly interested in
a great number of genealogical treatises. heraldic and genealogical research.
He was for many years the archivist and Bartol Zmajic has an excellent knowledge
later the director of the state archives of the old families, particularly
in Zagreb (the present Archive of lineages of nobility. Milko Predovie
Croatia) • He even started a special works mainly with the families of
monthly magazine with the title Vitezo- Zumberak, an area· on the boarder between
vie, for genealogy, biography, heraldics, Croatia and Slovenia, not far from
and sphragistics (the study of seals and Zagreb.
signets). Unfortunately, this enterprise
was not successful and in a year and a In closing, I would like to make a few
half only thirteen issues were published. remarks about the present-day condition
Actually, the greatest part of the of family research in Croatia.
published issues are filled with his own Unfortunately, we as yet have no survey
contributions and almost all contain of what has been done in the field. Many
pedigree charts. The publication of this articles are scattered about in various
monthly is significant for the auxiliary magazines and newspapers, and they are
sciences of history, despite its lack of therefore not easily accessible. What
success. It was the first and only has been done in research thus far is
attempt of its kind, not only among the one-sided, and concerns mainly the dis-
Croats but in all the southern Slavic tant past and families of noble lineage.
21
lands. Consequently, many opportunities remain
unused. One great difficulty is the
We should not forget that foreign archival sources, which have not been
historians have also dealt with thoroughly researched and processed, due
genealogical research of Croatian and to the lack of personnel (especially
other southern Slavic lineages in their trained personnel) and lack of financial
Nemeth/520 6

means. Furthermore, the access to data onomastics has heen organized, which
from genealogical research is not works with the Centre International
organized. Those few researchers who are d 'Onomastique in Louvain. There is hope
interested in this work are not organized that interest in genealogical research
and work on their own. There is no will be revived through the extensive
professional association and there are no work connected with the compilation of
professional journals in our country to the Yugoslav bibliographic dictionary, a
give our researchers something to rally work which was suggested recently, a
around. The study of onOlllastics, the project which has gained the support of
study of the origin of names, for example many.
is much better off. A cOlllllittee for

!lYrES

~j. KIait, KrC1d. knezovi Frankopani I, (Zagreb, 1901).

~. 'l11aloczy, Die Geschichte der Grafen von Blagay. (Wien, 1898).

3A• Orsic, Povijest obitelji Or~i~a SlavetiC1d.h, (Zagreb, 1943).

41. Kukuljevic', Pavao Skalic, (Zagreb, 1875).

5A. Solovjev, HPostanak ilirske heraldike i porodica Ohmu~evic', H Glasnik

Skopskog ueenog drustva, (Skoplje, XU/1932), pp. 79-125.

6F • ~i~ic, Prirucnik izvora hrvatske povjesti I, (Zabreb, 1913).

71. Bojnicic', "Parnica protiv krivotvoritelja plemickih povelja, H Vjesnik

Zemaljskog arhiva, (Zagreb, U/1900), pp. 50-55.

8B• zmaji~, Heraldika, sfragistika, genealogija, (Zagreb, 1971), p. 81.

9 v v /
F. Sisic, op. cit.
10.. ~ v' .. ~
E. Laszowski, Pavao Ritter Vitezovic kao heraldicar i genealog, Vitezovic
Mjesecnik za genealogiju biografiju, heraldiku i sfragisks, (Zagreb, II, no. 171905),
pp. 2-7.

lIS. Antoljak, Pomo~ne istoriske nauke, (Kraljevo, 1971), p. 136.

l2 S • Antoljak, ibid, p. 136.

l3 Ibid •

l4Konstantin Porfirogenet, "De administrando imperio" (Croatian translation by

N. Tomasic), in Vjesnik Zemaljskog arhiva, (Zagreb, XXI/I9l8, XXU/19l9).

l5HLjetopis popa Dukljanina, Revija Zagreb, (Zagreb, 1949).

l6F • Sisie', "Genealo~ki prilozi 0 hrv. narodnoj dinastiji, H Vjesnik Hrvatskog

Nemeth/520 7

arheo1oskog drustva, (zagreb, XIII/1914).

l1T• Smicik1as, "Zivot i dje1a Ivana Kuku1jevi~a Sakcinskog," Rad Jugos1avenske

akademije, (zagreb, no. 110/1892).
18B. Zmaji~, op. cit.

19V• A. Duisin, Zbornik plemstva u Hrvatskoj, Slavoniji, Da1maciji,

Bosni-Hercegovini, Dubrovniku, Kotoru 1 Vo]vOdiriI, (Zagreb, Vol. 271938).
20 v , ,~
1. Bojnicic, Popis p1emica prog1asenih na saboru kra1jevina Hrvatske,
Slavonije i Dalmacije godine 1557 1848, (zagreb, 1896).
21 , ....
Vitezovic, Mjesecnik za genea1ogiju, bigrafiju, hera1diku i sfragistiku.
(zagreb, 1903-1904-1905).
22 B• Zmaji~, op. cit.
J
23F • iltsic, "Podrijetlo Gajeva roda," Jugos1.ist;rijski ~asopis, (V/1939).
24
Petrovskij Nestor, "0 genea10giji Drzic!a," Rad Jugos1avenske akademije.
(Zagreb, no. 148/1902).

25Revija Zagreb, (zagreb, 1929-1944).

 GENEALOGY AS IDENTITY OF SELF: A CASE STUDY FROM RIJRAL SERBIA

Barbara Kerewsky-Halpern

Born in New York. Resides in Amherst, Massachusetts. Adjunct assistant professor of

anthropology, Universi ty of Massachusetts, Amherst. Ph.D. (cultural anthropology),
University of Massachusetts. Author, lecturer.

To a Serb it is vitally important to define the characteristics of the

answer for oneself the fundamental traditional epic ten-syllable line.
questions ,,1-0 am I?" and "Fran where
have I cone?" This information or Jakobson called attention to the features
self-knowledge, so crucial to presen- of this tradition by maintaining that an
tation of self to the rest of society (in abstraction of the underlying metrics
the village, the town, or the larger must deal with certain rhythmic
world), is internalized in the head and tendencies as well as with formal
transmitted orally. Memory is not what metrical constants:
is happening here. In lSerbia we are
dealing with recollection. 1. Each line contains ten sylla-
bles:
This paper presents evidence that
recit'2tion of genealogy is a local xxxxxxxxxx
genre. A heuristic result of extensive
fieldwork in Serbian villages has been 2. There is a compulsory syntactic
that an epic pulse appears to course break between lines:
through many Serbs, especially elder male
villagers (this taxonomy is not abso-
lute-there are wanen who possess the
[ II
characteristic, and younger people as 3. There is a compulsory word boun-
well); the importance of the knowledge of dary between the fourth and
genealogy, of self, carries over into fifth syllables:
urban environments and across the
Atlantic, as will be demonstrated with xxxx XXXXXX
fragments of genealogies from Serbian-
Americans. 4. Syllables three and four belong
to one word unit, as do syl-
What I identify as an epic pulse strongly lables nine and ten:
matches the template of the classic south
Slav epic decasylIable. Vuk was the xx XX XXXX XX
first to describe it. A more useful or
exposition for Western readers is XX XX XX XXXX
available from Jakobson, who analyzed the
characteristics of the epski de!jeterac
for readers of German and English. 5. Disyllabic word units ideally
occur in syllables one-two,
Before turning to examples of proof that three-four, five-six) seven-
recitation of genealogy, under conducive eight, or nine-ten.
contexts and when performed by particular
elders, may be a special manifestation of 6. Syllables seven-eight-nine bring
south Slav epic tradition, we should the line to whe t Jakobson has
526b/Halpern 2

called a quantitative close, elision, drops an auxiliary verb, takes a

with syllables seven and eight non-gramnatical inflectional ending, or
ideally avoiding vowel length borrows as needed extra syllable from
(and therefore usually stress), jekavski. As he recollects his
in order to build up to stress genealogy orally, the speaker is not
in the ninth syllable (here aware that he is composing a narrative u
ideally avoiding a stressed stihovima, .. in lines of verse." The
short vowel). sense of epic verse, self-motivated, is
generated at some deeper level. The
Within a stich both stress and allitera- impetus for this traditional mode of
tion of irp-tial sound favor odd-numbered creativity is related, I suggest, to
syllables. . What is important here is regard for his genealogy as his own
that the "'etrical constants as well as personal epic, and thus he instinctively
the tende~cies correspond to phonological selects the appropriate form for the
features inherent in the language. These retelling. In turn, this epic form, both
include four marked tones, two rising and metrically and structurally, enhances his
two falling. This tonal system is ability to reconstruct and relate that
related to stress (long vm,els usually which is so important to him.
carry stress, but a short stressed
syllable may precede a long unstressed By reproducing parts of a real genealogy,
one). Stress never occurs on a final abstracting the underlying metrics, and
syllable; the first syllable in a analyzing its structure,. \\o'e can demon-
disyllabic word therefore takes stress. strate how complex data can be stored and
In polysyllabic words stress is on the recollected. The prosodic features
antepenultimate. This information is described above, in consonance tvith the
pertinent to detail he:::-e because, "'TIile values of Serbian society, playa crucial
the metrles of epic verse incline to\o."'-ard role in oral preseg-vation and transmis-
trochaic pentameter, it is clear that, sion of such data. In the course of
given the common occurrence of trisyl- analyzing the data for the first village
labic proper names in genealogical genealogy presented, two striking facts
recitations, dactyls will also appear began to emerge. First, material
frequently. Therefore, tone-length- elicited in 1954 and later in 1968,
stress rules do not coincide invariably spanning seven generations in one lineage
with what Jakobson has called the and including OVer one hundred men, was
rhythmical impulse of the epic metrics. essentially identicaL Second, the
informant, Deda Mileta, was recollecting
Having detailed the metrical and supra- the history of his Stojanovic lineage in
segmental features, \ole can proceed to the poetic stichs.
empirical data, a challenging endeavor
because genealogy as an oral genre in In the course of earlier field research,
Serbia has not previously been isolated, considerable information was elici ted on
described, or analyzed. kinship and social structure. ~~ny older
village men seemed to have a remarkable
Hhile \"estern students of poetry and ability to recall orally their ancestry
other literary forms may refer to word, eight or nine generations back to the
llord boundary, or word uni t, the founder of the clan 7 from which the
peasant-narrator is not conscious of lineage took its name. After much of
syllabification, word boundaries, or the social structgre data had been .mrked
stress (the terra for "vlOrd," re~, means up and published, I returned to ~umadija
both word and utterance). Hithin the specifically to cbeck certain aspects of
constraints of the ten-syllable line, the the genealogical materials. The focus
village elder employs intuitive knowledge was still on kinship data, not on oral
(competence) to put together strings transmission. That time, however,
which follow the traditional epic equipped with printed diagrams of
pattern. When necessary he freely uses previously elicited data, and without the
526b/Halpem 3

interference of structured interviewing, Eto, cera, najstari' je Djordje,

I was able to initiate genealogical A najmladji' nije ost'o ~iv
recollection and then to conce'?Jtrate on Moj Nikola, im'o on ~etiri: 20
receiving the responses aurally. Antonija, Svetozar i Milos,
A trecega, Ljubomir roo j otac
Proceeding to match elicited kinship data (Neka mu Bog dusu prosti).
with already published material, I Stevan, pazi, od sinova nema.
checked the new orally transmitted Adj' sad Vu~ic: on jeim'o troji 25
information from Deda Mileta Stojanovic Radojica,Andrija, Ljubomir.
(number 47 on the original kinship A Matija sarno jedan imao,
diagram, reproduced here as figure 1) Koji zv'o Blagoje •
against data he had given orally fourteen Ej, Radovan, taj ad treceg brata
years earlier. Some 105 male individuals lm'o Petar, Miloje, Radomir. 30
had been rzned. To avoid confusion and Sad Radoje: Dragomir jednoga;
as an aid in keeping the generational Radivoje: Velimir i Branko.
levels in order, I found myself repeating Pazi sada, brojim moja braca!
the data aloud, thereby unconsciously Te trojica im'o stric ~lilutin:
recreating (or in effect performing) a 21vomir, Pavle i Velimir. 35
version of the oral presentation. Nema ad njih potomaka nista!
Sad Andrija: Svetozar, Velislav.
Deda Mileta and I sat on low, three- Pa kod Djordja i Tanasije
legged stools he had carved years before. Sarno Veljko ost'o k'o maturan.
Our communicative interaction was Dragoljub, Svetislav i Dragoslav 40
initiated with his first utterance Svi su bili poginul' u ratu
indicating where I was to place my stool. Kad Svetozara isto nema srece:
Characteristically we sat close together Ni Zivomir, ni ~lilo§, TIi Vitomir,
despite the spaciousness of the mUddy Kod njih uopste ID1\~ deca nema.
courtyard. Chicks and an occasional AI' Dragisa, hvala Bogu, ima. 45
piglet wandered into the setting. The Adje sada, tu sam ja, ~lileta!
old man, his straw hat pushed back on his Potom moj brat, Milosav rodjeni.
brow, was relaxed and in the mood to ......
talk. Here is what he told me, followed
by a translation faithful to the original I ja, k'o stari, pijem malo rakije
word order: I polako, eto, cekam smrt •

Flago dedi, ti ces tuna sedi:

Sedi dole da ti'svemu pricam.
Davno d081i oni na~i preci; Grandpa's dear, you will there sit!
Do~'o Stojan ~ak i pre ustanka. Sit dmID SO I can to you everything
relate.
*** Long ago came they our ancestors;
Came Stojan even before the
Ej! Stari Stojan im'o tri sinova: 5 Uprising.
Ti su Petar, Miloje, ~lihajlo.
ad sinova im'o Petar ~ettri: ***
Milos, Uros, Nikola i Stevan.
Znas ti, cero, Nikola moj deda? Eh! Old Stojan had three sons: 5
Od sinova im'o tri Miloje: 10 These were Petar, Miloje, ~lihajlo.
Ti BU Vucic t Natija i Lazar, Of sons had Petar four:
lsto tako im'D tri Mihajlo: Milos, Uro~, Nikola, and Stevan.
Radivoje, Radovan, Radoje. Know you, daughter, Nikola my
Onaj Milos, .im'o on dva sina: grandfather?
Ti su bili Hilutini Andrija. 15 Of sons had three Miloje: 10
poreID Uro~, im'o Bina troji: These were Vu~ic, Matija, and
Tanasija, Vladimir, Djordje. Lazar.
526b/Halpern 4

The same had three Mihajlo: of much interest. Linguistically it is

Radivoje, Radovan, Radoje. not bound by the content restraints
That Miloll, had he two sons: inherent in transmitting genealogical
These were Nilutin and Andrija. 15 information. As in traditional oral epic
Then Uros had sons three: recitation, it functions as a means of
. Tanasija, Vladimir, Djordje. establishing a bond between narrator and
Like so, daughter, the eldest is listener. This is a crucial condition;
Djordje, speaker and hearer(s) form a collec-
And the youngest did not remain tivity, 01).'1 responding to stimuli from
living the other.
My Nikola had he four: 20
Antonija, Svetozar, and Milo~, A fictive kin tie is posited immediately.
And t),e third, Ljubomir my father Grandfather Mileta addresses the listener
(May "il'1 God his soul forgive). as blago dedi ("grandpa's dear").
Ste,-an, look here, of sons had
nroe. The tie is reinforced in the body of the
Come I'ow, vun~: he t>ad three: 25 recitation, in lines 9 and 18: znas ti,
Radojica, Andrija, Ljubamir. cero ("know you, daughter") and eto, &iCo
And Hatija only one had, ("like so, daughter").
,fuo was called Blafoje .
Eh, Padovan, that one from the Another epic function of the pripev is to
third brother, provide a temporal frame and initiate the
Had Petar, Miloje, Radomir. 30 action of the personal narrative which is
Now Radoje: Dragomir, only one; about to unfold:
Radivoje: Velimir and Branko.
Pay attention now, I'm countip..g my Da\~o dos!! oni nasi preci; 3
brothers! Dos'o Stojan ~ak i pre ustanka. 4
Well, a trio had Uncle }lilutin:
Zivmir, Pavle, and Velimir. 35 Long ago came they our ancestors;
Exist not from them descendants Came Stojan even before the Uprising.
none!
Now Andrija: Svetozar, Velislav. These lines were uttered spontaneously.
And by Djordje and Tanasija Certainly they were never before spoken
Only Veljko remained as a mature by the narrator. Yet line 3 is an ideal
man. epic decasyllable· line in every way.
Dragoljub, Svetislav, and Structurally it exhibits the exemplary
Dragoslav. pattern of VP (verb phrase), caesura, NP
All were killed in the war. (noun phrase):
By Svetozar also there is no luck:
Nor Zivomir, nor Milo~, nor Davno do~li ani nasi preci
Vitcmir, XXXX XXXXXX
By them in general male children VP NP
are not.
But Dragisa, thank God, has. 45 In the best epic mode, the VP, advancing
Came now, here am I, Mileta! the action, precedes the six-syllable
Then my brother'lO Milosav epithet.
[biological brother]
Hith regard to meter and stress, it is a
perfect line of trochaic pentameter:
And I, as the old man, drink a I " , J ,
little brandy XX XX XX XX XX
And slowly, so, wait for death . .
In accord with Jakobson' s analysis, the
The existence of a pripev (lines 1-4), a heaviest stress is on the ninth syllable.
traditional prologue to the narrative, is The line also displays consonantal alli-
526b/Halpern 5

teration word initially and internally The local example therefore is strong
(davno/dosli; dosli/nasi; oni/nasi) as evidence tP.at for Deda Hileta and many
well as vowel assonance, -succeeding ordinary village men like him, a sul>-
segments bearing the pattern a-o, o-i, liminal epic pulse must be generating the
a-i, a-i. epic mode so clearly marked in various
manifestations at the surface. He "knows
Line 4 illustrates stress shift t..nen a how" to do it.
procli tic occurs before a noun. NOI!li-
native ustanak has stress on the
antepenultimate. Adding a proclitic Turning now to the genealogy proper, some
results in of the more salient linguistic features
are noted below (although almost every
>
/
pre + ustanak pre" ustinka line invites comment):

thereby rendering the entire string to

the right of the caesura in trochaic, and 1. Line 5 is not grammatical. In
again creating an ideal quantitative Serbo-Croatian, numbers two through
close on the ninth syllable, with stress four are inflected with genitive
and vowel lengthening: singular endings, and numbers five and
I / .- over take genitive plural endings:
5 6 7 8 9 10
*Ej! Stari Stojan im'o tri sinova
cak i pre u stan ka Eh! Old Stojan had three sons

It is interesting to note that the open- *tri sinova (gen. pI.)

ing t1vO lines of this spontaneous pro- tri sina (gen. sing.)
logue compare favorably to the opening
lines of a "real" pripev:
But here the genitive plural fits the
BIage dedi, ti ces
tuna sedi! metrical requirements. It is also
Sedi dole da ti 'svernu pri~am. possible tr.at the narrator may have
Grandpa's dear, you will there sit! been composing his line in terms of
Sit do,m so I can to you everything thoughts of all the progeny of the
relate. clan ancestor. Interestingly, an
exact reverse analog is found in a
Compare line of "real" epic narrative:

Braco moja, sokolovi moji,

~ujte pesmu da vam cica brOji. 12 *Hrani majka devet milih sina
My brothers, my falcons, Nourished a mother nine dear sons
Listen to the song that to you Uncle
is recounting. Here the ungrammatical form is
especially interesting since its
modifier, milih ("dear"), is correctly
Each uses fictive kin to establish a tie inflected for genitive plural.
with the listeners. Each displays rhyme,
the former internally (dedi/sedi) and the
latter interlinearly--(moji/broji). 2. Lines 7 and 10 demonstrate selective
Syntac tically the two second lines are elision and <lord order S\·dtching:
parallel, opening with an imperative verb
(Sedi/Cujte), follm,ed after the break by im'o Petar ~et'ri 7
a~ clause (connective) and ending with had Petar four
an:tmperfective verb, indicating that the
process of narration is to be ongoing im'o tri Hiloje 10
(pricam/bro ji) • had three Miloje
526b/Halpern 6

Each of these procedures results in thus fitting the trochaic pattern.

achievement of the required metrics The other names provide an example of
(,;ord s,;itching also results in rhyme what happens when reality conflicts
at the end of lines 10 and 13 with the ideal: in these cases stress
[Hiloje/Radoje]; is this by intent or is on the antepenultimate, and
chance?). No,; compare the last seg- pronunciation is not contrived to
ments of lines 7 and 20: accommodate the pattern.

1m'o Petar cet'ri 7 With the name Ljubomir two situations

can be observed: in lines 22 and 26
im t 0 on cetiri 20 the name appears to the right of the
hac! he four break (referring in each case to a
different man named Ljubomir) •
.mere use of the monosyllable pronoun
on generates use of the fully ex-
pressed form cetiri. A trecega, Ljubomir mo j otac 22

Radojica, Andrija, Ljubomir 26

3. Lines 5, 16, and 34 illustrate alter-
nate ,;ays of saying "three": tri, In the first instance stress is accep-
troji, and trojica, again selected table, since it falls on the
according to need (the first is antepenultimate, with secondary stress
.. three," the second form is a on the final syllable of the name, a
colloquial modifier for "three males," compound proper name (meaning "he who
and the third a collective numeral loves peece"), thereby permitting the
meaning "trio of males"). line to ,;ork itself out nom.ally. In
the second case, the same pronuncia-
tion is used, thus giving stress to
l,. Line 28 is three syllables shott of the eighth syllable and causing
the decasyllable. Even so, the verb syllables nine and ten to be ....' rong ...
is elided and the auxiliary dropped, This is balanced, however, by the
thereby forming a perfect predicate utterance ''Ljubomir'' being a metrical
string before tbe break: repetition of the dactyl "Andrija."

Koji zv'o [se] Blagoje

\{ho ,;as called BlagoJe Now turning to a consideration of the
structure of the recitation of genealogy,
The individual's name, Blagoje, a grammar ,;ith these ordered rules can be
completes the line minus half the abstracted:
required syllables; there is nothing
more to say. There is, however) 1. The base point is the naming of the
marked phonological compensation, ,;ith lineage founder.
stress on the antepenultimate and
highly exaggerated length on the (un- 5 (5 = 5tojan)
stressed) final syllable.

5. In lines 13, 17, 21, and 26, all lines

composed of series of names, the
strings before' the caesura are Petar Miloje Hihajlo
occupied by four-syllable proper
names-Radivoje, Tanasija, Antonija, 2. Each generational level is recollected
and Radojica. Radivoje happens to collaterally, that is, chronologically
have main stress on syllable one and from the first born l'lale along the
secondary stress on syllable three, line to the last born.

L_.
526b/Halpern 7

S sad, "Come now" (line 25), indicates

/~
that the recitation has gone through
all the four sons (numbers 5, 6, 7,
and 8) of Petar (number 2 on the kin-
ship diagram) and is now moving across
2 3 4 to the sons of Miloje (number 3),

!f\\ ~ tI\
starting with his firstborn, Vuci~
(number 9). Again, Deda Hileta is
providing a basic principle of social
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 organization.

3. Only efter the entire generational

level hes been recollected does the 9. Affirmation of identity and direct
narrator proceed l\l),eally to the descent within the larger structural
succeeding generation. This process frame is achieved by personal
is vi tally important in analyzing reference:
household-family and individual cycles
and is a key feature of Serbian Nikola mo j deda 9
social structure. Nikola my grandfather

4. With the exception of the clan's Ljubomir moj otac 22

founder every individual is mentioned Ljubomir my father
twice, first as a son of his father
15
and then as a father of sons. Pazi sada, brojim moja braca 33
Pay attention now, I'm counting my
5. In this manner the narration reaches brothers
the generational level of the nerrator
and proceeds regularly along it. Adje sade, tu sam ja, Mileta! 46
Come now, here am I, Mileta!
6. The narration then moves collaterally
and lineally through all successive Action moves from the sons of Svetozar
generations, concluding with the line (number 21), who left no living male
a t which there are no further descendants (Kod Svetozara isto nems
descendants. srecl!) ("By Svetozar also there is no
luck") to the sons of Ljubomir (number
An optional rule is employed by 22), the firstborn of whom is the nar-
Grandfather Mileta in his recitation: rator. His attention-getting phrase,
"Come now, here am I," signals the
7. Data retrieval terms are employed for fact that the narration has now come
the second recollection of an to his particular niche in it. The
individual. This may be in the form referential position of the narrator
of opening segments, e.g., Onaj Milos as part of the overall descent group
("that Milos"; line 14), or Potom Uros emphasizes the collective nature of
(" then Uros"; line 16); or an entire his stored knowledge.
line can be a retrieval string:

Ej, Radovan, taj od treceg brata 29 Significantly, the entire speech act was
Eh, Radovan, that one from the marked paralinguistically by paced
third brother smoking and facially expressive pauses
during «hich bounded strings were recol-
8. Gapping or horizontal progression lected f~lently bdore being transmitted
terms are used to advance the action orally. As presented in this paper, it
along the generational level, from the concl udes wi th the narrator and his
descendants of one brother to the des- biological brother. In actual
cendants of the next brother: Adj' performance it concluded with the seventh
526b/Halpern 8

generation descended from Stojan, that Serbian society, influencing organization

is, with the narrator's grandson Milan of a structural tree in the narrator's
(number 100) and the grandson's head and given form by a metrical model
generation-mates (not included here for readily available from oral epic tradi-
reasons given in note 10). tion, demonstrates that the ability to
recollect and transmit genealogy is
When Deda Hileta reached the end there indeed, for same village men, not only a
was a silent interlude. Had the narra- true oral genre but an integral part of
tion been accompanied by the playing of process in this culture.
the gusle, the single-stringed instrument
which traditionally paces the chanting of Upon discussing the foregoing with me, a
epic verse, there would no doubt have Serbian literary critic remarked, "The
been several lines of music here. He old man must have read it in a pesmarica
drew on his now stubby cigarette, ground (songbook)--peasants don't talk that
it out "'ith the heel of his pigskin way!" Contrary to his expectation, his
sandal, sighed, and appended an epilogue: reaction delighted me: quite simply it
corroborates the point of our discussion.
I ja, k'o stari, pijem malo rakije 48 Via a special speech act one can identify
I polako, eto, ~ekam smrt • oneself.

And I, as the old man, drink a little Deda Hileta is not tmique; villagers do
brandy "talk that way." In fact, sometimes even
And slowly, so, wait for death. the most ordinary conversations may
display epic features. This powerful
These closing lines are interestip~ as pulse appears to manifest and ""'intain
poetry, as linguistics, and for wnat they itself over time, over the sw"'itch from
divulge about epic tradition and the oral to literary modes, over changing
culture. The narrator refers to himself life-styles, across ethnic and national
as stari (" the old man"), the same boundaries, and (because identity and
adjective he applies to the founding perpetuation of self are so important in
ancestor in line 5. This is not this culture) even when the informant is
accidental; in his structured Hording he forced to recognize himself as the last
is recalling segmentation of the lineage, of his line.
life cycles, and household-family cycles.
Had he wanted to say "an old man" he A family history prepared (written) in
would have used the indefinite adjective the 1920s by a prominent Yugoslav
star (which would have been better diplomat begins tilth what he perceives as
metrically). his logical beginnings, in 1613! Written
records were used for this detailed
\fuat Deda 11ileta was demonstrating was compilation by a distinguished
the power of collective identity. The intelektualac. Two factors are immedi-
cycle would go on. Men are born, they ately salient: the account reads like an
produce sons, they grow old, they die. oral reCitation, and it starts with the
The scheme of ""hich he was part did not highly culturally significant opening
end with his death. Today his son and collective line
hi s son's son recollect the history of
the lineage and keep the tradition alive. Svi su Smoklake seljackog porijekla.
Visu~lly this is manifested on the All the Smodlakas are of peasant
tombstone of his own father, Deda origin.
Ljubomir, reflecting the continuity of
four generations by means of an inscrip- The contemporary urban statesmen,
tion noting that the stone was erected by lawyers, and physicians of this lineage
son, grandson, and great-grandson. immediately acknowledge direct kin ties
to a common rural ancestry and strongly
The powerful cultural mati vatian in feel the colI ective pull' of such ties.
526blHalpern 9

The line quoted is clearly epic in mode. Ej sad! Jel' ti hoc'es od deda Luke da
The fact that each colon bears an extra po~nemo,da znamo?
syllable is merely the result of the Uell now! Do you want to start with
particular family rurr' and use of their Grandfather LUka, so we know Itllong
jekavski subdialect. which branch to reconstruct]?

In another case, a Slavicist taped his The line is in epic mode although it does
uncle's recollections shortly before that contain more than ten syllables, plus
old man's death. The oral account goes extrametrical expressions preceding and
back to 1719 and it too begins at the following it.
"beginning":
This exposition of genealogy as genre
Nasi stari potiell iz sela Gare closes with another example from Orasac •
Our ancestors spring from Gara In this instance the informant, an
village elderly villager, saddened at having had
no surviving sons, begins his recollec-
Again J from the very outset, one senses tions with the bitter line,
the power of "we," of common origins.
The epic rhythm is perfect, and although Nella ko' da primi to od mene.
the transcription happens to be typed in There is no one to receive this from
run-on format, it was transmitted by the me.
informant in poetic stichs. For example,
He then commences to recall his direct
I tamo je bio nas prvi predak, ancestor five generations back and
Zvao se Janko, imao sina Nikolu. recollects the descending generations
lineally by proper names. Then he
A taj Nikola i=o tri sina: pauses, reverses the process, and,
Nilovana, Milosa i Nomira. starting with himself, moves back through
the anc.estral line, this time using
kinship terms in place of the already
named individuals. A sigh, an
Milos je imao poale cet'ri sina: extrametrical expletive, and then the
~ivana, Sirou, Luku, i Jovana .. final line, a repeat of the first:

And there was one of our first ancestors, Ej sad, nems ko' da primi to od mene.
He was called Janko, (he) had a son Eh, now, there ' s no one to receive
Nikola. this from me.

And this Nikola PEd three sons: The complete recitation reflects resigna-
Nilovan, Milos, and Mcmir. tion of having been deprived of his
cultural due as household patriarch.

Nema ko' da primi to od

Vilos then had four sons: mene.
Zivan, Sima, Luka, and Jovan. Slusaj! MakSil.nje lin' 0 tri sina:
Mihajla, Nilo~a i Zivo-
jina.
The similarities to Deda Mileta's graIDTIar Ja sam-~lihajlov potomak.
of kin are obvious. The old uncle, Nihajlo je im'o tri sina:
however) a retired lawyer, chose to Stevana, H"ilana, i
inflect consistently and correctly proper Milivoja.
names. Of interest is a line where the Milan im'o cet'ri sina:
informant is anxious to get on to the Ljubomira, Sima, Milosa i
Lukic sub-lineage, founded by their Dragutina.
direct ancestor Luka, and he asks, J a sam Milo~ev.
526b/Halp<>rn 10

Dakle, meni je Milan deda, I am [descended from]

Mijailo mi je pradeda, Milos.
A mojega oca, Maksim bio Therefore, Milan is my
pradeda grandfather,
Ej sad, N ema ko' da primi to od And to my father Maksim
mene. was great-grandfather.
Eh now, There's no one to receive
There's no one to receive this from me.
this frcm me.
Listen! Naksim had three sons:
Hihajlo, Milos, and If represented diagrammatically, this
Zivojin. particular genealogy, in effect a
I am Mihajlo's descendant. beautifully balanced poem, looks like
}lihajlo had three sons: figure 2.
Stevan, Milan, and
Milivoje.
Milan had four sons: The old man's account has come full
Ljubanir, Sima, Milos, and circle. There is no one to carry on 19he
Dragutin. line and no more narration to recite.
 >-'

D.1
I
IS.2 IS. A
4
I
A, 6
_____
1 A IS.
I
is A
~~
24 2S 26
1
27
ti
26
II 1
29
A
30
Ih
]1 32 ])

ZiAAhAoA thAh n
52 SJ 54 SS 56 57 58 S9 60 bl 62 63 64 65 66 61 68
h
6l) 10

~
81
~n.U
82 83 84
l. A
85 86
n
87 88
~
89
AOA £7A!
90 91 92 9) 94 9S 96

~ A 1 A
, 101 102 103 104 105

6 F}milyar.cfJ!OI ~ Died within this gemntion A WIlJuW only U'Ill.1inill'

IIlfll\IJtf of hOU1ellOld

"'- Left no dtlCfl'ldlntt A Left Ont:lc k.. Uvn ill O'lf.u· wdlY

I Sroj".n 19 Vladimir 37 Svcroz;lr ~~ R:ldonlir 73 Milovan 91 Miodrag

2 PCl<tr 20 Antonija 38 Vclisl:tv ~6 Or;lgomir 74 Miodrag 92 Radovan
3 MiJojc 21 Svetozar 39 Dragoljub ~7 Dragoljub 75' Radila 93 Dragoljub
4 Mihailo 22 Ljubomir 40 Veljko ~8 Kosta 76 !?ragoljub 94 Milit
~ Milo! 23 Milo! 41 Svccisl:w ~9 Milivojc 77 Zorko 95 Dobrivoje
~
,..,. 6 Uros 24 Radojica 42 Dragoslav 60 Zivomir 78 Du!.n 96 Brnnibar
7 Nikola 25 Andrija 43 Zivomir 61 0 79 Radomir 97 0
'""
o 8 S~evaM
•
26 Ljubomir 44 Milos 62 Vclimir 80 Radovan 98 Djordje

I 9 Vucit 27 Blagojc 45 Vitomir 63 Svctlshv 81 Dragoljub 99 Slobodan

10 Madja 28 Pc..r 46 DragiSa M Hudimir 82 0 100 Milan
11 Laz:u 29 Milojc 47 Milt,ta 65 Ccdomir 83 0 101 Radovan
3: 12 Radovan 30 Radomir 48 Milosav 66 Peri sa 84 Andrija 102 Dragovan
,..,. 13 Radojc 31 Drasomir 49 Dragosbv 67 Vitomir 85 Du!an 103 Miomir
>-'
14 R:tdivoje R:tclisbv 68 Tihomir 86 Dragan 104 Miodrag
'"
rt
15 Milutin
32 Vclirnir 50
Radosav 69 Morncilo 87 Svctislav 105 l-lalibor
'e"n
r'<
16 Andrija
33
34
Dranko
Zivornir
51
52 Kronislav 70 Milorad 88 Vojislav
o
W.
17 Djnrdjc 35 p..le 53 Dranishv 71 Radomir 89 Dragit
72 Miodrag 90 Dobrivoje
~
18 Tan3sija 36 Vclimir 54 Vclimir
,..,.
S" >-'
>-'
526b/Halpern 12

Nama ko f da primi to od mene

Maksim

Ego
(Sigh)

Nama ko f da primi to od mene

Figure 2. Diagrammatic representation of a genealogical poem

526b/Halpern 13

NOTES

1Note that the Serbian verb spomenuti, "to remember" (cognate with "memory"),
is perfective in aspect and may be glossed as "to memorize'" It is differentiated
from pamtiti, also "to remember"; the latter, when prefixed ,nth u-, denotes
internalizing, or a sort of imprinting on the mind, of material which can then be
retrieved. Further, prefixing renders the verb imperfective, representing ongoing or
iterative action. This is a clear semantic clue regarding process as opposed to
fixity as in memorized material. (In all oral traditional cultures there appears to
exist a similar semantic distinction between verbs denoting memorization and
recollection. )
?
- ~_ preliminary working version of this analysis appeared under the title
"Genea10g:, as Genre" in B. Halpern and J. Halpern, eds., Selected Papers on a Serbian
Village: Social Structure as Reflected by History, Demography, and Oral Tradition,
Universivf of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Anthropology, Research Reports no.
17 (Amherst, l;ass., 1977), pp. 141-63.
3 "
Roman Jakobson, Uber den Versbau der Serbokroatischen Volksepen (1933), and
"Slavic Epic Verse: Studies in Coo.?arative Netries, Ii in Selected Writings, vol. 4
(The Hague: }IDuton, 1966).
4
For an analysis of alliteration a~d assonance, see Albert B. Lord, The Singer
of Tales (1960; reprint ed., New York: AtheneUill, 1965), pp. 55-57.

SThe strings the narrator generates, therefore, may not always be those of a
Chomskyan ideal speaker, nor is there any reason for them to be. We are concerned
here with tendencies, not rules, with life situations, not abstractions.

6In traditional poetry, somewhat analagous preserved genealogies come to mind.

In the Old Testament there are, of course, the "begats" in the Book of Genesis (see
also Karin Andriolo, "A Structural Analysis of Genealogy and World View in the Old
Testament," American Anthropologist 75, no. 5 [1973):1657-69 for a structural analysis
of Old Testament genealogy). In the Iliad, consider the elaborately structured
catalog of ships (book II, lines 494-877).------

Fragments of speech as identity are abundant in oral traditional literature.

Upon arriving in the land of the Phaiakians, Odysseus identifies himself as the son of
his father (and as a son of his homeland):

1 am Odysseus, son of Laertes

I am at home in sunny Ithaka.

(Odyssey, book IX, lines 19 and 21; Lattimore trans. 1965)

Beohulf, when asked who he is, «here he has come from, and why, identifies
himself upon disembarking on alien soil by saying:

We are the Geats

Men Who follow Higlac. }~ father
Was a famous soldier, known far and wide
As a leader of men. His name was Edgetho.
(Beowulf, lines 260-64; Raffel trans. 1963)
526b/H~~pern 14

A medieval Serbian analogy is to be found in the compenditJlll Stari srpski

rodoslovi i letopisi [Old Serbian genealogy and documentation] (Stojanovi~, 1927; q.v.
pp. 2:>, 59, 102, and passim), which preserves (in written form but transcribed from
oral sources) many of the features of genealogical recitation in the present analysis,
including formulaic devices for identifying self via father, father's brother, and
other males in the patriline. (N .B.: the author Stojanovic is not related to the
Stojanovic clan diagrammed in figure 1. By coincidence both are descended from
lineage founders who were named Stojan.) I am grateful to Professor Nada Milosevic-
Djordjevic for teaching me the fundamentals of staroslovenski (Old Slavic) so that I
could wor" with this fascinating chronicle so markedly oral in origin.

7;2though perceiving some sort of structure to the recitations, at that period

the researchers were concerned with content almost to the exclusion of form.
R
'Joel 11. Halpern, A Serbian Village, rev. ed. (New York: I'.arper & Row, 1967).

9).:: aural perceptions were not yet sensitive enough to motivate taping
complete ge~ealogies at that time. Fortunately, small battery-operated tape recorders
were by then caning into use as field tools, and at least several fragments from that
period are preserved on tape. For the Stojanovic genealogy I rapidly jotted verbatim
what I received aurally. The narrator spoke in his normal slow voice, alternating
with puffs of smoking wnich allowed time for transcription. The field notes show his
utterances separated by regularized pauses which I marked as slashes, as between lines
of poetry. Further, numbers were spelled out, including, for example, trisyllabic
cetiri and its elided bisyllabic variant cet'ri. Despite preoccupation with content,
therefore, clearly I was conscious of cet:::-ical patterning. The "ring composition"
genealogy which concludes this paper is preserved on tape (1975). By that date my ear
had long since become attuned to the orality in which I had been iwmersed.

10 1 terminate this particular recitation with the informant himself (actually

with bis younger brother-rodjeni brat, "biological brother," of. brat, "cousin"),
this being a unit boundary Deda Mileta himself recognized. (Along the narrator's
generational level the recitation begins to become encumbered, detailing inmarrying
brides, wartime service, illness, out-migration from the village, and other data non-
genealogical in nature.) Metrics and structure appear to be preserved throughout, but
the material beccmes less easy to extrapolate for the purposes of exposition here.

llThe setting, the relationship between transmitter and receiver, the goals
and motivations for each, the realization, finally, of mode (or key, or genre)-all
illustrate Hymes's exposition on components of speech acts and understandably made for
an exciting field situation.

12Frcm the well-know~ epic Kosovka devojka.

13 This rule is broken in line 17, where the eldest son is mentioned last
(because of meter?); however, this is compensated for in line 18. Line 21 has another
structural violation, amended in line 22, where the narrator wishes to signal his own
father.

14A genealogy tree is obviously similar to a syntactic structure tree. The

concept of node is the exact equivalent. In fact, the Serbian term koler>.a is "knee"
(joint or node), which also means generation.

lSReference here is not to biological but to classificatory brothers (male

cousins); see also note 10.
526b/Hal pern 15

16Milenko Filipovic', the outstanding Serbian ethnographer, relates a field

case in Which the tempo of recitation of a folktale was marked by measured
foot-tapping on the ground (Dajuci takt udaranjem noge 0 zemlju) (see Milenko
Filipovic, "Odnos narodne pripovetke i epske pesme," Prilozi proucavenju narodne
poezije 5 (1938):254-55).

17For generously sharing his long and fascinating genealogy, currently

undergoing kin and prosodic analysis by the writer, I am indebted to Vojin N.
Smodlaka, M.D., of New York.
18
These fragments are excerpted from an equally detailed genealogical
recollection taped on the occasion of a 1969 visit to an eighty-one-year-old uncle in
the Old Country. The tape is labeled "Razgovor sa Cika Zikom" ("Conversation with
Uncle Zika"), for which I am grateful to Professor George Lukic of the University of
Pittsburgh.

19Trd-s spontaneous genealogical poem is on tape 1118-75, recorded on 7/20/75.

Hanerists designate this type of structure "ring composition"; see James P. Holoka,
"Homeric Originality: A Survey," Classical "orld 66 (1973): 257-93. For
anthropologists it is important as an example of process as entropy, namely how a
lineage comes to an end.
 9

Genealogical Sources

CHURCH REGISTERS

Genera 1 : The keeping of vital records by religious bodies

in Yugoslavia varies throughout the country.
Because several religions and governments
prevailed in different areas of the country, the
areas will be discussed separately.

Croatia & Slovenia

In the western half of today's Yugoslav state,
the oldest available records are from the 16th
century, especially in the coastal area of
Slovenia. In Dalmatia, the oldest record is from
the year 1564, whereas, the oldest record
available from continental Croatia is from the
middle of the 17th century. This western area
was almost entirely Roman-Cathol ic and generally
the resolution of the Council of Trent
(1545-1563) was the determining factor as it
required for Roman Catholic parishes to keep
baptism and marriage records. After 1614 the
Catholic ruling also included death records.
Slovenia, Dalmatia, and continental Croatia
foil owed these rul es.

Protestant parishes in Slovenia kept parish

registers during the reformation in the 16th
century. Later, a few Protestant parishes were
established in northern Croatia which mostly
began keeping registers at the time of their
origin.

Among the Orthodox parishes in Dalmatia, there

exist baptism records in Zadar as early as 1637,
however, in most of the parishes they did not
begin until the beginning of the 19th Century.

The coastal area was under Italian rule for many

years which accounts for their early keeping of
records. Continental Croatia came under
Austri a-Hungari an rule in the 16th century.
After the Napoleonic wars all of western
Yugoslavia was administered by Austria and
Hunga ry.

Gradually the state began to concern itsel f with

the keepi ng of records. The Austri an decree of
February 20, 1784, which was also binding on the
Slovenian provinces of Krain and Steiermark
 10

entrusted the keepi ng of records for ci vil

purposes to the Roman Catholic pa ri sh pri ests.
In the beginning of the year 1871, a similar
regulation concerning the keeping of records came
into force in Dalmatia in Croatia. Since t.he
year 1835, a regulation in Slovenia and Dalmatia
required that the parishes also provide a
duplicate of the records to their respective
diocese (after 1836 this also included deat.h
records). In the 19th Century, it was ordered
that the priests in Hungarian ruled Croatia
should provide duplicates of their records to the
government in Zagreb.

Vojvodina

In Vojvodina, parish registers were not

introduced until after the period of Turkish
occupation which ended in the late 1600's.
Cathol ic regi sters began in the 1ast decades of
the 17th century. Protestant regi sters began
with the founding of the Protestant cOlTlllunities
by colonists during the 18th Century.

In the year 1732 the Orthodox Metropolitan,

Vikentije Jovanovic, ordered the parishes in
Vojvodina to begin keeping parish vital records.
The Orthodox church was not recogn i zed by the
Austrian government but enjoyed a privil eged
position in Hungarian Vojvodina.

Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia &Montenegro

Orthodox:

The areas of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina,

Macedonia and Montenegro are predomi nentl y
Orthodox al though some Cathol ics are found in the
mixed state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Catholic
parishes in Bosnia-Herzegovina introduced parish
registers in the second half of the 18th century.

Orthodox parishes in Serbia were instructed to

keep records of christenings, marriages, and
deaths in 1837. Yet, at least in some areas of
central Serbia, it ~Ias not until the 1870's when
there began to be reliable keeping of vital
re<:ords. It is 1 i kely that these same dates
apply to Orthodox records in Montenegro and in
Bosnia-Herzegovina but details ~Iere not available
for this paper.
J
11

Moslem:
Mosl em popul ations are found in Kosovo-Metohia,
Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina which were
formerly under Ottoman Turkish rule. The Hoslems
did not record vi tal events, except perhaps
deaths, on an ecclesiastical level. little
information is available on their record keeping
practices. It is likely that the only vital
records for Moslems ~/ere civil records.

Time Period Covered: 16th century to present.

Content of Record: Births and Christenings: Name of ch il d, date of

birth, and christening; names, occupation and
residence of parents, wi tnesses; sometimes
parents' marriage date.
r~arriages: Names and ages of bride and groom,
occupation of couple, parents, marital status of
couple, residence and places of origin.
Death and Buri al s: Name of the deceased, date,
pl ace of death, marital status, names of parents,
somet imes age and cause of death, sometimes
occupation, place of burial, names of survivors,
sometimes date and place of birth of the deceased.

Research Val ue: Establ ish individual identity, pedigree building.

Percentage of Population 1500-1600: less than 5%.

Covered: 1600-1700: 25%
1700-1BOO: 70%
1800-1900: 80%
Percentage figures shown are for the whole
country. Coverage varied from area to area.
Coverage in Croatia in the period 1800-1900 would
be more like 96% whereas in the Mosl em area of
Kosovo-Metahija coverage would be almost 0%.

Custodians and Locations: Records are kept in regional archives of the

federal republ ics, some records are al so found in
church archives. Recent records (less than 100
years old) are in local :::unicipal and parish
registry offices.

Percentage in Genealogical Less than 5%. A large number of records were

Library: mi crofil med in Hunga ri an State archi ves which
perta into areas now in Yugosl av i a. Many German
records from areas now in Yugosl avia are located
in German archives. A number of them have
al ready been microfilmed.
 12

Accessibil ity of Research: Yugosl av church registers may be researched in

person, although it is sometimes difficult to
locate the specific records needed. Some persons
have enjoyed success' by correspondence, but such
research is often limited.

Preservation: Only a fe~1 of the very earl iest church records

have been preserved but most later registers have
been.
 13

STATUS ANIMARUM

G'!neral : These are surveys of church congregation members

according to communities and famil ies (sometimes
also according to categories of nationality).
"Status Animarum" is a term used by Roman
Cathol ic officials. Similar anagraphs or lists
of houses were prepared by the Orthodox priests.

Time Period: The "status animarum" was first made Cathol ic

regu1 ation as of the year 1614. In the area of
Slovenia, these records were se1dan actually kept
until the second half of the 18th Century; mostly
not until 1800. In Dalmatia, "Status Animarum"
can be found as early as the 17th Century. From
the fi rst half of the 18th century there are some
cases where the bishops compiled a summary
"Status Animarum" for the entire diocese but
these are less detailed. The Orthodox anagraphs
in Vojvodina and Serbia are only fran the 19th
century.

Content of Record: These contain information as to the personal

status of members of the congregation, the
practice of various duties, and sometimes other
personal characteri stics. The priests kept these
surveys in the form of books which they
suppl emented from time to time.

Research Value: These help establ ish family groups and make it
possible to follow the family in any moves or
changes. They are an excellent back-up to church
records.

Reliability: These 1i sts were prepared by c1 ergy accordi ng to

information avail able or that received from the
member. Errors of memory are quite possible.

Percentage of Population 1600-1700: 101-

Covered: 1700-1800 : 30%
1800-1900:

Cus todi ans and Loca t ions: These records are either \1i th the local pari sh or
in church diocese archives or in federal archives.

Percentage in Genealogical Less than l1..

Library:

Accessibil ity for Research: See general statement on accessibi1 ity.

Preservation: Many of the early "Status Animarum" have not been

preserved.
 14

CIVIL RECORDS

General: The earliest civil reg~stration in Yugoslavia was

introduced in 1809 in the coastal area of Croatia
and Slovenia which was known as the I11yrian
provinces of the French Empire until 1815.
Research for this paper did not reveal whether
this progressive idea was continued after the
area was returned to Austria-Hun9ary. In the
1atter hal f of the 19th century Austrian law in
other areas of the empire called for the
registration by civil authorities of those who
were not recorded in Cathol ie, recogni zed
Protestant or Jewish registers. This may have
applied to the Austrian and possibly the
Hungarian parts of Yugoslavia. In 1895 Hungary
instituted universal civil registration which
affected Vojvodina. The Croatia-Slavonia
territories were not, at that time, fully
incorporated in the Kingdom of Hungary and this
law did not apply in those areas. Vital records
among the Mosl em s were usually kept by the
Scheriat Courts. Mosl ems usually kept civil
records of marriages but records of births and
deaths may al so have been kept. The dates for
these Moslems records were not available for this
paper. Very probably one would find the oldest
such records in Bosnia-Herzegovina. When the
Yugosl av state was founded in 1918, church
regi sters were recogni zed as val id records for
the state; only for Moslems was civil
registration conducted. Further information on
Moslem registration has not been investigated.

Universal registration by civil authorities was

introduced throughout the territory of Yugoslavia
in May of 1946.

Time Period: Illyrian provinces: 1809-1815 (?)

Vojvodina: 1895-1918 (?)
Moslems: unknown-present
Universal: 1946-present

Content of Record: Birth Records: Name of infant, sex, date and

place of birth, date and place of re9istration
names, ages,· residence, and rel igion of father
and mother.

Marriage Records: Names, ages, residences and

religions of bride and groom; also their previous
marital status, date and place of marriage, names
of parents of the bride and groom; sometimes date
and place of birth.
 15

Preservation: It is not known to what extent these records have

been preserved. Since many are published it is
likely that many have,been.
 16

AUSTRIAN CENSUS OF BELGRADE

General: The Austrians and their Serb all ies occupied the
city of Belgrade in 1717 after a victory over the
Turks. Austrian rule lasted until 1739. This
list ~Ias canpiled at a time of relative peace for
the city. It was evidently dra~m up by
responsible clergy.

Time Period: 1733-1734.

Content of Record: The full names of all the inhabitants are given,
together with their ages, and relationships to
the head of the household.

Research Val ue: These records help estab1 ish family groups and
residence. They are the only record of the
population prior to parish registers. It may be
possible to ~0nnect into these records from later
records.

Percentage of Population Nearly 100%. All inhabitants of both sexes and

Covered: all ages are included.

Accessibi 1ity for Research: Unknown.

Preservation: r-tJch of thi s census appears to have been

pub1 i shed.
 17

OTHER CENSUS OATA

Genera 1 : There were censuses in' Oubrovnik as early as the

fourteenth century. In that part of Dalmatia
controll ed by Venice there were local censuses by
the sixteenth century. There was a civil C\:IISUS
in 1817. There is a Hungarian 1isting of German,
Hungarian, and some Serb vill agers in the
Vojvodina for 1715; only household heads are
1 isted by thei r full name, occupation is al so
listed as are data on land holdings. The first
mil itary cen~"s in Vojvodina and Croatia was
carri ed out in the year 1785 (in the follol'li ng
years thi s census was revi sed), then there was a
civil census in the year 1804-05 but a census did
not take pl ace again until 1850. A census of the
Jewish population of Dubrovnik has been partially
pUbl ished for 1815. Serbia conducted censuses in
1863 and 1885. In Serbia the general census
begian in the year 1890 and followed in the years
1895, 1900, 1905 and 1910.
Time Period: 14th century to 19th century.

Content of Records: Varies. Some censuses give detailed information

and description for all individuals; others give
only heads of household or only males.

Resea rch Va 1ue : Censuses can be of great val ue in tying together

family groups. Often however they are i sol ated
from other records of genealogical val ue so that
they have no pedigree linking capacity.

Rel iabil ity: Varies. Usually these records are fairly

reliable but often incomplete.

Percentage of Population 10-95% depending on the scope of the individual

Covered: census.
"

Custodians and locations: Most census returns are kept in federal archives.
The carryi ng out of some census was in the hands
of the local communties, and such census
materi al s must therefore be sought at that 1evel •
Generally, one can count on finding such material
in great amounts for more recent censuses but
very seldom for the older ones. The oldest
complete Serbian census, for 1863, is available
in the Serbian State Archives in Belgrade. The
1863 census is al so probably the only Yugos] av
census that has been sel ectivel y publ ished in
various forms.
 18

Percentage in Genealogical
Library: less than 1%.

Preservation: C10ser research woul d be requi red to determ ine

ho .. much of this material is still available
today. In some cases it has been discovered that
much material is preserved. Original census
sheets for censuses after 1885 do not appear to
have been preserved.
 19

LAND RECORDS

Genera 1 : Surveys of income from property ownership were

called "urbarii." These books recorded land
ownership, land taxes and mortgages. Usually
these regi sters were kept in the form of a bound
book and continually revised or rene\~ed until the
end of the feudal system in 1848. In the 1ater
times there appears to be various types of these
"urbarii." The stock "urbarium" served for a
long time as a measure and control of income.
They continued the practice of keeping list of
landowners and entered in these books the income
received on a yearly basis. Uniform legal
requirements for the keeping of "urbarii" were
introduced in Croatia and Vojvodina after the
18th century. These "urbarium" regulations were
preceded by the registration of farms which was
carried out by special commissions.

Time Period: 51 ovenia: 13th century to 19th century

Croatia: 15th century to 19th century
Vojvodina: 18th century to 20th century

One must remember that in Vojvodina, a different

type of feudal system was in existence during the
time of the Turkish occupation.

Content of Record: Lists of subservient properties listed according

to communities, land users, tributes and taxes
paid. The regulated "urbarii" of later years
also contain lists of inhabitants.

Research Value: These records establish residence and sometimes

famil y groups. They are available, in lllany
cases, pri or to church records which makes them
very valuable for genealogical research,
especially when they appear in chronological
order.

Percentage of Population Unknown. Earlier records have only land owners

Population Covered: but later records include renters, etc.

Custodians and Locations: "Urbari i" are to be found partl y in the

collections of land owners, partly in those of
various officials and partly in archives.

Percentage in Genealogical 0%.

Library:

Preservation: Some of the earl iest records have not been

preserved.
 20

CROATIAN TAX LISTS

Croatia had a tax system from which developed

General: listings which may be considered valuable for
geneal ogi cal research. The tax was coll ected for
the treasuries of the Kingdoms of Croatia and
51 avonia and had almost excl usively the character
of a property tax until the year 1753. The basis
of the tax was originally represented by one
fann, but after the 17th century \~as represented
by several. In order to establ ish these tax
units, special coomissions put together listings
of the tenants of the fanns from village to
village unifonnly according to the individual
estates. Because the preparation of such lists
required considerable time, existing lists often
corrected rather than new ones being made up.

A considerable number of such lists is in

Time Pe ri od:
exi stance for di fferent years from 1543 until the
middle of the 18th century.
Lists of inhabitants of estates, descriptions of
C-lntent of Record:
land and property, landower and taxes paid.

Custodians and Locations: Local district archives and regional archives.

Percentage in Genealogical 0%.

Library:
 21

CATASTER LAND RECORDS

General: Because of a sanewhat different development of

the feudal system in Dalmatia and the coastal
area of Istria, there arose the so-call ed
"Cataster" or regi ster of property parcel s
arranged according to cornnunity and including the
users and their duties.

Time Period: 14th century to 19th century.

Content of Record: Listing of land users and duties. Description of

land and animals.

Percentage of Population 14th-16th century: 10%

Covered: 16th-17th century: 30%
17th-18th century: 50%

Custodians and Locations: City, and local district archives.

Percentage in Genealogical 0%.

Library:
 22

TURKISH LAND RECORDS

General: Accordi ng to the central i zed system of the

Ottoman Empi re, regi sters of tribute were set up
in so-called cataster books. These were done by
special state commissions which listed the
sources of feudal income. At the same time the
commission also established a division of the
income among the i ndi vi dua I tenants. These
generally included the entire empire and were
repeated in specific periods of 10 to 20 years
except during the reign of the sultans.
Additional descriptions were made for smaller
areas according to need within the structure of
the local organizations. The cataster books
concerning Serbia, Vojvodina and Bosnia-
Herzegovina begin soon after the Ottoman
occupation of these areas.
Time Period: 15th century to early 17th century.

Percentage of Population Less than 50%.

Covered:

Content of Record: Description of land and property, names of

individual users of the land, sometimes including
personal information.
Custodians and Locations: Central Turkish Archives in Istanbul.
Percentage in Genealogical
Library: 0%.

Principle Sources Consulted

Halpern, Joel. What is Yugoslavia? Tracing Family Histories in Serbia,
."C.:. r.::.oa;:.t::.,i;.:;a=-1,o-:-:M:;:.a.:;,ce""d;:o::.;.n;.,:i.:;:a-l:'-i-;Sl:.;o:.;v..:;:e.;:n.;. ia::.+,,.:;a;..:.n:.:;d--:.V0;';,;·v:.;O:.::d=ii;.:.n;;:.a • Wo rId Co nfer enceo n Records ,
Series No. 530. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, 1980.

McEverdy, Colin and Jones, Richard. Atlas of World Population History. New
York: Penguin Books, 1978. pp. 110-114.
Zontar, Joze. Tracin Research in Yugoslavia.
Wo r 1d Con fO:e:':r:'::e-::n"'ce~::::-:':::;<-:-=-:~::-"-~:r"-':;;::;~:T::'-:i::"-.'-r"-Si-.eC:m:-il';:n:':a '=r'::,':"A~r::-:e:-:a:':":"Dr_-1-1~3~&"'::';'1T.:-a •
Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints,

Genealogical Library of The Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints © 1982 (July) - DMSch/mt
Research Outline, Series C, No. 328.
 WHAT IS 'lUGOSLAVIA? '1llACING FAMILY HISTORIES m SERBIA,
CIlllATIA, MACEDONIA, SlDVENIA, AND VOlVODINA

Joel M. 1Ia1pern

Born in New York. Resides in ieherst, Massachusetts. Professor of anthropology,

University of Massachusetts. Ph .D. (anthropology), Columbia University. Author,
lecturer.

INTRODUCTION, nlE NATURE OF RECORDS nation of the nature of these records. it

is important to first lIOte that all the
Fran a worldwide perspective it might records discussed here have been
seem that vital records dealing with microfilmed by the Genealogical Society
birth, marriage, death, and census of Utah am are on deposit. The holdings
records of individuals in oouseholds have already listed in the public catalog,
a sameness. That is, they record a when added to the material described here
limited number of fac ts, specific to the (which were filmed in Spring 1980), will
human life cycle. The concern of the enable the researcher to fonn an initial
scholar and genealogist should then be to idea about the diversity of sources
decipher the administrative fonn used and available. Hopefully, it will be
develop a measure or measures to de- possible at some point in the future for
tennine the accuracy of this infonnation. the society to supplement these sample
As most researchers soon discover, these holdings with microfilming in quantity of
s:lmple asStlllptions do not adequately en- individual, ccmnunity resources to match
compass the complexities involved in the quantitative scope of records
recoIl! keepilll in a particular society at available for other countries.
a given time period.
The illustrative sampling of Yugoslav
There are many variables involved in recoIl!s presented here will deal with
record keepilll and the conditions for both published and archival sources for
their ult:lmate use differ greatly. These the different regions of the country fran
differences derive from the values of a the medieval period to the present. The
particular culture. the nature of the tenn sampling should be stressed because
bureaucratic-administrative framework this survey is only partial, both in
involved in the in! tial recording, and terms of chronological and regional
the government or other administrative coverage, as well as types of records
organs involved in both the short-and considered. In presenting material for
long-tenn maintenance of these records. Yugoslavia, reference will be made to the
It also involvas the personnel. funds, paper of Joze Zontar, "Tracing Ancestry
and technology available for their of Yugoslavs." presented at the World
retrieval and finally, the publics served Conference on Records and GenealogICaI
in the ult:lmate constlllption of this data. Seminar held in Salt Lake C1ty in August,
In understanding the nature of Yugoslav 1969.
recoIl!s it is necessary to take all these
factors into account.
THE DIVERSITY OF YUGOSLAVIA

HOLDINGS OF nlE GENEALOGICAL SOCIErY OF Yugoslavia translated from the Serbo-

l1rAH Croatian language means "land of the
South Slavs." Any unders tanding of
Before proceeding to a direct exami- records must proceed from this fact of
530/llalpern 2

cultural diversity. Today the country is language. The Serbs and Croats speak
officially composed of six republics mutually intelligible variants of the
(proceedi'l?; fran north am west to east same language. The former have
and south): Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia- historically used the Cyrillic alphabet
Her zegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and and the latter the Latin alphabet. The
Macedonia. Montenegrins share the same language,
alphabet, and religion with the Serbs and
Thia is, of course, the perspective as are considered by most scholars as
seen from Western Europe and North historically one people.
America. Were we to view matters from
the Mediterranean or Middle East, the
order could as easily be reversed. The The Macedonians have their own lS'l?;uage
principal language of the country can be and their separate branch of the Orthodox
called Serbo-Croatian from the viewpoint church as noted. Macedonian became an
of Serbia, the numerically largest official language only after World war
republic. It has been called Croato- II. Before the war this area was
Serbian when seen fran the perspective considered simply South Serbia, while the
of Croatians. The republic of Serbia is Bulgarians consider the language a
further broken down into the area Serbia variant of their own.
proper and the autonanous areas of the
Vojvodina, north of the Danube, and The Moslems are a complex group,
Kosovo, south of the central area of consisting both of Serbo-Croatian
Serbia. speakers and Albanians who live
principally in the Kosovo, but also in
The complexity of the country is further Macedonia, am speak their own lS'l?;uage.
reinforced by the fact that the six They are mainly It>slem, and a smaller
republics and two autonomous regions number are Catholic. They are the
contain diverse peoples. There are three largest non-South Slavic group in
principal religious groups: Catholic, Yugoslavia (1,310,000 in 1971).
Orthodox, and Moslem. (There are
relatively few Protestants and even fewer
Je>os followi'l?; the extenninstion policy The Hungarians are the second-largest
of the Nazis in World War II.) Slovenia non-South Slavic group (478,000 in 1971)
am Croatia are the principal Catholic and live in Serbia's autonomous area of
aress, al though there is a large Serbian the Vojvodins, principally near the
Orthodox minority in Croatia. Bosnia- border with their ancestral country.
Herzegovina is the most mixed republic, There is also a significant Romanian
from a religious point of view, group in the same area (59,000 in 1971).
containing substantial numbers of (Many of the records in the Utah Gene-
Catholics, Orthodox am Moslems, often alogical Society derive from the
sharing the same villages or living in connections through Hungary and Austria
neighbori'l?; ccmnunities within the same and pertain to the Vojvodina.)
district. Serbia, Montenegro, and
Macedonia are principally Orthodox (there The records in the Society's archives
are both Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox also reflec t the prewar presence of a
Church organizations) • But there are large . ethnic GeIman population in the
significant numbers of Moslems, Vojvodins. (They numbered approximately
especially in Macedonia. SOO,OOO in 1931 but only 13,000 in 1971.)
This population dates from settlements
planned by the Austro-Huogarian Hapsburg
RELIGIOUS, LINGUISTIC, AND ETHNIC GROUPS monarchs in the late seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Most ethnic
In addition to the religious diversity, Germans fled or were forced out of
th!'!re is also linguistic diversity. The Yugoslavia followi'l?; the Gennan defest in
Slovenes have their own distinctive World War II.
530/Halpern 3

HISTORICAL PERSPECITVES, IlAPSBURGS, AND War II fran Italy), Krain, a part of the
aITOMANS Steiermark, Karaten, and Gorz. This area
was ruled directly by Austria from
The religious, linguistic, and ethnic Vienna. A section of Istria and all of
cooplexities of Yugoslavia derive fran coastal Dalmatia (except the city state
its historic position in the Balkan of Dubrovnik) was part of the Republic of
peninsula ani the post-classic schism in Venice until 1797 ani then, af ter the
the Christian church between Byzantine Napoleonic wars, was ruled by Austria,
OrthodOKY and Rooan Catholicism. There with its legal sys tem bei~ imposed on
followed the fifteenth-century Ottoman the earlier Italian-Venetian foundations.
Turkish invasions. These were opposed by
the Hapsburgs and resulted in the dani-
na tion of Yugoslavia by both of these The archival documents of Dubrovnik
empires. As the Ottoman state began to reflect these facts. They are in latin
recede in the nineteenth century the ani subsequently in Italian and, to a
Serbian state emerged after several certain extent. in German during the
revolutionary struggles. period up to World War I. Thereafter,
documents are in the official national
Both the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires la~uage, Serbo-Croatian.
collapsed as a conseqUence of World War
I. Yugoslavia was created as a resul t of The ruling Croatia nobility recognized
the Paris Peace Conference at Versailles. the Hapsburgs as rulers as early as 1527.
This country became a multinational However, this region acquired a degree of
socialist state after World War II, autonany after 1779 when it was placed
following the vic tory of the Tito-led under the Hungarian portion of the dual
. partisans. The existi~ records, their monarchy of the Hapsburgs ani ruled di-
degree of preservation, accessibility, rectly from Budapest. This settlement
and publication reflect all of these achieved final fom by an agreement in
historical factors. 1868. This administrative framework
ceased to exist as a result of World War
1.
A SUMMARY OF ZoNTAR'S PERSPECTIVE

It is appropriate at this point to try to With the ebbing of 1\1rkish rule in the
build our description on the previously seventeenth century. the Vojvodina was
referred to work of the v Slovenian partially liberated in 1699 and in 1739.
historian ani archivist Joze ZOntar. In It then developed as Hungarian terri tory.
his paper he treats six principal areas: In Serbia proper, following the second
(1) Slovenia with Istria and Dalmatia, successful revolt in 1815 (the first
(2) Continental Croatia, (3) Bosnia and revol t was in 1804), Serbia achieved
Herzegovina, (4) Vo jvodina , (5) Serbis independence by a series of states. They
(including Macedonia, based on its were canpletEd by the great power treaty
inclusion in Serbia as· a result of the in Berlin in 1878. Montenegro, which was
Second Balkan War of 1913), and (6) never completely daninated by the Turks,
Montenegro • began to develop as a political entity as
early as the sixteenth century and became
The differentiations are important fomally independent fran Turkey in 1859.
reflections of historical facts. As Bosnia-Herzegovina was occupied by
fontar notes, in the fifteenth and Austria-Hungary in 1878 as a result of
sixteenth centuries, the Ottanan Turks the Berlin convention, and formally
conquered what is today considered as annexed in 1908. It was in this
Serbia, Montenegro, the Vojvodina, and territory's capital of Sarajevo that the
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Slovenia up to 1918 imnEdiate events leadi~ to World War I
included, in addition to coastal Istria began with the assassination of Archduke
(obtained by the Yugoslavs after World Ferdinand.
530/Halpern 4

TYPES OF YUGOSlAV RECORDS ani Marilyn Clarke (pp. 375-400); and

"Town and countryside in Serbia in the
With these factors as historical nineteenth century, social ani household
background, we can now ~examine the strue ture as reflec ted in the census of
""isting records. Since Zontar in his 1863," by Joel M. Halpern (pp. 401-428).
paper deals with the dates ani circwn-
stances of the beginnings of record
keeping, this data will not be repeated OTTOMAN CENSUS JlI\TA
here. Examples of specific kinds of
recoms will be presented. E. A. Hammel in his article in the
Laslett vollJDe uses two sixteenth-century
Zontar deals with a series of record Turkish tax rolls (defter) which were
types : church books, rela ted religious translated into Serbo-Croatian by IIazim
registers, lists of feudal tributes and SabanoviC and published by the ltIseum of
taxes, census lists of inhabitants, voter the History of Belgrade. (Katastarski
registrations and recruit JDBIlifestos, and popisi Beograda i okoline 1476-1566.
genealogical collec tions • These cate- Turkish izvori za istoriju Beograda,
gories will be considered here and Knjiga I, Sveska I, Gradja za istoriju
reference will be made to archival Beograda, Belgrade, 1964. A microfilm
sources and available published records. copy of this original source, like all
One of the points that should be stressed other printed sources ani archival data
is that JDBIly original records as well as mentioned in this article, is in the
research on existing recom sources have library of the Utah Genealogical
been jUblished. Some of the research Society.)
resul ts are readily available, since they
are published in English. As Hammel notes (p. 342), "EffectiVely,
the census-takers counted only mature
males capable of work, excluding all
ENGLISH LANGllA~ RESEARai PUBLICATIONS women unless they were heads of
BASED ON YUGOSlAV RECORDS households and all :lmnature males unless
they were living with such female heads
While the interests of historical of households or were heads of households
demographers and genealogists are not themselves. "
identical, they do overlap in certain
ways. Workers in the latter field can be A specific illustration of the type of
helped by the researches of the fOIDler. materials considered by llaDmel is his
A good place to begin is wi th the volume analysis of two census'es for 1528 and
edited by Peter Laslett, Household and 1530 for a single small village of
Family in Past Time (Cambridge University Tatarin in the district of Belgrade. The
Press, 1972). As its subtitle indicates, published version is in Serbo-Croatian
it is composed of "Comparative studies in based on a Turkish original. The
the size ani structure of the danestic following is an English translation of a
group over the last three centuries in single entry: "Jovan, the son of Bozidar
England, France, Serbia, Japan and ani with him: Vuk, his son; Petar, his
colonial North America, with further son; Dragoje, his son (1528)," For 1530,
materials fran Western Europe," We are, "Jovan the son of Bozidar, Radivoj the
of course, interested here only in the son of Jovan, Petar the son of Jovan,"
Serbian materials. The three chapters in (Hammel, p. 348.) In addition,
the sec tion on Serbia which are information on taxes and on the total
significant to us are: "The Zadruga as number of unnarried males is given. The
Process," by E. A. Hammel (pp. 335-374); original data is from the archives in
"Houseful and household in an eighteenth- Istanbul. The people are tentatively
century Balksn city, a tabular analysis identified as Vlachs, which would refer
of the listing of the Serbian sector of to the fact that they emphasized
Belgrade in 1733-34," by Peter Laslett livestock herding.
530/Halpern 5

This type of data is illustrative of the of Notre Dame Press, 1976, pp. 100-116).
kind of information found in many These chrysobulls often contain listings
published items for various parts of of serfs or other individuals bound to
Yugoslavia which were occupied by the the monastery lands.
Moslems during the Medieval period.
Thus, three volumes of similar data for Hammel defines criteria of reliability of
the area of Kosovo for 1455 were a list (p. 102): "In order to be useful
published by the Oriental Institute of for analysis, a document should dis-
Sarajevo under the general editorship of tinguish the boundaries of households
the same scholar mentioned earlier, IIazim within its listings without ambiguity.
Sabanovic. (Oblast Brankovica, Opsirni One must be able to tell where one
Katastarski Popis iz 1455 godine, household stops and another begins.
Orijentalni Institut a Sarajevu, Further, the relationships of the
Monumenta Turcica, Serija II, Defteri, individuals to one another within a
Sarajevo, 1972.) household must be explicit. Finally,
all the members of a household should be
As Hammel notes, "Within a few years of included in the listing."
the definitive conquest of the Serbian
medieval empire at Kosovo (1389), that is From these points of view only the
by the reign of Mehmed I (1403-21), the chrysobull of Chilandar which was written
Turks began a series of careful censuses about 1357 is satisfactory. This
of their changing danain tbat was to document granted certain villages in the
eontinue for five centuries. Regular Strumica region of Macedonia to the
census-taking on a large scale in the Chilandar monastery on Mt. Athas. This
Balkans seems to have begun with the manuscript is unique in that it mentions
reign of Mehmed II (The Conqueror, women in addi tion to those who are
1451-81), after the fall of Constan- widowed heads of households, but for all
tinople in 1453" (p. 342). of its positive features this list is
only for 137 households. As Hammel
In addition to the individual personal notes, this is truly a unique document
names and kin relationships already for, "It clearly marks the boundaries of
referred to, there are for each village households by a variety of syntac tical
the number of houses (presumably devices, listing the land, stock, and
households), unmarried mature males, other chattels of families, and giving
widows who were household heads, and the names of male and femele, adult and
estimates of the value of crop yields and immature family members by their
incane fran livestock. Also listed were relationship to the head of household or
eontributions to the military forces as to others included in the unit. N:l other
in tenta an:! even for certain regions, document deigns to mention _en, except
sueh items as the value of lignite mined. for some who are widowed heads of
(See also section on nineteenth-century households. • ." (p. 102).
Ottoman population lists.)
There is also a pair of chrysobulls which
list the properties of the monastery of
MEDIEVAL SERBIAN DOCUMENTS Decani in the region of Metohija in the
Kosovo region. Each document containa
Besides using the Ottoman documents, E. about 2,000 households an:! lists more
A. Hamnel has also taken into account than 5,000 persons. These documents are
chrysobulls or the eonfirmatory charters for approximately the period 1330. The
of monasteries. These are described in listings are for males and given for
"Some Medieval Evidence on the Serbian villages with individuals listed by
Zadruga: A Preliminary Analysis of the households with their firs t names and
Chrysobulls of Decani" (published in their relationships to each other
Robert F. Byrnes, ed., Coomunal Families approximating the kind of data found in
in the Balkans: The Zadruga, University the Ottanan documents.
530 IIIa1 pern 6

NINETEENTH-CENTURY OTTOMAN POPULATION Mehmed, his second son, underage, 9

LISTS years .'0

Other than the medieval Ottoman materials A subsequent list for Sarajevo for 1867,
reported by Yugoslav scholars and al though much shorter, is much more
researched by Hammel, there have also cOOlplete. It lists only 125 families for
appeared publications dealing with a total of 525 individuals, both males
nineteenth-century. data. These are and fanales, of lOhom 433 are Moalans and
important in that they provide continuity the rest Christians. This list provides
with the earlier lists. They are more the full name of the household head, his
detailed but still lack much of the father's name, date of birth, date of
information provided in subsequent marriage, his tax liabilities, and
records. This is the case for a occupation. For all other individuals
COOlprehensive list of males in Sarajevo their relationship to the household head
in 1841. (Mula Muhamed Mestvica Popis is given along with their dates of birth •.
Uzajamnog Jamcenja Stanovnistva 12 1841. (Alija Bejtic, Ali-Pa;ina Mahala u
Godine, Muzej Grada Sarajeva, Sarajevo, Sarajevu, "Prilog izucavanju urbanisticke
1970, 410 pp.) The first part of the i socijalne strukture grada," in Prilozi
list is for the Moslems (pp. 11-280); za ProuCavanje Is torije Sarajeva, God •
this is followed by a list of the Gypsies II, Kn. II, Sarajevo, 1966, pp. 19-59.)
(pp. 281-288); then the Christians (pp.
289-370); and finally the Jews (pp. AN AUSTRIAN CENSlE OF BELGRADE, 1733-34
371-391). Further information on this
census is given in Dervis M. Korkut, The document analyzed by Peter Laslett
"Mestvicina Cefilema 1Z 1841" (pp. an:! Marilyn Clarke in their chapter in
103-118) in Prilozi Istorije Sarajeva, Household and Family in Past Time is
full title ci ted below. A list for an based on the census list published by
intermediate period, but one containing Dusan J. Popovic (Gradja za Istoriju
the names and occupations of Serb Beograda cd 1711-1739, Spomenik LXXVIII,
peasants, as well as other nationalities, Srpska Kraljevska Akademija, Beograd,
for the area of Kladovo on the Danube, is 1935). The list of inhabitants that they
for 1741 in an area of Ibrth 'Serbia use pertains to the Serbian Orthodox
recaptured by the Turks from the sector of the city of Belgrade for
Austrians. (Radmila Trickovic, Dva 1733-34. It was evidently drawn up by
Turska Popisa Krajine i Kljuca 1Z ii4r responsible clergy. This list was
Godine, Historijski Institut, Beograd, COOlpiled at a time of relative peace for
1973.) the city. The Austrians an:! their Serb
allies occupied the city in 1717 after a
vic tory over the Turks. Austrian rule
The individuals in the 1841 document are lasted until 1739. As the authors note,
lis ted by houses, an:! in sane. cases by this population list is equivalent to a
rooms, according to the district in ""ich West European version of a liber status
they lived. A very rough estimate would animarun or a etat des ames. Unlike the
be that this list contains approximately earlier Turkish records, the full names
6,000 individuals, with an average of two of all the inhabitants are given,
to four males listed for each household. together with their ages, and
They are each identified by name. Their relationships to the head of the
father's name is also given, as is their household. Included are all inhabitants
age. In addition, sane brief information of both sexes am all ages.
on physical appearance is provided; e.g.,
medium height and lo~ beard. Thus a AN EIGIITEENl'II-eENTURY HUNGARIAN CENSUS OF
sample listing would be: "Mehmed son of THE VOJVODINA
Dervisa, tall, white beard, 60 years;
Ibrahim son of Mehmed, his son, A less cOOlplete census from the point of
beardless, 16 years; Mustafa son of view of family an:! household cOOlposition
530 Ilial pern 7

is the Hungarian listing of German, of the household head, the name,

Hungarian, and some Serb villagers in the relationship to head of the household,
Vojvodina for 1715. Only household heads and age of all members. The data are
are listed by their full name • Occu- given in Italian. This completeness
pation is also listed as are dsta on land applies on! y to one community. Data for
holdings. Military ranks are designated another are somewhat less complete.
as appropriate and nationality is noted Typed versions of these two community
in these listings which are given by censuses Pridvorje and Lisac are in the
districts. (Ivan JaksU, Iz Popisa Genealogical Society's archives. The
Stanovnistva Ugarske, Pocetkom XVIII published version provides data only by
veka, Vojvodjanski Muzej, Prilozi i the name of the household and the number
Gradja, 3 i 4, Novi Sad, 1966 and 1968.) of people in the household. (Zdravko
Sundrica, ''Popis Stanovnistva IJubrovaCke
In connec tion wi th this publ ication, . Republike iz 1673-74," in Arhivskom
attention should be called to ZOntar's Vjesnik God. 2, Sv. II, 1959.)
observation (p. 15): "The first military
census in Vojvodina and Croatia was A census of the Jewish population of
carried out in the year 1785 [in the IJubrovnik has been published for 1815.
following years this census was revised l, This contains similar data but, in
then there was a civil census in the year addition, occupa tions for the senior
1804-{)5 but [a census 1 did not take place males and place of origin for all are
again until 1850 after the establishment listed. Some 205 individuals are listed.
of absolutism. From all of these, The total population for which aM1ogous
however, there are no detailed materials data is presumably available is 1,741.
available." This is clearly not the case (Zdravko Sundries, "Dubrovacki Jevrejii
for 1715 although this listing does not njikova emancipacija, (1808-1815) ,"
provide much detailed data. Jevrejski Istorijski Muzej, Beograd,
1971, pp. 135-184.)

TIlE DUBROVNIK CENSUSES OF 1673-74 AND

1815 AN ILLUSTRATIVE N:JTE ON SLOVENIAN DATA

Clearly the IJubrovnik census of this date As has been stressed earlier, the
is the earliest listing we have con- coverage in this paper is not an
sidered for Yugoslavia. This fact is even-handed one but rather ref lee ts
noted by Zontar (p. 15). He goes en to directly the experiences of the author.
observe that there were censuses in The coverage is particularly lacking with
Dubrovnik as early as the fourteenth respect to Slovenia, continental Croatia,
century. In that part of Dalmatia and Macedonia, al though all areas have
controlled by Venice there were local been touched upon to some degree. The
censuses by the sixteenth century. He lack of coverage of Croatia and Slovenia
also mentions 1817 as a period when there has been , to a degree, compensated by
was a civil census. This was after the Zontar'S extensive attention to these
Napoleonic occupation and probably regions with which he is obviously most
relates to the data presented here as int:lmately familiar.
from 1815. He does state, however, that:
"Closer research is required to determine There is, however, a readily available
whether any of this material is still source in English which illus trates the
available today." This has now been done use that can be made of archival sources,
ani at least partial documentation and including vital records, censuses, and
results are available. land holding data for social history.
This is the work of a Slovenian
The census provides analogous data to ethnologist, Slavko Kremensek, concerned
that available for Serbia in 1863. That with processes involved in modernization
is , there is a full lis ting of the name from the eighteenth to the twentieth
530/llalpern 8

centuries. lie describes b:lw a cloth Village: Social Structure as Reflected

industry was es tablished in this area at by History, Demography and oral
the end of the eighteenth century and Tradition, Research Report No. 17,
initially attracted a significant work Department of Anthropology, University of
force. However, with the closi~ down of Massachusetts at Amherst, June 1977.)
this industry in the early nineteenth Data on demography, oral his tory, and
century, rural ways reasserted genealogical accounts pertinent to the
themselves • nineteenth century is presente:l in this
volume in J. M. IIalpern and E. A. !lammel,
The author uses baptismal, marriage, "Serbian Society in Karadjordj e' s
death, and land holdi~ recoms to smw Serbia," pp. 1-31. Information on
how household heads and others changed village, district, am regional data from
jobs. He also discusses the role of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as
illegitimacy. anong his most significant they help to provide an understandi~ of
conclusions are that the rural village, family-household changes in recent times
with its associated attributes, was is in J. M. Halpern, "Demographic and
"dissolved" by the children wb:> were born Social Change in the Village of Orasac:
in the village and created pressure on A Perspective Over Two Centuries," pp.
the existing agrarian structure. He 37-124.
states that townsmen played no special
(direc t) role in these developments, but
that industrialization with its This is not a paper on family history as
nonagricultural sources of income such but rather one which stresses the
permitted a larger population to remain availability and use of sources.
on the land. The author clearl y Nevertheless it does seem appropriate
documents the fact that modernization was here to stress two key points >ilich have
not simply one of urban influences on a derived from contemporary scholarly
rural society or of rural people research. The first is wt might be
migrati~ to an urban center. (Slavko called the simplistic myth of the
Kremensek, Suburban Villagers& A Case pre-industrial eKtended family; i.e., at
Study of the Village of Most~ near one time in the premodern world there
Ljubljana [Slovenia, YugoslaVia]; The were principally large oouseholds >ilich
Transformation of a Rural Society, shrunk in size am compleKity as society
1780-1931, translated by Vilko Novak, Jr. evolved. As Laslett in his introduction
and edited by Joel M. Halpern. Program to Household and Family in Past Time
in Soviet and East European Studies, remarks (pp. 8-9 here abbreviated):
Occasional Papers Series, No.2,
International Area Studies Programs,
University of Massachusetts at anherst, "The purchase over the minds of
August, 1979.) scholars of all kinds, of the general
assumptions about the large and
. complex family of the past seems to
THE SERBIAN CENSUSES OF 1863 AND 1885 AND me to be a singular phenomenon, not
FAMILY HISTCRY MYTHS adequately explained by the con-
siderations put forwanl here. As the
The 1863 census has been analyzed in a evidence is surveyed, it becomes
series of publications by J. M. Halpern, difficult not to suppose that there
including a chapter in the Laslett has been an obstinately held wish to
volume. For a broad perspective on the believe in what William Goode has
social-cultural background of rural trenchantly described as the 'Classi-
Serbia, see J. M. Halpern, A Serbian cal family of Western nostalgia.'
Village, 1958 and 1967. (Additional This belief, or misbelief, certainly
information is provided in Barbara seEmS to display a notable capacity
Kerewsky-Halpern and Joel M. Halpern to overlook contrary facts and to
eds., Selected Papers on a Serbian resist attempts at revision • • •
530/00 pern 9

"It seems to have survived, for from reminiscences, censuses and

example, the great body of materials accounts in the time of Karadjordje
about family size and structure [first revolt against the Turks,
across the contemporary globe 1804]. and medieval archives. is one
gathered by [social scientists] in an of a land of t!"ansients. with a
attempt to reformulate set notions population ebbing and flowing with
about the association between the tides of war and exploitation.
industrialization and family size and When the ecological niche (including
structure. There are now many its political and econanic aspects)
studies which call into question any became uncanfortable, the population
necessary connection between ebbed. as it did in 1389, 1690. and
industrialization (however defined) 1790. When conditions were
an:! the small, simple, nuclear fanily favorable. it flowed. as it did
of the contemporary world." around 1500 and 1800. The population
seemed closely attuned to its
These conclusions are particularly apt ecological base. • • a flexible,
with regard to understanding the extended adaptive kinship system suited to
family zadruga of the South Slavs. rapid geographical expansion and
Family households were, on the average, exploitation of land, to quick
larger in past times an:! have decreased dispersal an:! reassembly under trying
in size. But these changes do not political conditions. and to the
document a simple transformation from assembly of trus ted workers and
canplex and large households to small and fighters was the key to all these
simple nuclear families. Rather a patterns. the zadruge and
principal reason that family-households vamilije of the Serbs were the social
were large in the past was because of vehicle for a fluctuating response to
high birth rates and a consequent large uncertain ecological condition."
number of children. A secon:! factor is
that although some families were large This census is partially parallel to that
and complex there was always a cited for Belgrade for 1733-34, but more
significant proportion of nuclear data is given. Besides listing all the
families in South Slav areas. Thus many inhabitants of the household .and their
people did live in small, simple families ages and relationships to the head of
at sane point in their life cycle. household. there is also very detailed
Third, in pas t times there was high data on occupation, value of the house,
mortality in addition to high birth and the kinds and amount of land held and
rates. This meant that many people did its tax value. This latter factor
not live long enough to becane obviously relates to a primary motivation
grandparents. for exanple. and to see for the canpilation of the list but does
most of their children grow to maturity. not, in itself, explain why such detailed
data on household composition were
The second major point is that we need to gathered.
see social systems as mechanisms for
adaptation and not as abstrac t things This census year is of great importance
preserved or des troyed over time. This in that data for most of the villages and
is also particularly pertinent to towns of lOhat was then Serbia has been
understanding the zadruga family preserved in manuscript form in big folio
structure as one of a constant process of volumes in the Serbian state archives.
adjustment tied into altering life The data thus exists for both rural an:!
experiences. As Halpern and Hammel note urban areas, and uniquely. some lists for
in their 1977 article (cited above, p. specific communities have already been
31 ): completely published in their original
format. For complete references to
"The pic ture that emerges from all of publications of 1863 census data. see the
these data, fran the modem period. section on Serbian regional archival
530/lIa1pern 10

data. By contrast, although the Serbian exceptions. These are two monographs of
archives contain some similar household the Smederevo museum, a principal city on
lists for 1885, none of these have, the Danube downstream from Belgrade. The
according to my information, been first monograph deals entirely with the
published. There are also population city of Smederevo and the second with the
lists for the period prior to 1863 and nearby village of Branovo.
these have also not been published.
These are compiled in the Turkish fashion The monograph on Smederevo provides an
ani are analogous to the medieval lists opportunity for canparison, since there
cited earlier in that they include only is an initial tax list for 1833 followed
males. (Canplete examples for iniividual by the 1863 census. The first is a short
camnunities in 1884 and pre-1863 are to list of 198 household heads and their tax
be foum in the Utah Genealogical Society obligations. The second is complete with
Archives. Thus, extensive series of family and economic data and is heavily
consecutive lists exist for iniividual annotated. Sane 1,272 households are
camnunities. ) listed with a total population of 3,907.
The size of households is probably
considerably understated, since servants
PUBUCATION OF SERBIAN REGIONAL ARCHIVAL are listeJ. separately and they probably
DATA, 1815-1915 lodged with the people for Iohom they
worked.
The Serbian archival researcher Branko
Perunicic has compiled a significant The publication on the village of Branovo
number of large, thousand-page volumes provides data to examine generational
which present transcription of archival mobility. The first list for 1832-33 has
documents for particular districts. The forty-one households with the tax
period covereJ. is the nineteenth century liabilities of all males Ioho are seven
up to World War I. SamPl,e references are and over lis ted; however, younger males
for the towns of Para~in, Pozarevac, are also recorded. The ages of all
Svetozarevo and Valjevo and their individuals are given. All relationships
surrounding regions. (Grad Paracin, to the household head are given and the
1815-1915, Beograd, 1975, 1424 pp.; Grad family name of the household head is
Pozarevac i Njegovo Uprvano Podru~ recorded.' The 1863 census list is
Beograd, 1977, 2029 pp.; Grad printed in full with all household
Svetozarevo, 1806-1915, Beograd, 1975, nominal, kin, and economic data. A total
1872 pp.; Grad Valjevo i Njegova Upravno of 611 individuals is listed. (Dr.
Podrueje, 1815-1915, Valjevo, 1973, 1270 Leontije Pavlovic, Smederevo u XIX Veku,
pp.) Narodni Muzej Smederevo, Knj. 6, 1969 and
Milan Vuletic, Branovo Selo kod
In addition, there are volumes devoted Smedereva, Knj. 10, 1970.)
exclusively to the 1863 census.
(Examples of this type of publication These examples of local history are cited
are: Popis Stanovnistva i Poljoprivrede in such detail because they contain an
u Srezu Para~inskom, 1863 Godine, extraordinary amount of information of
Beograd, 1977, 400 pp. ; and Popis interest to the genealogist, social
Stanovni~tva i Poljoprivrede u Srezu historian, and historical demographer.
Jasenftkom 1863 God:l.ne, Beograd, 1978, Taki'll the 1,912 page volume for the town
708 pp.) of Smerderevska Palanka and its region as
our example (Smederevska Palanka i
The ""ys in Iohich the census materials Okolina, Beograd, 1980 , published by the
are published seems to follow a town council, Skupstina Opstina
consistent pattern of giving full Smederevska Palanka), we find a long
information on urban families but series of lists linked to individual
restricting the data on rural households. names. These include among others (each
But the publications cited below are list gives the full names of the
530 /llal pern 11

pertinent individuals): "Traders in Pigs few exceptional cases where data for
and other livestock for the Snederevo villages has appeared as has been noted.
region for 1831" (pp. 235-238); "Numbers
of sheep and goats by households for the The Utah Genealogical Society does,
Jasenica district, 1832" (pp. 239-259, however, have typescripts of original
this listing is given by villages); a census data by individual names given by
similar listi~ is given for 1833 (pp. household listi~s for 1863 for several
263-303); "Pupils in the Palanka villages in the area of the towns of
ElE!llentary School, 1838" (pp • 326-329 ) ; Arandjelovac and Topola in central
similar list of PJpils for 1838 (pp. Serbia. There is also a typed list of
330-333); list of stores by names of villages by districts for which 1863
their owners as of 1851 (pp. 536-539); census data is available.
an:! in addition there are large numbers
of petitions and legal documents For this same area there are also
containi~ shorter lists of names. complete censuses of taxable adult males
individually listed for several years for
There are other kinds of lists that have the 1820s and 1830s for the identical
been published, for example, by the s...ple of villages in this s...e region
Serbian h:adE!lly of Sciences. One such (also in the files of the Genealogical
compilation is a list of those who Society of Utah). Sane of these lists
participated in the Second Serbian Revolt also contain ages and kinship
of 1815. This was canpiled by govern- relationship to the household head.
mental directive in 1865. The first part Essentially they contain the names of all
of the list is of 385 in:!ividuals who males seven to seventy. These lists need
were still al ive • They are identified by to be used with caution as do those for
their full name, occupation, place of 1863 since last names sanetimes did not
residence, and age. Fifty years after completely stabilize in rural areas and
the event, the youngest are in their mid elsewhere until the 18708 or even the
sixties and the two oldest are listed as 1880s.
"110." Unfortunately, but in coomon with
many of the records of this period, there Thus local registers can record an
is much roun:li~ off of ages SO that many individual being born, married an:! dying
people are listed as being in their 80s, under different names. A careful study
90s, an:! several as 100. There is also a of the local regis ters will, however,
list of 1,125 individuals who are usually reveal the nature of the
recorded as havi~ died. In addition to transi tion; i.e., both names will be
their names and the places where they given in a hyphenated transitional form.
lived, information is given on sutviving This change usually involves the
kin. (Dragoje Todorovic, Popis Ustanika adaptation of a patronymic from an
1Z 1815 Godine, Srpska AkadE!llija Nauka, earlier generation as the f ...ily n!IIle.
Spomenik CXIV, Odeljenje Dru;tvenih The consistent use of the patronymic in
Nauka, NovaSerija 16.) most Serbian vital records is also of
great help in being able to link
Despite the extrE!llely detailed listiggs individuals.
in these lo~ volumes edited by Peruni~ic
they of course do rot constitute total It appears that in parts of Serbia, and
publication of all proVincial data in the perhaps in other areas as well, the
Serbian archives. These volumes tend to availability of census and tax lists
favor information on towns an:! data about predates the beginning of consecutive
people in trade, governmental adminis- church records of vital statistics.
tration, an:! students at the expense of Zontar mentions the date 1837 as the time
details about villages. Thus for the when the Serbian Or thodox church
1863 census it is mostly the detailed organization began to send out
data by individuals living in towns which instrue tions for the keeping of vital
has been published. AI thougll there are a records (p. 6). Yet at least in sane
530/Jla1pern 12

areas of central Serbia, it was not until easily locatable way as given 10 the
the 1870s ..nen there began to be reliable Settlements and Origin of Population
consecutive series of vital records. series of Serbian kadany of Sciences
This may also relate to the pro- noted elsewhere 10 this article but they
fessionalization and expansion of do provide a significant source
competence and personnel at the parish nevertheless.
level. This type of record keeping
sharply contrasts with the situation on In connection with discussing local
the Dalmatian coast of Croatia where, for histories, it is useful to mention that
example, baptiSlDa1 records exist 10 the there are village place name indexes for
town of Zadar as early as 1637. (Zontar, Yugoslav villages an:! towns. (An example
p. 6.) of this type of publication for Croatia
is OpCine i Kotari s Imenikom Naseljenik
Mjesta, Narodne Novloe, Zagreb, 1%0; for
PUBUSIlED EXAMPLES OF EIGHTEENTH-{;ENTURY Serbia for the nineteenth century there
CHURCH RECORDS FRal SERBIA AND CROATIA is Recni\ Mesta u Kraljevini Srbiji
edited by Stev. M. Koturovi1:, Driavne
There is, however, some exceptional vital Stamparije, 1892; a compilation for all
data from Serbia at the end of the of Yugoslavia published by the Federal
eighteenth and beginning of the St~tistical Office is Registri Naziva
nineteenth centuries as illustrated by Opstina i Naselja, Popis Stanovnistva
the publication of part of a church book 1961, Savezni Zavod za Statistiku,
listiqo: vital data as it applied to the Beograd, 1965.)
village of Borca near Belgrade. An
article 10 the Yearbook series published
by the MJseum of the City of Belgrade DALMATIAN VITAL RECORDS, SIXTEENTH-
provides individual data on births and TWENTIE'lH CENTURIES
de~ths ~ by family groups. (Sreta
Pecinjacki, "Selo Bores Krajem XVIII i c Given the early historic growth of the
Pocetka XIX Veka," Godi;njak Grada DaImation towns and their development
Beograda, XIX, 1972, pp. 271-301.) since classical times, as well as their
contact with the literata traditions of
While there seans to be little doubt that the Italian city states such as Venice,
Catholic church vital records exist for it is unders tandable that it would be to
earlier periods than those kept by this area that one would look for the
Orthodox church authorities, there does earliest population records. Fortu-
sean to be few examples of publication of nately, there is a published survey of
the fOIlDer, but there are exceptions • vital records available 10 one of the
One important case is that for the major archives, Split (Benedikta
Village of Zupanja 10 the area of the Zelic-Bucan, "Zbirka maticnih Knjiga u
distric t of Vinkovc1 10 Croatia.
~ , An historijskom archivu," Izdanje
article by Ambro zije Benkovfr presents a Historijskog Arhiva u Splitu, Sv. 5,
published version of a transcription of 1%5, 173-192.) In this article data are
twenty pages fran the birth register for given for 173 volumes of church records
124 individuals born between 1717 and for the seventeenth to the nineteenth
1719. ("Najstarije Obitelji Zupanje, centuries. For each source the type of
Bosnjaka i Stitara, " ~1o Zupanjski Zborn1k record (birth, marriage, or death) is
ed. Stjepan Gruber, Zupanja, 1969.) specified an:! the laqo:uage 10 which the
records were kept is noted (most of these
The local history compilation from which records were done in Latin). The
the above article is taken also provides physical condition of the record is noted
an example of the type of publication 10 as well as the precise dates covered. A
which this history of individual family second article provides an updating.
groupings can be found. The data on (Danica Bozic-Buzan;;ic, "Imentar Zbirke
family his tories are not presented 10 an 1DSti~nih knjiga u historijskom arhivu u
530/lIa1pern 13

Splitu, "Izdanje Historijskog Arhiva u and 1910." He is correct in noting the

Splitu, Sv. 7, 1969, pp. 437-464.) importance of these censuses. It seems,
however, that because of the direct
Local his torians have made use of these impact of World Wars I and II on the city
records and some of the results have of Belgrade and its related occupations,
appeared in published form. An exanple the original census forms were either
is the history of the Dalmatian town of destroyed or lost.
Nin for the sixteenth to the seventeenth
centuries. (Roman Jelic, "Ninjani u There are accounts of records being
Zadar crkvenim maticsma XVI i XVII carried off massively by the Austrians
stolje~a," in Povijest Grada Nina ed. and then sunk in the Danube. Currently
Grga Novak i Vjekoslav Mastrovi~, negotiations have been taking place
Institut Jugoslavenska Akademije Znanosti between the Vienna and Belgrade archives.
i Umjetnosti u Zadru, Zadsr, 1%9, pp. Whatever the eventual finis may be, the
596-614.) The author makes use of the main point is that Zontar was apparently
church registers in the town of Zadar unaware of the existence of the canplete
beginning in the second half of the census records for 1863. In any case, he
sixteenth century. As he notes, therein may not have anticipated their partial
are inscribed the names of Nin people ..no publication. FUrther, he also seened not
permanently resided in Zadar or were to know of the existence of partial ani
there temporarily on business or other less detailed census records for 1884.
matters and married or died in that These are, to the best of my knowledge,
community. Some 135 pertinent names were still unpublished. In addition, he also
foUIXl in these records. "Among these seems not to have had knowledge of
there sre Nin princes, bishops, priests, pre-1863 male population tax lists for
noblemen as well as conmoners • This Serbia.
small list may serve as a contribution to
the reconstruction of the population of This may be, in part, because these items
Nin, ,;bich today munbers only 2,000." were not cataloged until the late 1960s
The data for these individuals is listed or into the 1970s. In this connection
in the article by individual entries. the publication, Tefteri (Lists),
1816-1843 of the Serbian archives is very
important, (Arhiv Srbije, Inventar,
ADDITIONS 11) SOURCES NOTED BY ZONTAR Tefteri, 1816-1843, Beograd, 1969, 142
pp., mimeographed), since the archival
Zontar's summary of Yugoslav record holdings for individual districts are
keeping focuses particularly on data fran listed. As has been noted esrlier, the
Slovenia and Croatia ..nich is not covered Utah Genealogical Society holds
in great depth in this paper, a partial microf i1ms of typed versions of the
reflec tion of the experiences of the original village lists for seven
author as has been noted. ccmnunities in the area of the towns of
Arandjelovac and Topola. The years
At the same time we have presented covered are 1824, 1825, 1829-30, 1830,
evidence of data that either did not 1831, 1832-33, 1834, 1836, and 1837.
exist in published form ten years ago at This is in addition to the original
the time of the erevious World Conference individual household census lists for
on Records ..nen Zontar prepared his paper 1863 and 1885 also mentioned earlier.
(or of which he was simply unaware) •
This former situation is clearly the case Zontar does refer (p. 16) to population
of PeruniciC's publications which registers for Serbia in connection with
appeared in the 1970s and into 1980. taxation data from the Ministry of
Finance for 1862-63 and 1885 (p. 16).
iontsr notes (p. 16), "In Serbia the But he evidently was unaware thet these
general census began in the year 1890 and are also censuses in the general sense,
followed in the years 1895, 1900, 1905 equivalent to those that begin in
530/lla1pern 14

Slovenia, Dalmatia, Croatia and the available to the genealogist and

Vojrodina in 1857 and again occur in historical demographer.
1869, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. He
also rotes, "The carrying out of the
census was in the hands of the local SETILEMENrS AND ORIGIN OF RlPULATION
communities, and therefore, such census
materials must be sought there. At the conclusion to his article, Zontar
Generally, one can COWlt on finding such (pp. 26-31) gives a survey of migration
material in great amoWlts for more recent patterns within the territory of today's
censuses but very seldom for the older Yugoslavia from the eighteenth to the
ones. This is in contradistinction to twentieth centuries. It does not seem
the Serbian situation. The oldest appropriate to recapitulate or summarize
canplete census for 1863 is available for that data here. Of direct interest to
all regions in the Serbian State Archives researchers, however, is the fact that,
in Belgrade as are pre-1863 lists, where following in the tradition of the
the 1885 census is partially preserved. distinguished Serbian human geographer
It is also, as far as I know, the only Jovan CvijiC, there has been a series
Yugoalav census that has been selectively issued by the Ethnographic Institute of
published in various foIIDS. Original the Serbian Academy of Sciences called
census sheets for subsequent censuses do Naselja i Poreklo Stanovnistva
not appear to have been preserved. (Settlements and Origin of the
Population). Summaries of Cvij:lC's work
It is also pertinent to cite here are available in English ("Geographical
Zontar's coaments on medieval records. Distribution of the Balkan Peoples," and
lie notes (p. 3) that he does rot cOllsider "Zones of Civilization of the Balkan
the Middle Ages "because of the extremely Peninaula," in the May and June 1918
meager number of available sources." issues of the Geographical Review [Vol.
While we would not claim they are 5], pp. 345-361 and 470-482).
abundant or detailed, they nevertheless
exist and, as Hamnel's work demonstrates,
they can be useful. Further, while The study of rural migrations and the
Zontar does mention Ottanan tax records, establishment of new settlements at the
he merely observes that "They are to be time when the Ottanan Elnpire ha:l begWl to
foUId in the central Turkish collections decline was important in establishing
in Is tanbul ." Since some of these boundaries for emergent ethnic
records, which we previously have identities. All of these monographs
referred to, were published in Yugoslavia coveri'll various regions are based on the
in Serbo-Croatisn duri'll the past decade work of ethnographers who went from
it is again understandable that he did village to village gatheri'll data.
not refer to them. He also states (p.
11), "Generally they were discontinued They describe the specifics of the local
about the beginnilll of the 17th century." terrain and give a brief his tory of each
Yet we have referred to important cOllllllWlity. (The regions covered in this
published Ottanan tax related population article and am0'll the areas of which
lists for Sarajevo for the early and even there are monographic data on family
mid-nineteenth century. origins in the Naselja series are Morava,
NiB, Cacak, Ibar, Kolubara, Sumadija,
The above remarks are not intended to be Bosanska Kraj ina, Trebinje as well as on
critical of Zontar, as such, but rather parts of Hercegovina, Bosnia and
to emphasize the dynamic state of Macedonia. hno'll other areas covered in
classification and publication of this series are M:>ntenegro, the area of
archival records over approximately the Belgrade, Skopska Cms Gore, the region
past decade in the eastern an:! southern of Sarajevo. Val j evo , Boka Kotorska,
areas of Yugoslavia which has greatly Dubrovnkik, migrations of Serbs to
increased the number of resources Hungary in sixteenth to the eighteenth
530 /Hal pern 15

centuries am to Slavonia in the same carried out, only on the Christian

period.) population. There does exist, ho.....ver,
considerahle ethnographic documentation
For each named descent group or lineage on lbslan populations, but not from this
in the village the number of households point of view.
is given, the name of their family's
patroo saint, shared by all manbers of a
descent group, how long the lineage has FAMILY HISTORIES AND ffiNEALOGIES
existed in the coomunity are noted am
the region from 'Which they migrated to The amount of published material on this
their present home is given. For topic is difficult to ascertain because
example, "MiloseviC (also including of the irregular way in which materials
NikoliC am NedeljkaviC') 14 households, are published. It is possible, ho.....ver,
patron saint Saint Luke, an old family, to provide examples of the type of
settled (in this village) over 150 years publications available by taking
(coming) from Bjelo Polje (in illustrative examples from Croatia and
Montenegro) •" lbntenegro • Zontar in his sec tion on
"Genealogical Collections" (pp. 18-20),
Other entries could refer to settlanent refers primarily to the nobility. lie
fran as little as thirty years prior to deals with collections of letters
the time of field work which might bestowing titles of nobility and marriage
involve simply movement from a announcenents of the aris tocracy as well
neighboring communi ty. Sometimes as with collections of coats of arms.
reference is made to a his torical event The publications cited here have to do
dating the time of settlanent; e.g., the with commoners, particularly rural
first revolt against the Turks (1804), peoples.
other times a specific ancestor such as a
great-gramfather is mentioned. In other Some of the materials have been brought
instances an unusual (for Serbia) case is to puhlication because of a concern with
recorde:l as when an ances tor chose to taking family histories as illustrative
come and reside at his wife' s homestead. of a type of social organization, among
the South Slavs, the studies of the
E. A. Hamnel am Djordje "Soc' exanined zadruga, and the extended family
data thus collected from thirteen household discussed earlier are
locations in southern and eastern particularly pertinent. This is the case
Yugoslavia. Their sample included over with respect to a study of the "Zadruga
12,000 lineages and 62,000 constituent Jozin-Jaksin" in Slavonia, Croatia ("By
households. ("The Lineage Cycle in
Southern and Eastern Yugoslavia,"
American Anthropologist, Vol. 75, No.3,
Drago lIeim in Zbornik Slavonskih Muze
I, 1%9, pp. 53-92). In canpiling fam y lI,
descent groups involving the
June 1973, pp. 802-814.) They exanined reconstitution am linkage of kin, the
demographic, economic, and cultural author makes use of vital record sources
factors to attenpt to relate than to the in the Osijek archives beginning in 1735
size of the reported lineages. as - t l as with interviews with living
descendants •
Zontar in his description of migration
patterns makes the important point that Different from this scholarly publication
with the retreat of the Turks at the em in a museum series is the canpilation
of the seventeenth century the lbslan assanbled by a descendant and published
elanents of the Balkan population moved privately. Zvonimir Turnia Krsevan,
south to those areas still held by the whose kin are from the Rijeka area, has
Turks, while the Christians, especially produced such a publication. This
the Orthodox, moved in the opposite evidently was published by kin as a
direc tion • We have published data on manorial tribute. (tibar Roda Turinskog
migration, reflecting the research i Franko od nastanjivanja u primorskom
530 /llal pern 16

kraju, te cd 1673-1969 sastavio Zvonimir early nineteenth century to 1970.

Turina Krsevan, 1931-1969.) In compiling Another table lists educational
this work, the author refers to the vital attaillDents beyond elementary school and
records <tdch he found in the Rijeka includes 277 individuals.
archives beginni~ with 1790.

The oral recollec tions of his parents and RECORD USE AND FAMILY HISTORIES, TIlREE
relatives fonned the initial basis for AMERICAN STUDIES FROM ISTRIA, DALMATIA,
his work. In reconstructing his family AND SLOVENIA
history, he uses inscriptions as well as
vital records. His family data begin at In contrast to the central Serbian
the en:! of the seventeenth century and village of Orasac studied by B. and J.
end in 1969. The book is addressed to lIalpern with its Turkish heritage \ihere
kin both near an:! distant. Significantly substantial village or state tax records
the book contains a sketch of a peasant of any sort begin with the 1820s, the
hearth, recalli~ the family's origins in eighteenth, even seventeenth and
Hercegovina, but reaches out to include sixteenth centuries' coverage of family
those descendants who migrated throughout histories an:! related demographic data is
Yugoslavia, central Europe, the United abundant for those areas in Western
States, and Argentina over twelve Yugoslavia which were under Austrian or
generations • Italian colonial administration. This is
reflected in the types of analyses which
A more formal publication deals with a several American scholars ""re able to
Montenegrin lineage (Dr. Nikola VukCevic, make.
Jedan Prilog Tradiciji u Crnoj Gori,
published privately by the author, Rudolph M. Bell in his, "The
Beograd, 1971). Detailed family charts Transformation of a Rural Village:
are presented encompassing eleven Istria, 1870-1972" (Journal of Social
generations. A total of some sixty-one History, Spring, 1974, pp. 243-270),
charts is given. Birth an:! death dates iiillkes extensive use of parish registers
for individuals are included \ihere known. to reconstruct demographic rates and
In keepi~ with Montenegrin tradition, family histories. Thus he utilizes
however, only males are listed. Those parish birth records beginni~ in 1852,
who migrated to the United States are marriage records as of 1855 and death
also recorded. dats from 1861 as recorded ( these are
presumably not the dates at <tdch these
At the end of the book there are records begin). He also notes the
forty-seven pages of indexes by name , utility of a Status Animarum. (A similar
summarizing the vital data for each type of record for the village of Seocur
individual and including his father's near Kranj in central Slovenia, beginning
name. in the early nineteenth century, is in
the Utah Genealogical Society's archive.)
Given the heroic traditions of
Montenegrins, there are also lists of The author notes (p. 266): "The two
those killed in wars and other conflic ts independent records ""re helpful in cases
through the nineteenth century and of spelling changes and entries of
including World War II. erroneous dates (Status Animarum and
vital records). The regis ter entries are
There are also tables lis ti~ age at excellent.
death by branch of family, including
infant deaths. He thus compiles an "At a minimum they contain father's name,
average life expectancy, for the 1,316 mother's maiden name, house number and
individuals listed for all periods for date of event. Birth entries also
\ihom there are records, of 36 •5 years. contain names of godparents and, i f
This ccmpilation includes data frcm the priest and individual have followed
530/llalpern 17

church regulations, date am place of in the community that she studied, the
marriage. • • • Marriage entries give the oldest fragments of church records are
names of the parents of the bride and from 1618, but that complete records have
groom and two witnesses as well as the been preserved only since 1780. In a
occupation of the groan. Wide"" and section entitled, "Family Histories and
widowers are so noted. Death registers Village Structure (pp. 72-82)," she
give date of birth (or an approximation reconstructs a sample family history
thereof), marital status and name of USi'll as ~ne basis the first canplete
spouse, names of parents am cause of village register from 1791. (The Utah
death," Genealogical Society has a sample land
register for the Slovenian village of
The histories of some families are Seneur for 1756 with corrections from
reconstructed from surviving account 1764. This correlates with a Status
books and economic records. Brian C. Animarum record for the same village ,
Bennett in Sutivan: A Dalmation Village previously mentioned.)
in Social and Economic Transition (R and
E Research Associates, Palo Alto,
California, 1971) gives a detailed Thus the author is able to compile a
sumnary of sources dealing with family table (p. 78) of the Janez group of
histories for the island of Brae. Thus households specifying individuals by
in Appendix 3 he provides a list of the name, date of birth, house number,
elite families in Sutivan and their place landholding status, and the owner of that
of origin with data going back to the house in 1969, together with the name of
fifteenth century. In Appendix 4 he the house at that latter date. The
provides a listi'll of cOlllDercial boats earliest birthdate noted in this Janez
from the community by their owners for list is for 1771. A brief history of
the latter part of the nineteenth each Janez is given (the most recent was
century. Appendix 6 lists series of born in 1873) with the data hased on
genealogies which specify kin who have church records supplemented by
migrated to other parts of Yugoslavia and intervie"" •
North and South America.

This type of data can be contrasted with

Elsewhere Bennett refers to a list that from the Montenegrin patrilineage
published in Brack! Zbornik (3) , which referred to earlier and the two oral
details individuals who migrated from genealogies given in J. Halpern's!
Sutivan since 1880. He referS to 8,500 Serbian Village,(p. 152), which are based
people ....igrating from Brae over a fifty- exclusively on oral recall. These
year period, including sane 2,000 who research publications are illustrative
went to California. Data of this sort only of the richness inherent in the·
can be integrated with the series of abundant archival dat;l which has only
publications on Yugoslav immigrants to begun to be used for both the purpose of
the U.S. produced by R and E Research understanding social process over time as
Associates publishers. In this case well as that of reconstructing individual
Andre Jutronic, who ia evidently a local family histories. It would be wrong to
scholar, has made a study of the origin isolate the two because not only are they
of the 845 families on this islam and interdependent but the amount of cross-
published it in Brac1d. Zbornik. Local fertilization possible between those who
historical publications of this type for are trying to understand their own
Dalmation island communities are individual pasts, as differentiated from
frequently a source of detailed those who are trying to better comprehend
information. social phenomena, is the kind of
interaction which will lead to new
Irene Winner in A Slovenian Village knowledge that can be mutually
(Brown University Press, 1971) notes that beneficial •
530 /lIa1 pem 18

LIBRARY SOURCES OF GENEALOGICAL AND their collec tions and are based on the
IEMOGRAPIlIC DATA ON YUGOSLAVIA author's acquisitions in Yugoslavia over
several decades.
In addition to the hoidillls of the Utah
Genealogical Society referred to
throughout this paper, the extensive ACCESS TO YUGOSLAV LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES
resources of American scholarly libraries
with materials on Yugoslavia need to be Since the 1950s, large numbers of
summarized. In addition to the American scholars have worked in
publication of local records, wich is Yugoslavia. Many have worked under the
continuing the abundant materials on auspices of official exchange programs ,.
regional his tory, can be of great hel p and sane have worked privately. Since
both to the genealogist and the scholar Yugoslavia is canposed of six republics,
interested in social history and each with its own administrative system,
demography. A recent handbook gives there is considerable variation in the
detailed descriptions of library ways in with foreigners are received and
collections. (Paul L. IIorecky, editor, their research needs accommodated.
East Central and Southeast Europe, a
Handbook of Library and Archival
Resources in North America, Clio Press, In major archives such as those in
Santa Barbara, 1976.) Belgrade, Zagreb, and IJubrovnik, there
are fOIlllalized routines. In provincial
Among those libraries which have and smaller archives the situation is
significant Yugoslav collec tions are the much less certain. OVer the last few
University of California campuses at years Yugoslav federal and republic level
Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara; regulations governing the work of
Columbia; Harvard; Illinois at Urbana; foreigners have become much more
Indiana; the Library of Congress; and the restrictive as national security
New York Public Library. Of all of these considerations have increased in formal
collections those at OCLA and Harvard are importance. Access to ccmnunity level
probably the strongest in the subjects vital record sources seems to now be
covered here. lbe author undertook the restricted for foreigners.
establishment of a significant collection
at UCLA by very large scale purchases in Like all governmental regulations, these
YugoslaVia (described in the Horecky are not iDmutable and are subject to
volume cited above) in 1961-62. lbis varying interpretations. It might only
collectioo is perhaps strongest in local be s tressed that at the present time the
history and population-related studies up situation is uncertain. But reciprocal
to that period. scholarly and collegial contacts continue
to be important. As Yugoslav scholars
Fran 1%7 to 1971, most of the major and institutions continue to be
libraries have very good collections interested in doing research in the
because of purchases under the federal United States through exchange programs
Public Law--480 program. Since the and individuals visits, and as their
cessation of that program, library concern with increasing their
purchases have been increasingly understanding of Yugoslav-Americans and
restric ted • lbe current holdings of the their history persists, it is reasonable
Utah Genealogical Society are now mos t and logical to expec t tha t Americans
significant, and as noted throughout this visiting Yugoslavia will be extended
paper, the items cited here are part of reciprocal courtesies and facilIties.
530 /Hal peru 31

Note: The thirteen studies were conducted in the regions and at the dates noted in
the list below (also roted in the Hammel-SOC article).

A Drobnjakovic, Borivoje M.
1930 Kosmaj. SEZ 46, NPS 26: 1-96 •

B FUipoviC, MUenko S.
1935 Severna Veleska Sela. SEZ 51, NPS 28:488-573.
1950 Glasinac. SEZ 60, NPS 32:177-463.
1955 Rama u Bosni. SEZ 69, NPS 35:1-231.
1960 Takovo. SEZ 75, NPS 37:1-317.

C Sobajil!, Petar
1954 Ilabarsko Polje u Hercegovini. SEZ 67, NPS 34:1-56.

D RadjenoviC, Petar
1925 Bjelajsko Polje i Bravsko. SEZ 35, NPS 20:123-276.
1948 Unac. SEZ 56, NPS 30:443-638.

E Karanovil!, Milan
1925 Pounje u Bosanskoj Krajini. SEZ 35, NPS 20: 278-724.

F MijatoviC, Stanoje
1948 Beliea. SEZ 56, NPS 30:3-214.

G PavloviC, Radoslav Lj.

1948 Podibar i Gokcanica. SEZ 56, NPS 30:219-442.

H KostiC, Mihajlo M.
1954 Koritnica. SEZ 67, NPS 34:189-296.

I PetroviC, Petar Z.
1949 Sumadiska Kolubara. SEZ 59, NPS 31:3-275.

"References are given by the monograph number in the series Srpski Etnografski
Zbornik v(SEZ) and in the more specific subset of that series, Naselja i Poreklo
Stanovnis tva (NPS) • These series are published by the Serbian Acadeny of sciences
(Section II, Belgrade).
 YUGOSLAVIAN ORAL GENEALOGIES AND OFFICIAL RECORDS:
AN APPROACH TO THEIR OOMBINED USE

Joel M. Halpern and Barbara Kerewsky-Halpern

Joel M. Halpern. Born in New York. Resides in Amherst, Massachusetts. Professor of

anthropology, lniversity of Massachusetts. Ph.D. (anthropology), Columbia University.
Author, lecturer.

Barbara Kere'i1Sky-Halpern. Born in New York. Resides in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Adjunct assistant professor of anthropology University of Massachusetts. Ph.D.
(cultural &~thropo10gy), University of Massachusetts. Author, lecturer.

How do individuals structure recall of socio-cu1tural data collected. It is

their collective pasts? Is the trans- considered good practice to cross-check
mitted inf~rmation affected by the form ac+,ounts, where possible, with a number
of recall? How do the values of the of informants and to augment and
narrator condition the data being corroborate oral recollections with
presented? Does oral recall match published and archival sources if
archival and other written records? . To available.
what extent are the attempts of the field
investigator limited by the communicative Given the importance of such field
competence and reference frame of the methodology, adequate attention has not
informant? been paid to the ways in which informants
structure matters of importance to them
The following discussion seeks to inte- (or if interest to the investigator)-
grate these questions and to suggest ways national regional history, customary
in which the relationships between practices, genealogical information, and
tradi tiona1 oral recall and written other data. This concern is particularly
records may be viewed. Anthropological pertinent with regard to genealogical
fieldwork has tended to rely on key data which have figured so importantly in
informants for a significant portion of social anthropological research. It is

*This research was made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Humani-
ties, the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the American
Philosophical Society, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop-
ment. An earlier version of this article appeared as, "Traditional Recall and Family
Histories," in B.K. Halpern and J.H. Halpern eds., Selected Papers on a Serbian Vil-
lage: Social Structu:e as Reflected by History, Demography and Oral Tradition. Re-
search Report No. 17, Department of Anthropology, University of Nassachusetts, Pm-
herst, June 1977, pp. 165-198. The field research was carried out in 1975 and 1978
under the auspices of an exchange agreement between the Serbian Academy of Sciences,
Belgrade, the Council of Yugoslav Academies and the National Academy of Sciences,
Washington, D.C., and International Research and Exchange Board. (See also footnote
33.)
Halpern/526 2

vital as we1.1. to the growing field of developed interest in either historical

historical demography in which demogra- demography or the structure of tradi-
phers, social. historians, and anthropolo- tional oral expression, nor were we then
gists have begun to evidence much aware of the existence of an extensive
interest. body of archival. documentation bearing on
the village-:so, in a way, the ongoing
The matter is not one of merely checking study of Orasac village has also been one
the accuracy of an informant I s reca1.1. of personal discovery, reflecting as well
against a census, vital record, or other evolving research emphases within the
document, for this would bring into larger scholarly community.) Some years
question an underlying assumption that it after publication of the original
is the written record which is assumed to monograph, we came across the existence
be the mre "accurate," that is, ~re of a comP2ete household census for Ora~c
complete. Rather, by using both types of for l863. In attempting to match some
sources and a diversity of informants and apparent inconsistencies between orally
records, one can then utilize these in- transmitted lineages and census data, we
formation pools in a mutua1.1.y i1.1.umina- gradually became aware that complex
ting fashion. genealogical information was often being
preserved and transmitted according to a
Realistically, however, one does not too definite structure or mapping of the
often encounter the ifeal. situation of a complex data in the informant's head.
rich oral tradition coexisting with Frequently this mapping strikingly
extensive documentation. Northern pa::a1.1.eled tpe structure of traditional
Europe, especia1.1.y Scandinavia (and al.so epic poetry. By the time tape recording
to a considerable extent New England), of such data was begun in the Village in
has preserved abundant demographic ,md 1966, unfortunately, many of the most
genealogical records; in these areas articulate filembers of the tradition were
there has long been interest in such deceased or enfeebled.
topics in an applied way, particularly by
individuals wishing to trace their own There exists, of course, a very rich
ancestries. Yet this very notion of ethnographic tradition throughout
reconstruction by means of written Yugoslavia, including both for the study
records, and the compilation of written of folk poetry and folklore, beginning in
genealogies from such records, is a the nineteenth century, and a highly
manifestation of the absence of a living developed, separate research tradition of
oral tradition such as exists in parts of tracing population movements and settle-
the Balkans, Africa, and elsewhere. On ment patterns in order to reconstruc
the other hand, in areas of the world what are, in effect, lineage histories.
4
where anthropologists have done extensive These important works, however, are
studies of lineages and descent groups, considered by Yugoslav scholars as
as for example in parts of Africa, there distinctly separate fields of inquiry,
has l1;enera1.1.y been a lack of census and and we can find no instances where the
vi tal records, particularly for the two have been linked.
period before World War II and especially
prior to the twentieth century. Such linkage is our goal in this paper.
In order to carry it out, we propose to
The Balkans represent an intermediate examine the role of oral transmission in
position. There are some records from everyday vi1.1.age life: to offer con-
Byzantine, Ottoman) and nineteenth- trasting material from a contecrporary
century periods as we1.1. as a viable oral English vi1.1.age where oral tsradition
tradition. In the course of initial work exists in an attenuated form; and to
in Orasac village in the early 1950s, we present some analysis of hO', the oral
collected a series of genealogies as part "pulse" is perpetuated in the course of
of a general descriptive ethnography of transition to writing.
the region. (At that time we had not
Halpern/526 3

First, it is crucial to emphasize that common with the orally transmitted mater-
there is normally no occas!on, ceremonial ial) a different set of needs. Collec-
or otherwise, when an Orasac elder might tively they all provide data on the total
recall his lineage. It is part of him, population, including for example infant
something he has internalized. He might mortality , second marriages, and adop-
transmit the information as heritage to a tions into a lineage (e.g. when a 'WOman
son or grandson when he felt the social brings a child of an earlier marriage to
context to be appropriate. There are no the household of her second husband and
rules or rituals governing such trans- that child adopts the stepfather's sur-
mission. Also of importance is the fact name) • Interestingly, we are able to
that in Ora~ac and Serbia generally there reconstruct that precisely such a case
is no tradition of written personal occurred in Orasac about a century ago.
records such as are found elsewhere, in The adopted son appears as a counted male
family Bibles for example. member of the adoptive household in the
1863 census, but in 1954, when a member
The presence of ever-questioning re- of that lineage recollected the genealogy
searchers l!IOtivated many genealogically orally, the adopted male was specifically
relevant reponses (and since this is a excluded by the informant. •
culture where identity of self is all-
important, the inquiries worked both A.'1 important factor in evaluating oral
ways: the investigators in turn often versus written accounts is the stability
had to respond to villagers' persis tent of the population. When a person mi-
queries about their own origins and grates from the village, he tends to drop
ancestors). Records do exist, and there out of both systems, although some con-
are some prior to 1863, but it simply tact may be personally maintained with
would never occur to a village elder. to his extended household. Oral recollec-
walk down the road to the village clerk's tion may include some detail on the
office and attempt to reconstruct his individual himself, and he may retain
sub-lineage from the written documenta- land in the village and choose to be
tion. buried in the village cemetery. In such
ways, therefore, he does maintain a
Most of the men who recollected their continued existence in the collective
genealogies had had at least four years village consciousness. Conversely, facts
of schooling and thus possessed minimal like these may not be reflected in some
literacy. We found that each individual oral genealogical accounts where the
appears to carry with him an idiosyn- descent lines of those who have left the
cratic mapping of his particular lineage village, for whatever reason, are
(usually endowed with positive attri- truncated. (Ne znam, pravo da ti kazem.
butes), which he is then capable of On [je] pustio selo. Posle toga ne zoam
verbalizing L'1 a range of modes; with or :rta mu je bilo. I don't know [what;
without granxnatical case-endings; in the happened to him], to tell you the truth.
male line only or with the addition of He left the village. After that I don't
in-marrying brides and consanguineously know how it was with him.) Prior to
related females) according to his inter- World War II and especially before World
pretation of what the social situation War I, when the population was over-
calls for. Some of those immersed in the whelmingly rural, there was relatively
tradition can recollect the structure of little migration of males, although many
other people I s lineages as well, but females, of course, did marry out of the
here, not surprisingly, discrepancies village. Therefore, the fact that de-
with the tvritten records appear greater. tailed oral genealogies exist at all
appears to be correlated with a certain
The village church vital records (birth, population stability.
marriage, death) were kept by the local
priest until shortly after Horld War II. From an historical point of view, the
Official state census records reflect (in ability of an individual to recall a
Halpern/526 4

lineage of several ascending generations done it is not systematic,. as in the

and two or three descending generations genealogical recall structure, but is
was maximized for those born in the last based on particular incidents or
decade of the nineteenth and the first personality traits.
decade of the twentieth centuries.
Viewed from the perspective of these same In the course 0~7 discussing ..fth Deda
individuals in their mature years, as on Mileta Stojanivic outstanding events in
the eve of World War II, the village had his lifetime, he mentioned (in addition
already existed for a century and a half to wars and military service) specific
with a pattern of population stability occurrences such as the year in which his
(extensively migrations did not begin own grandfather died and the age at which
until the ;nid-1950s). The village popu- his father's brother' s eldest son died.
lation had ;>eaked, and the lineages were In such details of oral recall there is
at their =imal lateral extension. (The approximate correspondence, within a year
population in 1961 "as at approximately or two, to the written vital records.
the same levo1 as in 1910, ..fth decreases For more distant kin, as in the case of
in the intervening years, but there had statements concerning his paternal grand-
been considerable migretion by members of father's brother's great-grandchildren,
the major lineages during that half who were in a collateral nephew relation
century.) to him, there is lack of correspondence
between the informant's recollection and
Even differences noted by the researchers the written record. In two instances
investigating lineages in the early 1950s Grandfather Mileta omits mention of male
as compared to twenty years later are children who died (including one who
significant because of the considerable sur/ived to age five). It is apparent
changes caused by migration. Pertinent that these were not socially significant
to this paper are those types of charries facts to the infornant, or perhaps, put
reflected in the potential for recall and more precisely, those males born to
also factors affecting the socio-psycho- descendants of his grandfather would be
logical setting for discussing village- recollected even if they did not survive,
based kin groups wi th older villages who while those belonging to collateral lines
recollec ted "how it used to be." exhibit apparent irregular recall. On
the other hand, where males survive to
A contrasting perspective is provided by produce children of their own and
the baseline year 1863, the time of the continue residence in the village, all
first complete Serbian census. There had links are recalled in both ascending and
been censuses prior to that date, and descending generations. The particular
they counted males only but they are oral genealogy which we are discussing
partially preserved. From a detailed has a multigenerational depth with 105
study of the genealogy of the Stojanovi~ males recollected, 101 of whom are named.
lineage, it can be established that none Some 10 are omitted according to the
of the sons of the lineage founder were vital records; all of these died in
alive at the time of the 1863 census, but infancy or in childhood.
the record indicates that all of their
wives were. In one instance it Was In this culture women do not recount
apparently a second wife (the mother of genealogies. This appears to be due to a
the man who adopted the lineage name). strong prevalence of patrilocality and
At that date the eldest female recorded related emphasis on patrilineality in
for the lineage was sixty-seven. She this formally patriarchal society ..fth
lived until 1871, and one of her sisters- its tradition of the extended zadruga
in-law survived until 1888. While household, almost always with a male
neither ..fves nor daughters are normally household head in the nin'8teenth and
included in an orally recollected early twentieth centur.ie's. However,
genealog)Y, they are nevertheless often given th" long"r survival of women in the
recalled as individuals. \.Jhen this is second generation from the lineage
IIalpern/526 5

founder, as dearly documented in the evident in epic narrative and lyric

1863 census, one wonders what role they descriptions of the dose bonds between
might have played in perpetuating the brother and <fister as opposed to brother
oral history of the particular lineage and brother.
into which they married. We do not know
how long the second-generation wives The marital circulation of women resulted
survived their spouses, but we can in initial divided loyalties between
measure the years of their collective lineage of origin and the lineage into
survival from 1863, when the husbands of which they married. These were usually
all three were not recorded and were resolved with the passage of time in
therefore presumably deceased. (We can favor of orientation toward their sons'
assume with reasonable certainty that lineage versus the increasing temporal
their husbands were then dead, because distance from that of their fathers and
all three """"en are listed in the census brothers. It is necessary to connect
as mothers of a ~Jcceeding generation this mother/son dyad with the strongly
rather than as wives). Collectively affective relationship, often mentioned
these three women, the oldest of whom was by villagers, of son to uncle (ujak),
born in 1796, lived some forty-nine years !!lother's brother. Unlike the case with
beyond 1863. (The census of 1863, like father's brother (stric), potential
many older population lists, tends to conflict resulting from co-residence,
record ages in rounded numbers, while the shared economy, and a potentially shared
death records give precise age, thus inheritance was not present. This might
these women were listed as being ages be seen as a contradiction of the notion
sixty, fifty, and forty respectively, of mothers helping to reinforce their
while according to their death records it sons' genealogical knowledge, but on the
can be reconstructed that they Were other hand, receiving information from
actually sixty-seven, forty-five, and one's mother can have a strong rein-
thi rty-nine in 1863.) In any case, the forcing effect, for it is the women who
stated forty-nine years of their combined provide this positive affect without
survival beyond 1863 seems a reasonable which an agnatic-based system cannot
inference. The eldest appears to have operate. That is, a patriarchal struc-
been a child of eight at the time of the ture lends itself to concentration of
death of the lineage founder (Stojan is authority, with some built-in arbitrari-
said to have died fighting the Turks ness and tension. The ability to resort
during the First Serbian Revolt of 1804). to a mother or to mother's brother at
One can reasonably suppose that these times provides a needed outlet for
women, in the years following their lessening potential social friction. One
husband's deaths, played a role in orally villager recalls going to reside with his
preserving lineage history. Similar mother's parents at a period in his young
evidence is apparent among certain manhood when his paternal grandfather,
village women even today. head of his household, was imposing his
will in a manner seen as unreasonable.
It is speculative to attempt to derive In this context it can be understood why
precise social structural relationships the role of starojko, the most important
from study of the epic tradition (as ritual witness at a young man's marriage,
compared to oral tradition generally). is his ujak (his father's brother or
Nevertheless, recurrent and very brothers have no ceremonial role).
prominent in many epic motifs are the
strongly affective bonds betl,een mother In considering genealogy as an oral
and son, so suggestive of a vital, genre, we are dealing with a verbal form
positive relationship. Further, this was of self-legitimization, a framework for
a relationship lacking conflicts implicit orienting social relationships and a
bet"een father and son, with regard to nexus for structuring recall of a great
authority and inheritance, for example. range of information. Tape recorders
This lack of overt conflict is also were not commonly used field tools at the
Hal pern/526 6

10
time of the earlier field work. The of recollection, regardless of whether
investigators tried to compensate for oral or written, may reflect differences
this by encouraging selected older men to between a land-owning peasantry in Serbia
"write down" their autobiographies. Host and agricultural lt~orers on rented lands
were reasonably prudent, suggesting that in rural England.)
we provide the paper and pencils, and
were pleased to comply (often a grand- Such differences are obvious to a degree,
rather dictated tolla ten or twelve but contrasting the two kinds of accounts
year-old-grandchild). we can comprehend the frames of reference
for recall and the ways in which a
A striking feature of all the autobiogra- viable, intensely personal oral tradition
phies, in addition to the genealogical provides the implicit structure for
data they provide, is the great sense of Serbian elders so conscious of their
belonging, of membership in a particular past. In Akenfield genealogical and
lineage and of transmission of this family-household structural data tend to
heritage. Both parents are always stated be episodic. Akenfield recollections, as
by name, and paternal grandparents are in this passage from an account by a
invariably mentioned. The number of seventy-one-year-old farm laborer, are
siblings and the number of paternal immediate and event-oriented:
uncles are also recounted. Some orally
conditioned features of these written There were ten of us in the family
autobiographies will be analyzed in and as my father was a farm laborer
detail. First J however, it is of earning 13s. a week you can just
interest to compare them to analagous imagine how we Iived • I will tell
family histories available in a recen~ you the first thing which I can
study of the English village .of remember. It was when I was
Akenfield. In Akenfield fathers are three-about 1899. He were all
mentioned, but usually only in passing, sitting around the fire waiting for
grandfathers are noted occasionally, and my soldier brother to come home--he
uncles not at all. In the Serbian data, was the eldest boy in the family.
whether with reference to grandparents, He arrived about six in the evening
parents, or one's own children, the and had managed to ride all the way
number is always specified and usually from Ipswich in a milk-cart. This
the number of members of each sex is young man came in, and it was the
noted as well. Birth order of the first time I had seen him. He wore
individual is usually referred to in a red coat and 100ked very lively •
Orasac, and the dates of birth of the Mother got up and kissed him but
informant arn his father are prime data. Father just sat and said, "How are
That is, it would appear that· the format you?" Then we had tea, all of us
of the genealogy tends to underlie even staring at my brother. It was
written accounts such as these autobiog- dark, it was the winter-time. A
raphies. This contrasts with Akenfield, few days later he walked away and
,mere an individual may be aware of a my mother stood right out in the
relatively long, traceable descent, but middle of the road, watching. He
if referred to at all it is in abstract was going to fight in South Africa.
terms only. In the Serbian accounts He walked smartly down the lane
direct descent group is distinguished until his red coat was nO bigger
from collateral groups, and the value of than a poppy. Then the tree hid
continuity is strongly felt. (In addi- him. \ole never saw him again. He
tion, the linking of land division to went all through the war but caught
vital events provides further structur- enteric fever afte"i"fds and died.
ing. The quantitative family data from He was twenty-one ...
Orasac are particularly noteworthy in
comparison to material from Akenfield. The above passage is characteristic for
P~rt of these differences in the quality Akenfield. Information is divulged only
Halpern/526 7

in the context of an event in an Hy father, who was born in 1843,

individual's life and not, as in Serbia, told me about the situation after
as a narrative of collectivity and kin 1850 •.. And now something that I
continuity. In Akenfield, even where myself remember: I was born in
there exists a consciousness concerning 1881 in Orasac. My father was
ancestry, this is presented factually in Milenko and my mother Leposava. My
passing but nothing more. An example of father was born into an old and
this type of awareness is provided by the rich zadruga. His father,
beginning of the account by the Akenfield Milivoje, who had no brothers or
village blacksmith, age 46: sisters, left the zadruga with his
wife Ilinks, who gave birth to ten
I was born in Akenfield. It was in children: eight boys and two
the year 1923. I have spent all my girls. She died when she gave
life here. I have the family birth to her tenth child. So my
records back to the eighteenth grandfather married Jelena, a widow
century and my name is mentioned in from Bukovik. They had two more
Domesday 300k. "e were at Saxmund- sons and daughters so that the
ham then. Then there was a time we total number of his children was
got lost--right out Dennington way. fourteen: ten boys and four girls.
But we found our path eventually. Six sons and two daughters grew up
I have a lot of my grandfather I s and married while the rest died as
features, although I'm not so tall children. After my grandfather's
as he was. I have his hand s . death, my father, being the eldest,
Hands last a long time you know. A remained the head of the zadruga
village sees the sa~e hands century while two of his brothers became .••
after century. It is a marvellous tradesmen.
thing but it's true. My grand-
father was a most extraordinary man Ny father married twice. With his
and very headstrong. He'd got a first wife, Ljubica, he had two
way of his own and I tend to take sons, both whom died in the same
after him. My father started work year, aged nineteen and twenty, and
when he was ten 'lIZtd I started when two daughters who died as children.
I was fourteen .•• The second time he married Hado jks,
a widow who brought him three
Again, the account is clearly ego- children. With my father she bore
oriented, yet here there is definitely a four sons and a daughter, among
sense of links to the past. Also, in- whom I am the only one alive.
teres tingly, we note an ~ of the need
to tell things truthfully. I married and I had three children.
One son died in his sixth year, and
It ]Jas been stated that in almost every the other is an engineer. He is
Drasac account genealogical and extended married and has a son and a
family information is detailed; individ- daughter. My daughter is married
uals are named and their relationships and has two sons .••When I was born
are specified (and even if some of this my father had two sons by hisltirst
data were absent, the flow of narrative, wife and the zadruga divided.
consistently based not on self but on
relationships within the family, would None of this information was elicited or
not be affected). As an example, the requested. It was given because Grand-
following is excerpted from the auto- father Zivomir sensed these details as
biography set down in shaky hand by among the important parameters defining
Grandfather Zivomir, a seventy-three- his life. (This is not to suggest that
year-old elder of the Andric lineage in ~~enfield villagers consider vital family
Orasac: data unimportant, but rather that such
data are not employed in structuring
Halpern/526 8

recall of their life histories, especial- narrative, as in the Ora~ac examples).

ly ,vIlen tho"!'? histories are requested by
a stranger). The younger Orasac man continues wi th
statements made by his great-grandparents
Analyzing this fragment of an Orasac concerning their son, his grandfather.
autobiography, we see that the informant These comments are known to him only - by
begins with his father's recall before means of oral transmission. He relates
proceeding to his own recollections, how his great-grandparents used to chide
thereby enhancing and legitimizing his his grandfather:
own. By stating, "And now something that
I myself re::e::Jber," he relates segments ••• 'OJ, black ~ivota, Why don't you
of history of his family which he cannot discuss your affairs with someone?
possibly rave witnessed personally but If you don't want to with your
received orally from his parents or father and mother, then do it "ith
grandparent3. It is also of significance your sons. If you don't want to
that in this prose account both males and with them, go discuss your affairs
females are :L...,cluded on an approximately with the mouse itl the "all. Nay
equal basis, in contrast to the framework God kill you. Stop wandering.
of the orally reconstructed lineages in Don't you see that the house is
Orasac. going bankrupt because of you? The
children l'lfe wrking and you are
Not all the autobiographies we collected wasting. '
-are of this precise nature. Some of the
basic dynamics, however, are present ~at:,reference to our original case study
universally and persist through tine. of the Stojanovic genealogy, Grandfather
The above account was prepared by a mall Mileta,. when recounting his lineage
born in 1881; some of the same patterns orally, was directly in touch "ith atl
appear in excerpts from the account by a eight-generational structure. In re-
thirty-eight-year-old man: counting his own background he began by
linking his lineage with that of two
I was born in 1916, in my paternal other Orasac lineages, describing how his
grandfather's house. My grand- ancestor Stojan, founder of the Stojano-
father Zivota had a wife and five vici, came from Montenegro to Sumadija
sons: my father Radosav, and my and settled in Orasac with his two
four uncles, Cedomir, Branislav, brothers, each of whom founded a separate
Miodrag and Slobodan, and two lineage in the newly settled village.
daughters, Desanka and Darinka. Ny
Uncle Miodrag and Aunt Darinka died Direct continuity of oral transmission of
before my mother married my father. the Stojanovic lineage might come to an
When my mother married my father end since Grandfather Mileta' s only
there were eight in my grand- grandson Who grew up in the village (he
father's house, including my great- had two others, by another son who had
grand fatheIs Marinko, and his wife, long since left the village) has since
Zagorka ... become a skilled mechanic residing in
Belgrade. Recently, however, that
Here again the genea~ogical setting is grandson joined with his father in
specified in detail in order to introduce erecting a tombstone on the gravesite of
the individual's own account (in all the his great-grandfather. The inscription
Akenfield biographical data references bears the information that this is a
are specifically to the informant's memorial gesture of respect and honor on
experiences and to what they themselves the part of the three descending genera-
remember; there is mention of parents and tions for the father: the recently
occasionally grandparents, but such deceased son Mileta, the grandson in the
mention in fleeting and does not form the village, iffrlthe great-grandson no" in
basis for introducing or structuring the Belgrade.
Halpern/S26 9

We stressed earlier that these lineage must acknowledge certain aspects of the
connections are used as referents for texts ,·lhich call for modiWation of the
chronicling events in one's own life. usual analytical methods. First, and
Grandfather Mileta once stated, "Some most obviously, uolike the orally trans-
four years after Nikola [his own mitted genealogies, these are written
grandfather] died, when I was 15, our texts, some of them composed and set down
zadruga divided." These facts coincide ~y literate informants like Grandfath~4
precisely with the vital records of the Zivomir. As has been shown elsewhere,
informant's birth and with the date of literacy to some extent undermines
his grandfather's death. A single retention of traditional form, and the
statement like this combines the essence usual oral structures soon give way to
of the significance of lineages within literate neologisms. In cases in which a
the system with the identification of school-age child wrote down what an elder
self and ".<ith ~lje linking of self to a dictated, we still have to deal with the
named ancestor in an ascending pattern, inevitable editing, conscious 0'isuncon-
setting the scene for "nat is often the Beiaus, involved in that process.
most crucial economic and emotional event
in the cyclical sequencing of household This observation brings us to a second
formation--the division of the coopera- point. Because writing adheres to a
tive household unit a.'ld of its associa- visible, recorded standard of represen-
ted, jointly held property. The remark, tation, it irlvolves a tacit but endemic
oriented in time by "when I was IS" is suppression of oral poetic features such
then placed in its most important kin as elision and hyperlengthening . Hhereas
context, "four years after Nikola died." the oral poetic line regulates the number
Only then do we come to the social dynaor of syllables in a given phrase by de-
ieB involved in the division: "because leting or, occasionally, doubling a rela-
my youngest uncle no 2 r-0nger got along tively insignificant syllable, the
with his brothers." Just as the written need for visual rather than aural
autobiographical accounts of changing accuracy will result in the "correction"
economic and societal conditions could of these "errors." When one adds the
have been recounted without detailed kin fact that the autobiographies are written
information, so an account of the in prose format, it becomes obvious that
division of the zadruga could have been most poetic features tend to be sup-
presented without a ritualized intro- pressed. Therefore, with few clues
duction. Such an introduction, however, available on the surface, the i/fatistical
exactly parallels the epic narrative methods of formula analysis are not
prologue, or pripev. It is just such applicable. Instead it is necessary to
structural features that reveal to us the conduct a stylistic investigation, con-
most powerful values in Serbian village centrating on the structure and signifi-
society, namely ~!1ectivity, continuity, cance of those textual elements that are
and preservation. demonstrably of traditional oral proven-
ance. By placing these elements against
From the epic features of orally recol- the background of their prose matrix, it
lected genealogy and family history, we becomes possible to assess their real
turn now to detailed examination of the meaning and to judge their congruity in
texts of the autobiographies, in an form and content with the nonpoetic
attempt to demonstrate oral characteris- material which surrounds them.
tics, even when recollection is set down
on paper rather than transmitted in the Generally, notwithstanding the nature of
traditional oral mode. The written the textual medium as described above, we
sources, with examples translated from can locate a surprising number of oral
the original village dialect, provide poetic features. The most obvious of
this opportunity. Yet in analyzing these are phrases which approximate a
possible traditional poetic features in whole line structure, a decasyllable
the autobiographies, from the outset we (epski deseterac), the meter of the epic
Halpern/526 10

27 internal syntactic balance in the colon

tradition of this society. In addition
to a constant ten-syllable quantity, a structure; each subdivision consists of
characteristic line has a cae sure (syn- the pattern
tactic break) between syllables 4 and 5,
and therefore a two-part substructure of PRONOUN (direct object) - su - VERB
syllables 1-4 and 5-10. This pattern (3rd plural past)
shows up in the opening phrase of Grand- syllables 1-4 sto su nasli
father ~ivomir's autobiography: syllables 5-10 to su zaplenili

Po predanju ostalom od starijih, The colon-ends rhyme (-li) and the phrase
According ~ the tradition preserved by as a whole is self-contained, with colon
the elders.- 1 an imbedded sentence in colon 2.

The meaning of this ut terance is also The other example proVides another
traditional: it places value on the instance of colonic composition, since
generic knowledge derived from the pas t the infinitive kUciti ("to build a house"
and transn:itted to the present. That it or "to set up a household") is dependent
should occur at the opening of an auto- on poceli su ("they began"). In addi-
biographical account is entirely logical, tion, the--adverbial phrase iz nova
since most oral gez§es begin with a rit- ("aClew"), while strictly speaking a
ualized prelude. Another line of modifier of kuciti, also corresponds
similar structure and meaning) used to poetically to poceli su. Both expres-
indicate the passage of information sions describe a beginning, and they
"s kolena na koleno" ('from one genera- balance o~e another at either end of the
tion to the next') occurs a few sentences phrase. Their relationship exists
later: outside the demands of syntax, meter,
syllable count, and stress: it is a
Po pri~anju koje se prenosilo, purely poetic relationship and activates
According 3d'0 the accounts which were in both cooposer and after-the-fact
passed on. audience a whole series of traditional
connotations. Far from representing data
Again a syntactically complete. ten- in straightforward prose style, this line
syllable line with the caesure at the carries with it crucial cultural assump-
corrent location constitutes the medium tions grounded in tradition and brought
of data transferral. Apart from the into play by the highly traditional form
literal meaning of the phrase, such oral of the phrase. It is important to keep
poetic structure implies a traditional in mind this gnomic character of both
phenomenology. an outlook which derives form and content as we examine further
value by placing the ephemeral present in stylistic evidence of the influence of
the context of the past. oral poetics.

Sto su na;li, to su zaplenili. Our brief selective survey of traditional

Hhatever they found, they captured it. oral features in this written prose
Poceli su ku~ti iz nova. source would not be complete without
They began to set up households anew. consideration of other types of formulae.
Sujevera je bilo veliko. Such repeating units of speech vary
There was a great deal of superstition. syllabically from one occurrence to the
next) but the association of their con-
These two lines occur in perfect metrical sti tuent elements and their special,
form, and each seems to carry with it the limited function help to preserve them in
gnomic connotation so common in the Ser- more or less the same form. The most
bian epic. The first example describes straightforward way to illustrate the
the seizure of Serbian land and buildings dynamics of this poetic device is to
by the Turks: "Hhatever they found, they quote a fragoent of the autobiography in
captured it." This phrase also shows which the phrase
Halpern/526 11

od kojih je docnije postala jos familija autobiography (and others elicited during
(Varient 1) the same field session) exhibit a good
from whom came afterwards the families deal of poetic structure, with many
[lineages] ••• whole-line, colonic, and noncolonic
patterns of diction throughout the
and its other variants are particularly narrative. This is not to say that the
prominent. Note that the pass"ff in autobiography is poetry, but rather that
question is genealogical in nature: it clearly owes much of its underlying
structure and content to the traditional
••• Andric1, cd kojih, je docnije postala oral ethos. Many of the phrases are
jo~ familija Pavlovici, Aniei, Iliei, gnomic in nature; that is, they apply not
LuldCi, Xedic1, Staniei, Matijasevici, simply to the particularized needs of the
Janiei, I.a.z:arevici, ad ko jih su docnije moment, but evoke the generic Weltan-
postale familije Simi~i, Vasiljevici, schauung of tradition. In that sense,
Vasilici, Stevanovici, Petrovici, what the informant is composing is larger
Peri;ici, Mari~evici, ad kojih su sada than the story of a single person, for it
familija •.. derives from the cumulative knowledge of
many generations. The modern Western
As can be readily seen, this noncolonic notion of time-and-space-bound "accuracy"
formula can be as extensive as the form is at best oblique to this sort of per-
quoted above (Variant 1) or very brief ception. As Grandfather Zivomir himself
(the form od kojih je familija appears a says of his inher~ttd story, as a testa-
few lines below the passage above). With ment to its truth,
respect to its function, this formula not
only serves the informant's (and the To sam CUD cd moga Dca i ad
tradition's) purpose in detailing geneal- starijih ljudi, koji su to opet
ogical strata, but it also gives the culi od njihovih starijih, a sad cu
entire progession a firm sense of tradi- ja da dodam jos nesto. I heard it
tion: the settling and building up of from ~ father and from the elders,
Orasac is the story of people and events who in tum heard it from their
with a historical continuity. elde'33' and now I will add my
part.
We conclude, therefore, that this prose

NOTES
1
The systematic study of oral tradition, and specifically how traditional oral
poetry was composed and perpetuated, began with Milman Parry and Albert Lord; see es-
pecially The Making of Homeric Verse: The Collected Papers of Milman Parry, ed. by
Adam Parry (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), hereafter cited as MHV; and Lord's The
Singer of Tales (1960; rpt. New York: Atheneum, 1968), hereafter cited as Singer. ---

2 For help with this significant acquisition the assistance of Stojan

Djurdjevic of the Serbian State Archives is appreciatively acknowledged.

3In her article "Genealogy as Identity of Self: A Case Study From Rural
Serbia" also published in the lIorld Conference on Records papers, B. K. Halpem deals
with the background to this discovery and discusses, with examples, the structure of
genealogical recall as conditioned by linguistic and cultural factors.
4
Most notable among the former are the collected works of the versatile eth-
Halpern/526 12

nographer-linguist-historian Vuk Stefan Karadzic (1787-1864), whose fourteen volumes

of Srpske naradne pesme (Serbian Folk Songs), the first of which was published in
1841, continue to appear in new editions. Among the latter, specialized work by the
prominent geographer Jovan Cvijic (1865-1925), author of La peninsule balkanique and
other geographies of South Slav areas, include an extensive human geography series
Naselja i Poreklo Stanovni~tva (Settlement and Origin of Populations); the series
continues up to the present, published by the Serbian Academy of Sciences. Also of
note for this period is a detailed ethnographic series on selected regions (~ivot i
obicaji narodni u •.• [Peasant Life and Customs in ••• ], originally under the editorship
of the ethnologist Tihomir Djordjevic.)

5 L,e data from Ora~ac are from Joel M. Halpern, A Serbian Village, (New York:
Harper and Row, 1967); the Stojanovic genealogy appears on pp. 152-53. Fragments of
several ~itten autobiographies were published in the same book on pp. 30, 214, 220-22
(and, in an earlier Colu:nbia University Press edition, [1958] on pp. 301-302),
hereafter referenced as Village. Material from the English village is from Ronald
Blythe, &~er~ield: Portrait of an English Village (New York: Dell Publishers, 1969),
hereafter referred to as Akenfield.
6
The expression "Pravo da ti kaZeI'" (or, since Serbo-Croation has free word
order, "da ti kazem pravo"), "to tell you the truth" is much mOre than an idio;n---it is
a kernel of traditional diction, heard over and over again in this society and in
other traditional cultures. Compare, for example, the following fragment of a
conversation Parry's assistant Nikola Vuj~ovic rad w~th the guslar Avdo Medjedovic in
Hontenegro in 1935, almost twenty years before the quoted remark was transcribed in
Orasae: A: "..• Ho' If cia ti slazem, ali {iIi) da ti kazem pravo? N: "Pravo, pravo!
A: "E!" N: "Pa tako treba." (A: " •.. Do you want me to lie to you, or tell you the
truth?" N: The truth, just tell me the truth!" A: "Aye!" N: "Yes, we've got to
get to the truth!" Conversation trans. by David E. Bynum, in Serbo-Croation Heroic
Songs, Vols. III and IV, The Hedding of Smailagic Heho (as performed by Avdo
Hedjedovic); Trans., with introduction, notes, and commentary by Albert B. Lord
(Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1974). Serbian text from Vol. IV, p. 49,
English translation from Vol. III, p. 74.

The adjectival and adverbial form for 'true, real (pravo)' is synonymous with
'straight'; the contemporary vernacular, identical to the older, traditional
expression, can therefore be glossed "Let me give it to you straight" or "Let me tell
it like it is." The prevalence of this value attests to its continuity and importance
among speakers in a traditional oral society.
7
This kinship chart is reproduced in B. K. Halpern' s paper "Genealogy as
Genre." Deda is grandfather, used in a general sense here.

8Joel ~l. Halpern and David Anderson, "The zadruga: A Century of Change,"
Anthropologica, 1970, N.S. 12: 83-97.
9
The rother/son and brother/sister dyads are features of traditional social
structure which continue despite many aspects of social change. One need only analyze
the kin relationships as manifest in the epics, in the Kraljevic ~larko cycle, to name
one example, to realize that the same values of pride, protection, and honor are still
very much part of the contemporary rural ethos.

l° The village was not then electrified, portable battery-operated recorders

were unreliable and on the one occasion when we arranged for relatively sophisticated
recording equipment borrowed from Belgrade, some villagers and commune officials alike
Halpern/526 13

appeared intimidated. By the late 1960s battery-operated recorders had become part of
our standard equipment (homes were by then electrified, but the villagers viewed
plugging into their power as a situation frought with unknown technical difficulties
and, more importantly, as a financial imposition, so battery-operated units were used
exclusively.

llThis project turned out to be a bonus, for it provided the type of transi-
tional (oral to written) data analyzed as the third part of this paper.

l2Land tenure systems have influenced the formation of household structures

generally. We know from the work of social historians such as Peter Laslett (The
World I,e Have Lost, England before the Industrial Age, New York: Scribner's, 19m
that the nuclear family was prevalent in England even prior to the Industrial Revolu-
tion. In Serbia. the destruction of the Serbian medieval kingdom at the time of the
Turkish irtvasion in the fourteenth century was a key factor in preserving the patri-
archal extended zadruga household and, importantly, in preserving a sense of origins
and tradition.
13
Akenfield, p. 33.

l4Akenfield, p. 221.
15
See note 6.

l6village, p. 200.

l7(ln the Akenfield study the fllvestigator was a writer.)

l8Village. p. 214. It is not our purpose to attempt a psychoanalytical

approach to these autobiographies. It does seem pertinent, however. to note how
individual personality orientations also structure recall. As the reader will ob-
serve, this particular villager mentions his mother before his father in two succeed-
ing sentences, a rare situation in patriarchal Serbia. In subsequent commentary on
his family history, he mentions an abusive and arbitrary paternal grandfather. We can
note that within a formal patrilineal and patriarchal framework there may be strong
affect and a degree of alienation from agnatic kin.

20In 1975, a few years after Grandfather Mileta's death, this now urban grand-
son, temporarily in Orasac to help his father with the haying, sat in the twilight on
a three-legged stool his grandfather had made years ago, tilted it against the house
foundation, looked across the yeard to where the 'old house' had once stood, and began
to recite the Stojanovic genealogy.

2lFor a discussion of household cycles see Joel M. Halpern and Barbara

Kerewsky-Halpern, A Serbian Village in Historical Perspective (New York: Holt,
Rinehart & Winston, 1972), pp. 3940 and paper No.2 in the present collection.
22 The c h aracterlstlc
. . epIC
. openIng
. sets t he scene temporarily and spatially for
the narrative about to unfold. See also note 29.
23 The 1aSSlC
c
. procedures, developed by Parry and Lord for poetic texts (see
note 1) , involve a statistical analysis for repeated phrases and scenes. These
teehniques have been highly developed (see, for example, Berkley Peabody, The Winged
Halpern/526 14

\~ord [Albany: State University of New York Press, 1975 J), but are unsuited to the
study of prose texts.
24
See "Writing and Oral Tradition," in Singer, pp. 124-38.

25The edition of oral material, whether formal or informal, is one of the most
neglected aspects of the analytical process. In situations where the material in
question cannot be preserved as sound (Le. on tape or the equivalent), many editorial
assumptions-from those involved in handwritten transcription to their counterparts in
a standard scholarly text-must be made. What is known of the Homeric editing process
is well described in J .A. Davison, "The Transmission of the Text," in a Companion to
Homer, ed. by A.J.B. Wace and F. H. Stubbings (London: Macmillan, 1962, rpt. 1969),
pp:-2l5-33. The correspondence problem in Old English literature is discussed by
Kenneth S1s=, "On the Authority of Old English Poetical Manuscripts," in his Studies
in the History of Old English Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953, rpt. 1967),
pp. 29=44.
26
Parry defined the formula as "a group of words which is regularly employed
under the same metrical conditions to express a given essential idea ("Studies I," p.
272) .
27
For a detailed account of Serbo-Croatian epic meter, see Roman Jakobson,
"Studies in Comparative Slavic Metrics," Oxford Slavonic Papers, 3(1952), 21-66.
Since most informants were male and since 2uto-oiography is, generally spealdng, a
narrative genre, it is not surprising that the meter of the epic, sung by male guslari
and itself a narrative genre, should ~ the influential meter for the autobiography.

28Lines with an extra syllable may occur even in oral performances paced by the
accompanying instrument, the gusle, but are especially prevalent in the unaccompanied
dictation of songs.
29
The epic conterpart is the pripev 'proem' which acknowledges the collective
and ritualistic function of the oral performance; see John Miles Foley, "The Tradi-
tional Oral Audience," Balkan Studies, 17 (1976), and Eugene E. Pantzer, "Yugoslav
Epic Preambles," Slavic and East European Journal, 17 (1959): 372-81. See also note
22.
30
Translating pricanju as "account" is an accommodation. This gerund derives
from pricati, "to say, tell, converse," a verb that carries with it the notion of a
speaker audience situation in which information is exchanged by narration.

31Again, see Halpern, "Genealogy as Genre."

32
See note 6.

33For presentation of this analysis in context, in both the original and in

translation, the approximate first third of Grandfather Z1vomir's autobiography
appears in "Traditional recall and Family Histories; a Commentary on Mode and Nethod"
by B. K. Halpern, J. M. Halpern and John Foley, in Selected Papers on a Serbian
Village: Social Structure as Reflected in History, Demography and Oral Tradition
(1971).

The translation with traditionally patterned speech underlined, is given below:

According to the accounts passed on from generation to generation the village

Hal pern/526 15

got its name, and the settlement is of refugees from Montenegro mostly, with a
small number from other places, who arrived bringing their customs from their
native region. This migration resulted from great need and from Turkish
oppression, hounding and tyrrany, in order to hold onto life itself. Because
the first settlers to this pleasant and wooded place far from the main roads
found such refuge and personal and material security, they built houses and
necessary outbuildings of wood. They took as much land as was needed, and for
the livestock they used the vast woods which didn't belong to anyone. They
began to make a livelihood, and a few of their near and distant relatives
settled there, so that before the First Serbian Revolt there was already a
village with as many houses as there are now families [lineages], and these
are: the Andric1, from whom later are descended the families Pavlovic'1, Aniei,
llid, Luci~i, Nedi2'i, StanUl, Matijaseviei, Janiei, Lazarevici, from whom
later are descended the families Simiei, Vasiljevici, Vasiliei, Stevanovic''!,
Petrovid, Peri?H6i, and Mari~evici, from whom come the present-day families
the ?",iniei, Jovanovici, Todorovici, and Obradovici, and Anicici, Veselinovic,
eirani'; [one household each], the Joksimovici, from whom come the families
Dimitrijevici, Jakiei, Pejovic1, Vasovic1, Stojanovici, Jakovljevici, Pejovici,
Savie'!, from whom are descended the families Gajici, LukiC"i, Milanovici,
Radovanovic1, Petrovici, Juskovici, Starcevici.

After the First Revolt the Milojevici and Miloradovici settled from the Sandzak
region, from Pemoravlje the Rajcici, aI,d from Bulgaria [Southeastern Serbia]
the Radojevici.

At the time of the upnslng in 1804 Grasa;:: numbered about 20 houses in which
there were 3-5, 6, 7, and 8 able-bodied men [in each household] with their
wives and male and female children. Men were brave, hearty and courageous.
They were organized by the eldest male whom all the others obeyed without
question.

When the Janissaries took over complete control of the Pasaluk of Belgrade they
put their own men, called "suba~as," in the villages. And in Orasa;:: the subasa
was some Turk named Ibrahim whose han [residence/guest-house] the village built
up the hill from the present church. He had the required number of armed men
and they were the unquestioned authority in the village. Also, for any other
Turk who came to the village and who wanted a house, all that the people
complied with and gave whatever they [the Turks] wanted. They carried out
various oppressive acts and violence: for example, they forced the head of a
household to lead his horse, another to carry his sandals, women to prepare
food for him, and every other act of force. Whoever dared refuse was killed
without mercy or trial. If he [a Serb] attempted to raise his hand in defense
then they set fire to his house, outbuildings and all the rest, they
confiscated his holdings, and took away his wife, daughters and children, about
whom nothing was ever heard.

After the failure of the First Revolt, in 1813 all the people fled to Austria
[that is, across the Danube]. The Turks burned the whole village and all the
buildings, livestock and all that remained. Whatever they found, they seized
and carried off, so that later, when they [the villagers] returned they began
to establish homesteads anew. The men themselves bUilt the houses,
outbuildings and vats, barrels and all other necessities. The women spun,
dyed, and wove and knit garments for the entire household. They were as simple
in clothing and footwear as in diet. All the houses and buildings were of
wood, ,Jhich was available in abundance. They warmed themselves around a fire
Halpern/526
I 16

which burned in a section of the house called "kuca" [then 'hearth,' now the
contemporary word for house]. Food was bread, mostly of corn, more rarely of
wheat, which was black, because there was no device for refining wheat. All
worked, women and men alike. They had plenty of livestock since there was room
to herd and feed them. There was no school, there were no literate people.
Religion had the greatest meaning, and religious rules were strictly respected.
It was considered a sin, and one that was unforgivable, to eat meat products on
fast days of which there were many, for example, Wednesday and Friday of every
week, the 42 days of the Christmas fast, 42 days before Easter, 15 days before
Assumption, 15-45 days before St. Peter's Day, and then 7 days before St. Sava.
On fast days food was corn bread, boiled beans, (peas), potatoes, onions,
vinegar, pickled cabbage and peppers. On nonfasting days there was hard
cheese, soft cheese, eggs, bacon and, on important feast days, meat. Whoever
was poor didn't even have these. Goods were cheap, but cash was always in
short supply. Yet no one stole, 00 one swore by anything considered holy, as
when an oath is invoked by someone as proof of his truthfullness. No one
wished to sin, even if he lost or damaged something. There was a great deal of
superstition (let's say this was both good and bad that's the way it was,
without further talk).

All this which 1 have recounted I heard from flY father and from the elders, who
in turn heard it from their elders and now I add my part: the kum [godfather]
who christened the children &~d witnessed the marriage ceremony was not
supposed to beco~e angry or to be rude under any circumstances; this godfather
relationship passed from father to son. The godfather gave the children names
according to his mm choice and consideration. A young man and a girl did not
question the agreements for contracting a marriage; the heads of the households
arranged this between themselves. Without question, one was obligated at least
once a year to be absolved in the church, after having confession heard by the
priest.

All this which I have written took place and after the First Serbian Revolt and
after the Second Serbian Revolt from 1815 to 1850. It was related to me by my
father, who was born in 1843 •••
I
IH RC Ethnic Collections Series. No.8

THE SOUTH SLAVIC '

AMERICAN COLLECTION
2nd Edition

IMMIGRATION HISTORY RESEARCH CENTER

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

April. 1979
 IMMIGRATION HISTORY RESEARCH CENTER

SOUTH SLAVIC AMERICAN COLLECTIONS

Since 1964 the Immigration History Research Center (formerly the

Center for Immigration Studies/Immigrant Archives) of the University of

Minnesota has been building a collection of source materials for the

study of immigrant groups which came to the United States and canada

from Eastern and Southern Europe.

At present the Immigratiol'l History Research Center's collections

consist of 35, 000 volumes of published materials Eincluding 1,800

periodical titles), 4,300 reels of microfilm, and more than 2,400

linear feet (3.5 million items) of manuscripts. The manuscript

holdings include the records of typical ethnic institutions, such as

fraternal societies, churches, and publishing companies. other

m~terial derived from the ethnic groups themselves is also represented,

including collections of personal papers from ethnic leaders, clergy-

men, journalists, labor leaders, writers, poets, and politicians.

Material on the South Slavic peoples in America forms an important

and integral part of the Immigration History Research Center. The

following is a brief description of the contents of the South Slavic

The generous support afforded to the Il1Illigration History Research
Center by the following institutions is gratefully acknowledged: collections.

- National Endowment for the Humanities Serial Newspapers Manuscript

Monographs Titles Current Total Titles Collections
- The Rockefeller foundation
South Slav (general) 36 12 0 0 0
- Northwest Area Foundation
Croatian 142 50 5 22 12
- Ethnic organizations and individuals.
Macedonian 17 2 0
Thanks are in order to our many donors for their gifts of materials
to the Center's research colle~tions. Serbian 7J 26 7 10 3
.~lovenian 359 121 6 32 29
Total 627 211 19 64 44
 -2_
-3-
The 627 volume monograph collection covers the wide range of
1927-1949 (scattered issues)j Official News Digest of the Serbian
social, political and religious life of South Slavic conmunities in the
Orthodox Church in the U.S. and Canada, 1965-presentj ~ ~
United States and Canada. It includes such historical works as Joseph
~ Mohorja, 1896-1968; Ave Maria, 1910-presentj Ave Maria Koledar,
Zavertnik's Ameri~ki slovenei, Chicago, 1925; J. M. Trunk's Amerika in
19B-present; Novi Svet, 1938-1965; Hrvatska Revija, 1955-presentj
amerikanci, Celovec, 1912; G. E. Gobetz' Slovenian Americans in Greater
Hrvatski Glas Kalendar, 19i1O-1975 (scattered issues) j Amerikanski
Cleveland. Cleveland. 1972; F'. s . .sustersic's Foduk rojakom Slovencem,
Srbobran Kalendar, 1922, 1923, 1926, 19i11, 1943; Srpski Narodni
ki §.£ hoeejo naseliti ::!.. Ameriki, ,Joliet, Illinois, 1903; Anton
Kalendar Amerika, 1959-19611; CaslNovi Cas, 1915-1928; cankarjev
Iogolic's Pri nasih ::!.. Ameriki, Ljubljana, 1964; Josip Kraja's Narodna
Glasnik, 1937-19112; Mladinski Liet/Voice Ei Youth, 1936-present (nearly
borba prvih hrvatskih useljenika ~ U.S.A., Buenos Aires, 1963; Luka
complete); and Zar ja (Slovenian Women's Union), 1929-present (nearly
Pejovic's 3rb! na Srednjem Zapadu [Michigan), Pittsburgh, 1936; and his
complete) •
3rbi.!! ~ Luisu, Pittsburgh, 1934; Vjekoslav Meier's Hrvati ~ Americi,
In addition to the collections specifically relating to South
Chicago, 1927; George Prpic's Croatian Immigrants in America, New York,
Slavic Americans, much u'<;eful material is to be found in the papers of
1971; and Veceslav Holjevac's Hrvati izvan domovine, Zagreb, 1968.
such "multi-ethnic" collections as the American ~ for
In addition, there are many works dealing with religious figures,
Nationalities Service, the Assembly of Captive E:uropean ~, the
such as Bishop Baraga, Rev. Joseph Buh, Rev. Joseph Kundek and Rev.
Arrierican Council for the Emigres in the Professions, and the
Ferdinand Konscak; works by labor-oriented writers, e.g., Etbin Kristan
International Institutes of Boston, Minnesota, and St. Louis.
and Ivan Malek; and literary works by S. Danevski, Louis Adamic, Stoyan

Christowe and Ivan Zorman. Fraternal societies are represented by

histories and by scores of published constitutions, by-laws, reports,

minutes, etc. for such groups as the Croatian Fraternal Union, the serb

National Federation, the 3lovene National Benefit Society, the Grand

Carniol1an Sloven ian Catholic Union, and others.

Among the 211 periodical titles, a few of the ~arger and more

complete runs are: Crveni Kalendar, 1920-19211; Ameriski DruZlnski

Koledar, 1915-1950; Hrvatski Katolicki Glasnik, 1945-present; Hrvatski

Katolicki Glasnik Kalendar, 19114-1950, 1965, 1970; Nasa Nada Kalendar,

 -5-
MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
Lupis-Vukic, Iva ~., 1876-7
[Collections preceded by an * have undergone final processing and
detailed inventories are available for use at the center] Papers, ca. 1912-1957, 17 reels microfilm
The correspondence and writings of a Croatian who occasionally
lived and traveled in U.S. Croatian communities between 1891 and
1930. Author of Medu Nasim Narodom .!:! Americi.
CROATIAN
*Preveden, Francis Ralph, 1890-1959
Papers, 1924-1959. 10.5 linear feet, 1 scrapbook
Author of History of the Croatian People, professor of linguistics
Balokovic, Zlatko at various American universities, and translator for the Defense
Papers, ca. 1942-1955, 2.5 linear feet Department during World War II and after. The bulk of this
Personal and organizational papers of a leader of various collection concerns the publication of the History.
Yugoslav and Croatian groups interested in the establishment and
development of a federated Yugoslav republic during and after St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Rankin, Pennsylvania
World War II. The organizations included are the United Committee Papers, 1896-1939, 1.3 linear feet
of South Slavic Americans, the American Slav Congress and United Records of one of the oldest and largest Croatian parishes in the
Yugoslav Relief. United States.

Croatian ~raternal Union of America, Lodge 530, Melcher, Iowa Savez Kanadskih Hrvata
Papers, 1896-1971, 1 ledger Papers, ca. 1941-1958, ca. 1 linear foot
This collection contains manuscript plays and music scores.
Devich, Andrew, 1896
Autobiography, 1976, ca. 0.5 linear inch Splivalo, Joseph
A sketch of the process of migration and settlement of an Papers, ca. 1961-1976, ca. 0.5 linear inch
illllligrant from Croatia to BUhl, Minnesota. The collection includes Splivalo's translations of Jugoslav
poetry; articles about his familYi and articles about Dalmatian
Dramatski Zbor "Nada," Chicago, Illinois seamen.
Papers, ca. 1923-1938, ca. 26 linear feet
A large collection of manuscript and typewritten plays created and Tomasic, Dinko A.
used by the Croatian American dramatic society "Nada", between Papers, n.d., ca. 6 linear inches
1923 and 1938. The dramatic group was a part of the larger These papers are composed of a typed manuscript of his book,
immigrant organization, the Jugoslav Education Federation, which "Americans from Croatia."
published the newspapers, Novi Svijet and Znanje.

Kerhin, Zlatko 1., 1881-1968

Papers, ca. 1900-1971, ca. 10 linear feet
Organizer of various Croatian singing societies in Chicago;
Pittsburgh; Pueblo, Colorado; and Gary, Indiana. In 1949, he was
elected president of the Croatian American Singers which coor-
dinated the activities of all the singing societies then in Palandech, John R.
existence. The collection contains personal and professional Papers, 1919-1963, ca. 1 linear inch
papers, correspondence, music, photographs and playbills. Correspondence and pamphlets of a prominent Serbian American
publisher.
Kraja, Josip, 1891
Papers, ca. 1915-1965, ca. 5 linear feet Serbian Orthodox Church [in America], tJew York, New York
Born in Dubrovnik, Kraja immigrated to the U.S. in 1907. He served r.alendar of the Episcopal Correspondence, 1898-1925
as president of the National Croatian Circle several times, and 1 reel microfilm
was editor of Hrvatska Stampa. Kraja ~s also the owner of United
Printi!1g Company or Youngstown, Ohio which publishe(! several Vaskov, Milan 1894-1970
foreign language newspapers. The collection includes records of Papers, 1935-1970, 1.3 linear feet
the llational Croatian Cird.:!, his printery, correspondl:mce and A photoengraver by trade, Vaskov lived in St. Louis; Las Cruces,
other per:::,)11C11, Drof'~']si,)ndl and organizational papers. New Hexico; El Paso, Texas; and ValrJosta, Georgia before settling
in Pittsburgh. Personal and busines:~ correspondence ~s emphasi'i:ed
in hi.,; papers.

!
I
 -6- -7-

SLOVENE democratic form of government for the Union of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes (i.e., Yugoslavia). The collection consists of
correspondence, financial papers and other internal records.

Ave Maria Printery, Lemont, Illinois Kotnik, Rev. Bertrand

Papers, 1956-1967,3.5 lin8<J.r feet f Papers, 1908-1965, ca. 1.5 linear feet
Ccrrespondence of the subscribers with the publishers of the Rev. Bertrand is a Slovenian American priest at St. Mary's
monthly Ave Haria and the annual Ave Maria Koledar. Collection Seminary, Lemont, Illinois. His papers cons~st of correspondence,
closed unITCTWO. -- --- ---- parish jubilee books, programs and sheet rouS1C.

Berlisg, John, 1882-1945 Kranjsko-Slovenska Katoliska Jednota (Grand Garniolian Slovenian

Papers, 1920-1945. 0.2 linear feet Catholic Union)
Probably the first Slovenian American profess tonal musician, 90ard of Director's Minutes, 1894-1895, ca. 1 linear inch
Berlisg was a music teacher, orchestra leader and leader of the
Detroit singing society "Svoboda. n The collection contains Molek, Ivan, 1882-1962
biographical material, photographs and two manuscript operettas Papers, ca. 1927-1965, ca. 1 linear fCX?t .,
which he translated from German. Associated with several Sloven ian Amerlcan publlcatlons, Ivan
Molek was editor of Prosveta from 1929-1944. His collection con-
Glas Naroda (newspaper) tains copies of his articles and editorials as well as P'loto-
- - Papers, 1953-1963, 0.4 linear feet graphs, newspaper clippings and several publications.
Glas Naroda was an independent Sloven ian American newspaper
publishing in New York City from 1893 to 1963. The collection Mother of Sorrows ChurCh, Cleveland, Ohio
consists chiefly of correspondence, subscriber lists ~d editorial Baptism, marriage and deat.h regist.ers, December 16, 1906-August 1,
mat.erial from the 1953-1963 periOO when Anna Krasna was editor. 1907
1 reel microfilm
Golobitsch, Mary
Papers, 1945-1963, 0.1 linear feet· Nemanich, Anton
The letters of Mary Golobitsch, a Sloven ian irrunigrant in Joliet, Papers, 1911-1963, ca. 1 linear inch
Illinois, to her niece, Ana Sklander, who was living near Novo An early Slovene immigrant and one-time president of the Grand
Mesto in Slovenia. Contains descriptions of the life of Slovenian r~rniolian Slovenian Catholic Union (KSKJ). Correspondence, mln-
immigrants in America. utes and photographs.
Grebenc, Anthony Pogorelc, Matija, 1895-1957
Papers, ca. 1904-1920, ca. 1 linear inch Papers, ca. 1870-1957, 8 linear feet
The papers consist of a manuscript which is an autobiogr3phical Pogor8lc was a traveling salesman who visited Slovenian com-
sketch of lirunigrant life on Minnesota's Iron Range. munities thro1Jghout the United States. In addition, he was an
avid collector of Sloven ian Americana. The collection is par-
Ivan Cankar Dramatic Society, Cleveland, Ohio ticularly rich in material pertaining to Monsignor J. f. fuh,
Papers, 1926-1946, 0.3 linear feet pioneer Sloven ian missionary in Minnesota.
Minutes of monthly meetings of the society, 1926-1946, and
miscellaneous playbills and souvenir booklets of the group. Prushek, Harvey
Papers, 1934-1935, ca. 1 linear inch
*Jugoslovanska Socilisticna Zveza (Jug0slav Socialist federation) Correspondence and prints of a Slovenian American artist.
Papers, ca. 1905-1952, ca. 20 linear feet, plus 91 ledgers
Corredpondence, minutes, financial records, membership lists, and St. Lawrence Church, Cleveland, Ohio
other materials of the federation are included in this collection Marriage and death registers, 1902-1959
along with correspondence and financial records of the 1 reel microfilm
Federation's "Prosvetna Matica" and the pUblications Proletarec,
Majsh Glas, and AmeriSki DruZinski Koledar. St. Vitus ChurCh, Cleveland, Ohio
Baptism, marriage and death registers, 1893-1957
*Jugoslovansko Republicansko ZdruZenje (Yugoslav Republican Alliance), 3 reels microfilm
Chicago, Illinois
Papers, ca. 1918-1948, ca. 3 linear inches
An organiz1.t.ion 0f South .slavic emigrants created to 8,1vlj~ate a
 -9-

Sholar, Wenceslau Zaplotnik, Rev. John

Papers, 1894-1937, 1.5 linear feet Papers, n.d., 5 linear feet
Letters of an immigrant priest, who served Slovene parishes in Personal library and maps reflecting the missionary work among
Illinois and Minnesota I written to his brother in Slovenia Slovenian Americans, which Rev. zaplotnik used in his own research
describing the early years of Slovene settlement in these states. and writing .

•Slovenska Delavska Podporna Zveza (Slavic Workers' Benefit Federation), *Zveza "Lilija" Wisconsin (Alliance "Lily" of Wisconsin). Milwaukee,
Conemaugh, Pennsylvania Wisconsin
Minutes, 1908-1918, 3 linear inches Papers, 1935-1946, 10 linear inches
All lance "Lily" of Wisconsin was a Slovenian fraternal benefit
Slovenian Library, Ely, ~linnesota association founded in 1935. The papers consist chiefly of finan-
Board of Directors' minutes, 1915-1917. ca. 1 linear inch cial records •
•Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota (Slovene National Benefit Society),
Chicago, Illinois
Papers, 1904-1966, 133 ledgers
The collection of ledgers contains Supreme Board minutes, conven-
tion minutes, membership records, financial records, records of
lodges nos. 1, 3, 7, 27, 131, 148, and 658, records of benefit
payments, treasurer's books, lists of addresses, SUbscription
records, Athletic Association records, records of book sales, and
investment and bond records.
Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota (Slovene National Benefit Society),
Lodge 5, "Naprej," Cleveland, Ohio
Hinute book, 1904-1923
1 reel microfilm
Slovenska Sirotisnica in sanitarij (Slovenian Orphanage and
sanitarium), Chicago, Illinois ,.
Minutes, 1912-1913, 1 ledger
An attempt at cooperation among many Slovenian American organiza-
tions to build an orphanage and sanitarium •
•Slovenska Svobodomislena Podporna Zveza (Slovene Progressive Benefit
Society), Chicago, Illinois
Papers, 1909-1941, 67 ledgers
The ledgers contain minutes of conventions, financial records,
records of benefit payments, secretary's books, records of the
Juvenile Department, records of the Investment Committee and the
records of Lodge number 47.
Slovensko Podporno Drustvo "Sv. Barbara" (Slovene Benefit Society "St.
Barbara"), Forest City, Pennsylvania
Minutes, 1904-1917, 1 ledger
Sv. Lovrenc and Smihel Churches, Dolenjsko, Slovenia
Parish chronicles and survey of emigrants from the Smihel Parish,
1905-1950
1 reel microfilm
Yugoslav (Slovenian) Radio Hour, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Papers, ca. 19lJ2-1953, ca. 7 linear inches
A coll"!ction of s,~ripts ll.'a~d for the radio programs.
 - 11_

*Nasa Nada. Gary, Indiana

NEWSPAPERS - - 1"95'4-present
* current issues received regularly *Nase Novine. Toronto, Ontario
September, 1973-present
CROATIAN Novi SViuet (superceded by Znanje). Chicago, Illinois
192 -1931
Americki Hrvatski Glasnik. Chicago, Illinois Radni~ka Borba. Cleveland, Ohio
1955-1956 (scattered issues) 1963-1970
Croatian Times. Omaha, Nebraska Sokol. St. Louis, Missouri
1977-1978 May, December, 1933, January-July, October, November, 1934
( microform)
Danica. Chicago, Illinois
--------1953-1956, 1968-September, 1973 *Zajednicar. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
January, 1907-December 25, 1940 (microform); 1944-1961 (scattered
Domovina. New York, New York issues), 1962-present
January 7, 1916-0ctober 26, 1917 (microform)
Znanje (formerly Novi Svijet). Chicago, Illinois
Hrvatska Zastava.
Chicago, Illinois 1935-1939
AU8u~905-0ctober 30, 1917 (microform)

*Hrvatski Glas. Winnipeg, Manitoba MACEOONIAN

1940-1961 (scattered issues), 1962-pres(~nt

Hrvatski Glasnik. Allegheny, Pennsylvania .Makedonska Tribuna. Indianapolis, Indiana

December 12, 1908-September 13, 1919 (microform) 19b3-present
Hrvatski List. New York, New York
January 20, 1922-December, 1941 (microform) SERBIAN
Hrvatski Svijet. New York, New York
July 23, 19G8-June 30, 1913; ,January 2, 1914-June 30, 1920 *American Srbobran. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(microform) January 18, 19G6-December 20, 1912; F'ebruary 4, 1918-December 31,
1940 (microform); 1965-present
*Hrvatski Tjednik Danica. Chicago, Illinois
August 1977-present *Diocesan Observer. Libertyville, Illinois
1965-present
Jadran. san F'rancisco, california
F'ebruary 26, 1908-December 29, 1910 (microform) .Glas Kanadskih Srba. Windsor, Ontario
---- 1971-present
Kriz. Gary, Indiana
- - - 1953-1957 Jugoslovenski Americki Glasnik. Maywood, California
1961-1970 (incompl~
Napredak. Allegheny City, Pennsylvania
1896-1908 (scattered issues) .Kanadski Srbobran. Hamilton, Ontario
1963-present
Narodni Glasnik. Chic'3.go, Illinois
1965-August, 1973 (ce~sed publication) *Path of Orthodoxy. Leetsdale, Pennsylvania
1977-present
Narodni List. New York, New York
------J-une 4, 189B-June 30, 1920 (microform) *Sloboda. nl~;lY", "IiLinol~;
---'-';JU;;--pre:,cnl
 - 13-
- 12-
Mir. Pueblo, Colorado
1901-1903 (scattered issues) (microform)
Slobodna Rec. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
December 18, 1934-December 29, 1948 (microform) Napre10 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
935-19ill (scattered issues) (microform)
Srbadija. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
March 31, 1921-December, 1927 (microform) Narodni Vestnik. Duluth, Minnesota
---J-anuary 4, 1912-December 3D, 1914 (microfonn)
*Srpska Borba. Chicago, Illinois
1953-present *Nova Doha (New Era). Cleveland, Ohio; Ely, Minnesota
- - ""'1"930-1953 (scattered issues), 1963-present
SLOVENIAN Nova Domovina. Cleveland, Ohio
1901-1906 (scattered issues) (microform)
*Amerikanski Slovenec. Chicago, Illinois; Tower, Minnesota; Joliet, .Our Voice. Cleveland, Ohio
Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio - ----r909-present
September 10, 1891-July 14, 1920 (nearly complete), July 21, 1920-
December 1946 (complete) [Note: 1891-1946, microform]; 1963- Proletarec. Chicago, Illinois
present ~oo=tI9~O~6=_1918 (microform), 1929-1952 (microform)
·Ameri~ka Domovina. (formerly Nova Domovina, 1907-1908 and Clevelandska .Prosveta (Organ of the Slovenian National Benefit Society). Chicago,
Amerika, 1908-1918). Cleveland, Ohio Illinois
January 2, 1907-December 31, 1962 (microfilm); 1963-present 1916-1967 (microform), 1968-present
Edinost (superceded by Amerikanski Slovenec). Chic8go, Illinois Sloga. Cleveland, Ohio
-------1-919-1925 (incomplete) (microform) 1915, 1919 (scattered issues) (microform)
Enakopravnost. Cleveland, Ohio Slovenija. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1922; 1940-1943 (incomplete) (microfilm); 1948-1956 1915-1921 (scattered issues) (microform)
Glas Naroda. New York, New York Slovenska Drzava. Chicago, Illinois
1893-1903 (incomplete); 1912, 1916-1921 (incomplete) (microform); 1950-~
1933. 1948-1954
Slovenske Novice. calumet, Michigan
Glas Svobode. Chicago, Illinois 1916-~scattered issues) (microform)
- - 1907-1922 (scattf:red issues) (microform)
Slovenski Akademiki v Ameriki. Toronto, Ontario
Glas Svobode, Pueblo, Colorado 1960-1961 (scattered issues)
- - 1902-1907 (microform)
Slovenski Glas. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Glasilo KSK Jednote. Chicago, Illinois 1946 (scattered issues) (microform)
---1-915-1945 (microform)
Slovenski Narod. New York, New York
Giasilo SNPJ. Chicago, Illinois =='iAC'p"rTil 1, 1915-September 25, 1917 (microform)
-----1-90~15 (incomplete) (microform)
Slovenski Narod. Pueblo, Colorado
Glasnik. Calumet, Michigan 1908-~(scattered issues) (microform)
1901-1915 (microform)
.Svobodna Slovenija. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jugoslovenski Obzor. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1964 1968, 1971-prescnt
1933-1945--
Vest.-:ik. Tiilwauk88, i-iisconsin
Komar. New York, ~ew York ---'32'), 1928 (sc;J,tter'ed issues) (:nicrufor'm)
--1906- 1907
 -- 15--
- 14-
The IHRe Archives is a non-circulating, reference collection, open
Zaria. Ljubljana, Yugoslavia to all scholars doing serious research in pertinent fields of study.
1912, 1914 (scattered issues) (microform)
Ample study space is available, and a reasonable amount of photocopying
Zora. Chicago, Illinois
----- 1901 (scattered issues) (microform)
is allowed, provided copyrights and individual donor's agreements are
not violated.
If you have further inquiries regarding the collections, or if you
have information concerning materials which should be preserved in the

Archives, please contact:

Immigration History Research Center

University of Minnesota
826 Berry Street
St. Paul, Minnesota 55114

Telephone: (612) 373-5581

Hours: Monday - Friday, 8: 30 - 4: 30

Saturday, 9:00 - 1:00

The University of Minnesot3 is ~n equal opportunity educator and

employer.
 - 16_

Publications available from the Immigration History Research Center

include:

IARe Ethnic Collection Series

The B3.ltic American Collection (no. 1)
The Czech and Slovak American Collections. 2nd edition. (no. 2)
The Finnish American Collection. 2nd edition. (no. 3)
The Hungarian American Collection (no~ 4)
The Italian American Collection. 2nd edition. (no. 5)
The Polish American Collection. 2nd edition. (no. 6)
The Romanian American Collection (no. 7)
The South Slavic American Collections. 2nd edition. (no. 8)
The Ukrainian American Collection (no. 9)

IHRe Ethnic Bibliographies

Serbs in the United States and Canada: A Comprehensive

Bibliography, compiled by Robert P. Gakovich and Milan M.
Radovich; edited by Joseph D. Dwyer, 1976.
Hungarians io the United States and Canada, compiled and edited by
Joseph SzepHtki, 1977.
Slovenians in the United States and Canada (to be published)
Okralnlans ln the OOl£ed States and Canada (to be published)

IHRC Reprint Series

John Bodnar, "Immigration and Modernization: The case of Slavic

Peasants in Industrial America" (reprinted from Journal of
Social History, Fall 1976)
John Bodnar, "Materialism and Morality: Slavic-American
Immigrants and Education, 1890-19LJOu (reprinted from Journal of
Ethnic StUdies, Winter 1976) ----
Thaddeus Radzialowski, uThe Competition for Jobs and Racial
Stereotypes: Poles and Blacks in ChicagoI' (reprinted from
Polish American Studies, Autumn 1916) ,"
Rudolph J. Vecoli, "Cult and Occult in Italian-American Culture:
The Persistence of a Religious Heritage" (reprinted from Miller
& Marzik, Immigrants and Religion in Urban America, Temple
University Press, 197~
Spectrum, IHRC Newsletter (published three times yearly)

Guide to Manuscript Holdings

Guide to Newspapers and Periodicals in Microform

Ukrainian American Brochure

The finnish Experience in the Western Great Lakes Region: New

Perspectives, edited by Michael G. Karni, Matti E. Kaups, Douglas
J. Ollila, Jr.

Guide to Genealogical Sources

The Croatians, Slovenes, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Montenegrins came to America from the southern
areas of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Comprising present-day Yugoslavia, these groups
arrived in America generally between 1880 and 1920. Although Croatian sailors had left the
Dalmatian Coast and settled in California in the early nineteenth century, the vast numbers of
South Slavs settled in urban and industrial areas, such as Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, or in
mining districts such as Calumet, Michigan, or Leadville, Colorado after 1885.

Typical among these newcomers was George Dragovich. Born in the village of Pjecanica in
Croatia, Dragovich was a Serb who decided to leave for America in 1898. Motivated by a desire
to earn higher wages which, he felt, would enable him to return to Pjecanica and buy land, he
disregarded warnings of the dangerous ocean crossing by the village Orthodox priest and embarked
on a month long voyage from Le Havre, France.

"Ja idem u Ameriku," Dragovich had told his friends. "I am going to America." As to where his
exact destination would be in America, he had no idea. After being processed through Ellis
Island, he recalled someone placing a "tag" on his coat and leading him to a train. When the train
made its initial stop, Dragovich attempted to leave. The conductor read his "tag" and indicated to
him that this was not yet his destination. After several more stops, he was told to depart at
Steelton, Pennsylvania, an industrial center near Harrisburg.

In Steelton, Dragovich was housed by a group of Slovenes and taken to the Pennsylvania Steel
Company for employment the day after his arrival. After several months of toil around the open
hearth, he returned to Europe to his wife and children, despondent over conditions he had found
in the American mill town.

Work in the fields around Pjecanica, however, again caused him to despair about his future and he
returned to Steelton in 1899, bringing his family to join him two years later.

In Steelton to stay, the Dragovich's began to sink roots. George returned to his job at the mill and
his wife remained at home to operate a boarding house for other Serbs and raise the children. In
1912, he became ill and was forced to leave the steel plant. A small confectionary store, which he
opened, served as his source of income. The remainder of his life centered around the institutions
of Steelton's Serbian community: the St. Nicholas Fraternal Lodge and the Serbian Orthodox
Church. In 1915, the local Republican political boss arranged for him to acquire citizenship papers
and he voted Republican the rest of his years.

GeorQe !)ragovich's lib INa,,: :1m: spectaCU!2r. II was filled 'Nith hard work. ~e was :one!y when he
arrived in America. He was overjoyed when the Serbs finally opened an Orthodox Church in
Steelton. Nevertheless, his experience was commonplace; it was a story of limited occupational
gains, industrial accidents. attachments to fellow Serbs, and simple pleasures. It was a story
fJ,T,ii: a : J ::le !:::~ik of Sc ,-'-:: ;'~ .vi~o !~'JlT'e to ,'\:TH~r ::::

THE BA LCHi [\) STiT UTE HI ST 0 RICA L REA 0 Ii'iG--'L....I~;-'-T-'-"S~:J'-'-'-'()~·""'q'--~'-- _

SECONDARY

Adamic, Louis, Grandsons, New York: Harper, 1935.

From Many Lands. New York: Harper. 1940.

Laughing in the Jungle. New York: Harper, 1932.

An autobiographical account of a Slovene immigrant,

A Nation of Nations. New York: Harper, 1945.

Balch, Emily G. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens. New York: Arno Press, 1970. Reprint of 1910 edition.
Excellent introduction to Slavic immigration.

Brown, Francis and Joseph Roucek (editors). One America. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1952.
Section on Yugoslavs.

Christowe, Stoyan. My American Pilgrimage. Boston: Little, Brown, 1947.

Story of a young man from Macedonia and his early years as a factory worker.

This is My Country. London, 1939.

Immigrant autobiography.

Govorchin, Gerald G. Americans From Yugoslavia. Gainesville, Florida: Florida State University Press, 1961.

Konsag, Ferdinand. Life and Works of the Reverend Ferdinand Konscak, S.J., 1703·1759, An Early Missionary
in California. by M.D. Krmpotic. Boston: Stratford Corporation, 1923.
An account of an early Croatian pioneer.

Ledbetter, Eleanor. "My Serbian Christmas," The Survey, 49, December, 1922. pp. 308-309.

London, Jack. The Valley of the Moons. New York: Macmillan, 1914.
Dalmatians in California.

O'Neill, John J. Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla. New York: McKay, 1964. Reprint of 1944 edition.

Owen, Francis. "The Saga of Joe Magarac: Steelman," Scribner's Magazine. 90, November, 1931. pp. 505-513.
Magarac was a folk creation of South Slavs in Pittsburgh.

Prisland, Marie. From Slovenia - to America. Chicago: Sloven ian Women's Union of America, 1968.

Pupin, Michael. From Immigrant to Inventor. New York: Scribner, 1930.

Autobiographical.

Stanoyevich, Milivoy Stoyan. Jugoslavs in the United States of America. New York: Jugoslav Section of
America's Making, 1921.

Yankoff, Peter D. Peter Menihoff: The Story of a Bulgarian Boy in the Great American Melting Pot. Nashville,
Tennessee: Cokesbury, 1928.

UNDERGRADUATE

Adamic, Louis. Dynamite, The Story of Class Violence in America. New York: Harper, 1931.
A portrait of an industrial struggle which included South Slavs.
Babies, Walter Vladimir. Assimi!ation of Yugoslavs ic Franklin County, Ohio. San Francisco: R & R Research
Associates, 1972.

Bodnar, John E. "The Formation of Ethnic Consciousness: Slavic Immigrants in Steelton," in The Ethnic
Experience in Pennsylvania, edited by John E. Bodnar. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1973.
pp.309-331.
Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Bulgarians are treated.

Brentnar, Joseph D. The Social and Economic Adjustment of the Croatian Displaced Persons in Cleveland
Compared with That of the Earlier Croatian Immigrants. San Francisco: R & R Research Associates,
1973.

Colakovic, Branko Mita. Yugoslav Migrations to America. San Francisco: R & R Research Associates, 1973.
Pattern of Yugoslav settlement in USA based upon census date and 500 oral interviews.

Eterovich, Adam S. "Jugoslavs in San Francisco, 1870-1875," Yugoslav·American Immigrant History Series.
San Francisco: Eterovich, 1967.

Gazi, Stjepan. Croatian Immigration to Allegheny County, 1882-1914. Pittsburgh: Croatian Fraternal Union of
America, 1956.

Golden Anniversary of St. Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church. Lackawanna, New York: 1967.
A superior local history.

Ledbetter, Eleanor. The Jugoslavs of Cleveland. Cleveland: Cleveland Americanization Committee, 1918.

Mihanovich, Clement S. Americanization of the Croats in Saint Louis, Missouri During the Past Thirty Years.
San Francisco: R & R Research Associates, 1971. Reprint of 1936 edition.

Milievic, J. N. "Yugoslav People in Michigan," Michigan History Magazine, 25 (1941 l, pp. 358-364.

Niland, Billyanna. "Yugoslavs in San Pedro, California: Economic and Social Factors," Sociology and Social
Research, 26, September-October, 1941, pp. 36-44.

Orenstein, Marie S. "The Servo-Croats of Manhattan," The Survey, 29, December 7, 1912, pp. 278-280.

Prpic, George J. The Croatian Immigrants in America. New York: Philosophical Library, 1971.

"The Croatian Immigrants in Pittsburgh," in The Ethnic Experience in Pennsylvania, edited by John E.
Bodnar. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, pp. 263-286.

"The South Slavs," in The Immigrants Influence of Wilson's Peace Policies, edited by Joseph O'Grady.
Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1967.

Roucek, Joseph S. "The Image of the Slav in U.S. History and in Immigration Policy," American Journal of
Economics and Sociology, 28 (19691, pp. 29-48.

"The Yugoslav Immigrants in America," American Journal of Sociology, 40 (March, 1935l,pp. 602-611.

St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church: Our Religious Heritage in America. Gary, Indiana: St. Sava Serbian Orthodox
Church, 1964.

Sestanovich, Stephen ~!., (editor). Slavs in CaliffJPlia. San Frans:sco: R & R Research Associates, 1968.

GRADUATE AND POST-GRADUATE

Amez, John A. Siovenci v New Yorku. New York: Studia Slovenica, 1966.
A treatment of Slovenes.
Hrvati u Americi. Madrid: Osoba i Ouh, 1953.
An account of Croats in America.

Jutronic, Ojnja. "Serbo·Croatian and American English in contact, A Sociolinguistic Study of the Serbo-
Croatian Community in Steelton, Pennsylvania." Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Pennsylvania State
University,1971.

Kestereanek - the United States," Unpublished Masters

Thesis, Marywooa l..olleg~, 1.:.1..,';'.

Kosier, Ljubomir S. Srbi, Hrvati i Siovenci U Americi, "Bankarstvo," Beograd: 1926.

Lovrich, Frank M. The Social System of a Rural Yugoslav·American Community, Oysterville, La. San
Francisco, R & R Research Associates, 1973.

Lupis-VukiC', Ivan F. Medu Na~im Maradom U Americi. Split, Yugoslavia Tiskare, 1929.
Travel among South Slavs in Chicago, Seattle, and California.

o I seljavanju Na'§ega Naroda i 0 Americi. Zadar: Matica Dalmatinska, 1909.

Marohnic, Josip. Pop is Hrvata U America. Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Marohnica, 1900.

Census of Croats in America.

Mirkowich, N, "Yugoslavs and Criminality," Sociology and Social Research, 25 (1940) pp. 25-34.

Muiacek, Ivan. "Nase Iseljavanje v Stevlikah," CAS Ljubljana, Slovenia, 7 (1913), pp. 259-266.
Motivation for Slovene immigration is discussed.

Nemec, Slavko. Povijest-Hrvatske Naseobine v St. Louisu (St. Louis, 1931).

List of Croatian businessmen.

v
Tresi6·Pavi~iC', Ante. Preko Atlantika do Pacifika; Zivot Hrvata U Sjuernoj Americi. Zagreb: Dionicka
Tiskara, 1907.
An account of Croatian Communities in the United States by a traveler from Croatia.

Trunk, J.M. Amerika in Amerikanci. Klagenfurt, Austria, 1912.

Slovene immigrants in America.

Umek, Emma. "Prispevki K Zgodovini I Zseljevanja Iz Kranjske v Ameriko v Letih, 1910-1913," Siovenski
Izseljenski Koledar, 14 (1967), pp. 199-207_
Emigration of Slovenes from Carniola, 1910-1913.

U.S. Congress, 81 Congress, 2nd Session, Report No. 1951, "Report on the American Slav Congress and
Associated Organizations," Washington, 1950.
An attempt to examine extent of Communist influence in Slavic-American groups.

u.S. Immigration Commission. Reports of the Immigration Commission, Immigrants in Industries, Part 2:
Iron & Steel Manufacturing, 61 Congress, 2nd Session, Sem_ doc. 633, (42 vols; Washington, 1911),
8 and 9.
South Slavic settlement in steel towns is described.

Zavertnik, Jote. Ameriski Siovenci. Pregled Splosne Zgodovine Zdrozenih Drzav SJovenskega Naseltjevanja
Naselbin in Slovenske Narodne Podporne Jednote. Chicago: Slovenski Naroda Podpormi Jednota, 1925.

The Balch Institute's ~ubject soecialties - ~merican folklore, American politic;;lI history, and North American imm iqratlon,
etrn;~_ nos I ar.rl mmOrltv group "i$t0r,/ - are interpre,,::ed by V;lrio'J:> libra"'!, tTluseur!'\, research :Jnd f'duc.p:lonal ;)rograms. For
further information on orogramming dno reading Irsts contact: The Balch lnstitute, 108 Arch Street, Phliaa~!l::li1la. Pa. 19106
@THE BALCH INSTITUTE .',,1t1rch,1975
 "Record ProtectIOn in
WORLD CONFERENCE an [/nca/ain vl/()rid"

ON RECORDS
AND GENEALOGICAL SEMINAR

Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.

5-8 August 1969

Yugoslav Migrations to the U. S. A.

By

Adam S. Eterovich
 Table of Contents

I. Austrian, Italian, Turk or Slav? 1

II.Statistical Presentation 1-2

A. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1

B. Austrian Empire in 1850. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

C. Turkey in Europe, 1850. . 1

D. Balkan and Eastern European Immigration, 1820 - 1963. . 2

E. Immigration 1820 - 1963 Compared with other groups 2

III. Method of Research in America Prior to 1900. 2-8

A. Introduction to the Census - California 2-3

B. Voting Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3-4

C. Business Directories ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4-5

D. Church Survey of San Francisco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5-6

E. Cemetery Survey of San Francisco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6-7

F. Societies in California. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

G.Newspaper Advertisements 7-8

IV. Yugoslavs in the U. S. Prior to 1900. 8-23

A. Yugoslavs in California, 1849-1900 8-18

B. Yugoslavs in Nevada, 1860's. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18-21

C. Yugoslavs in Arizona, 1850-1900 21-23

V.An Example of two Dalmatian Names from the Thirteenth Century to date. 23-26

A. Musladin . 23-25

B. Ciccarelli . 26

VI. Dalmatian Nicknames ( Nadimak ) 26-27

A. - B. Eterovich . 26

I C. Ljubetich . 27
 Yugoslav Migrations to the U. S. A.

By

Adam S. Eterovich
1. Austrian, Italian, Turk or Slav?

In order to do research on the Yugoslav in America or Yugoslavia it is essential

to understand two basic divisions by:

1.) Major Religions: Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Mohamedism

2.) Major Ethnic Sub-Groups: Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian

The Yugoslav or South (Yugo) Slav is Slavonic of various Slavic ethnic

sUb-groups. He is not Austrian, Italian or Turk, but has been influenced by them
considerably. Having had no National State prior to World War I he was recorded
as: Austrian, Italian, or Turk. The purpose of this report is to identify him as
a South Slav or Yugoslav.

II. Statistical Presentation

A. Introduction:

The Yugoslav, Czechoslovak and Austrian immigration to America from

1820 to 1963 numbered four million. This is not insignificant. The following
comparison charts of Balkan and eastern European immigration inclusive
of the parts of the Austrian Empire and Turkey in Europe is indicative of the
state of central and eastern Europe prior to 1900. One can well appreciate the
difficulty of identification of nativity, validity of available statistics, and
general overall confusion as to national origin based on ethnic or religious
groupings. Yugoslavs at one period or another could have been recorded under
anyone of approximately twelve different groupings (shown by asterisk)
or if from Montenegro: kingdom of Montenegro, Turkey or Austria, dependent
on the area. Over 25% of all immigrants coming to America from 1820 to 1963
were from eastern Europe or the Balkans.

B. Austrian Empire in 1850

Bohemia Moravia Gallicia

Austria Transylvania Salzburg
Carinthia *Hungary *Stiria
Tyrol *Kingdom of Illyria
Lombard and Venitien
Croatia Slavonia *Dalmatia

C. Turkey in Europe 1850

*Croatia (part) *Bosnia *Servia

*Hercegovina *Macedonia Moldavia
WaIachia Bulgaria Romania
Albania Greece
1
 D; Balkan and Eastern European Immigration, 1820-1963

Austria 3,758.091.
Bulgaria 66.442.
Czechoslavakia 129.704.
Estonia 2.544.
Finalnd 28.358.
Greece 499.465.
Hungary 522.772.
Latvia 5.488
Lithuania 9.376.
Poland 451.010.
Rumania 159.497.
Turkey in Europe 160.931.
U.S.S.R. 3,344.998.
Yugoslavia 69.834.

9,208.510.
Total Europe 34,896.219.

E. Immigration 1820-1963 compared with other groups.

Balkan & Eastern Europe 9,208.510.

Germany 6,798.313.
Ireland 4,693.009.
Italy 5,017.625.
Sweden 1,255.296.

III. Method of Research in America Prior to 1900.

A. Introduction to the Census· Californin

This survey was accomplished by a review of census microfilm for 1850,

1860, 1870 and 1880. The special California census of 1852 was reviewed at
the state library in Sacramento. This extract is doubly important in that most
of the vital statistics of this period were destroyed in various fires and
earthquakes. It is the most comprehensive study of its kind ever done on South
Slavs in the U. S. A. Since Jugoslavia was a product of the First World War, a
great deal of difficulty was experienced with recording of nativity, in that
South Slavs were recorded as Austrian, Dalmatian, Serbian, Croatian, Italian,
Hungarian, Russian and Turkish. With some reliability and cross check with
other records on file, it can be stated that at least two·thirds of all
individuals listed were South Slav, and the majority of South Slavs being from
Dalmatia, a part of Croatia, on the Adriatic Coast. The majority of Jugoslavs at
the time were gold miners or operated saloons, coffee saloons or
restaurants. Great numbers were found in San Francisco, Sacramento, and the
gold mining areas of the mother lode. During the period of the silver boom

2
 many Jugoslavs went from California to Nevada, with some eventually
going to Arizona. This particular study does not list the children as this will be
the subject of another study entitled 'Marriages in California.' The earliest
listing was made and not again repeated, although, many individuals reporting
in 1860 or 1870 did not report in 1880. It is felt there were a great deal of
inaccuracies and ommissions with Jugoslavs due to their inability to
communicate and/or their hard-to-spell names, hence many Smiths and
Browns.

Statistical Survey

186018701880

NATIVITY TOTAL ESTIMATED SOUTH SLAV

Austria 2403 1425

Dalmatia 42 42
Slavonia 22 22
Serbia 5 5
Montenegro 6 6
Herzegovina 1 1
Turkey 9 9
Italy 65 65
Russia 5 5
Greece 7 7
Hungary 1 1
Bohemia 15
Moravia 5
Prague 5

2591 1568
B. Voting Registers

The index to the Great Register of Voters for California has been an
invaluable source of information on South Slavs in the West. The most valuable
bit of information is the place of naturalization, as this has made possible
further research at the location of naturalization. A good example of what
could be extracted is as follows:

Santa Clara County, California Voting Records

1868
NAME AGE OCCUPATION REPORTED DATE NATURALIZED

Cupich, Nicholas 35 Barkeeper Austria 1867

Gaspirzza, John 26 Restaurant Austria 1867
Green (Zelenka), John 34 Fruits Slavonian 1867

3
 1869

Battinich, Luca 30 Fruits Dalmatia 1868

Zibilich, Nicholas 60 Restaurant Austria J Ul 1868

1872

Uzscovich, Christophe 30 Saloon Austria 1861

Elich, John 46 Restaurant Austria 1854
Gasivoda, Mark 48 Farmer Slavonian 1848

C. Business Directories

One of the first, and the best source of information has been the coffee saloon, saloon,
restaurant and fruit section of a western or southern business directory. During the 1850's,
1860's and 1870's the South Slav could be found in all gold and silver boom towns of the West
with established businesses. The following sampling of the Pacific Coast Business Directory for
1871 plus the San Francisco Directory for 1862 is of interest.

Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1871

NAME ADDRESS OCCUPATION

Austin Nevada
Barovich, Nikolas Mam St. Restaurant and Saloon
Carson City, Nevada
Perasich, E. Carson bet. Proctor Fruits and Candies
Gold Hill, Nevada
Chiuda and Gregovich Produce and Game
Hamilton, Nevada
Antunovich, Florentine 110 Main St. Restaurant and Saloon
Pioche, Nevada
Vircovich, Samuel Saloon
Reno, Nevada
Smith (Svianaz) A. J. A. J. Plaza Saloon
Shermatown, Nevada
Gugnina, N. Main Restaurant
Treasure City, Nevada
Milatovich, Andrew 93 North C Groceries and Liquors
Idaho Territory, Idaho City
Melonovich, M. Liguors
Nez Perce, Idaho Territory
Vucasovich, C. Restaurant
Bannak City, Montana Territory
Viscovich, Chris Restaurant
Sitka, Alaska Territory
Miletich, Samuel 75 Lincoln Saloon
Victoria, British Columbia
Carcovitch, P. Yates Liquors

San Francisco Business Directory for 1862

Antunovich, Florio, Clay and East Coffee Saloon

4
Boghisich, B. N. 715 Davis Ferry Hoose
Braticevich, L. Jackson St. Wharf Coffee Stand
Fisher, George Justice of the Peace
Gelcich, Vincent 605 Broadway Physician
Slavonic Illyric Society Office 210 Jackson

D. Church Survey of San Francisco

A survey was made of all churches in San Francisco from their origin to 1900. All births,
deaths, marriages were card indexed. This survey covered the pre World War I Austrian. The
Austrian did not have a national church in San Francisco but attended the St. Boniface
German church. The Serbian Orthodox prior to 1900, attended the Russian church in San
Francisco; and the Croatian/Dalmation and Slovene attended various Catholic churches until
they organized the Slavonic Church of Nativity which was subsequently destroyed by the great
earthquake and fire. The below extractions are typical examples of what was found.

Old St Mary's

Marriages

George Mascarich Austria 1859

Margaret Large Ireland
Peter Metrovich Slavonian 1862

St. Boniface German Church

Marriages

Edward Wanske Nohemia 1873

Elizabeth Kerner Pa.
Dominic Mengola Dalmatia 1873
Ana Haker Germany
Jacob Klemencich Austria 1881
Ana Paschich Austria

St Brendans· Irish Church

Marriages

Anton Batchir Dalmatia 1885

Agnes Lyons

Church of Nativity
(Known as the Slavonian Church by the local Dalmation/Croatian and Slovenien Colony)

Marriages

A statistical extract from 1902 to 1920 indicates the Slavic place of birth for individuals as:

Dalmatia . 456 Slovenia . 174

5
Croatia 49 Croara 43
Siavonia 5 Hercegovina 6
Macedonia 1 American-Jugoslav 55
Bohemia 7 Slovakia 13
Galicia 8 Tyrol 1
Austria 2 Carinthia 1
Silesia 1 Styria 6
Hungaria 41 Poland 11
Russia 3 Italy 3

E. Cemetery Survey of San Francisco

It can be .assumed with some certainty that people die in the same numbers and witb the same
ethnic distribution as they had lived. A very careful and exact survey was made of the Catholic
Holy Cross Cemetery of San Francisco from 1920 to 1930 with the recording of all burials of
individuals registered as Roumanian, Albanian, Galician, Bohemian, Czechoslovak, Croatian,
Slovenian, Serbian, 'Slavonian', Jugoslavian, Dalmatian and Austrian. It is understood that this
survey would not include the Jewish, Moslem and Protestant minority as represented in the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. The majority of the named above were part of Austria prior to
World War I. With the formation of new nations after World War I, it has never been accurately
determined as to what true ethnic distribution existed or does exist. Rough approximations
and census statistics have been distorted by the simple fact that many South-Slavs, Czechs and
Slovaks continued to report as Austrian because they did in fact come from
'Old Austria'; where as Jugoslavia Czechoslovakia were formed after their
people came to America. It is hoped that the following survey of 1920-1930
will at least establish an approximation of ethnic distribution for the San
Francisco Bay Area, one of the first large Slavic settlements in America, and
convince those in doubt that the CROATIAN DALMATIAN was in the
majority of all Catholic groups represented by old Austria and other Balkan
Areas.

HOW REGISTERED ACTUAL ETHNIC DISTRIBUTION

Roumania 2 Roumania 2
Albania 1 Albania 1
Galicia 1 Galicia 1
Bohemia 14
Czechoslavakia 3 Czechoslavakia 17
Croatia 2 Croatia 2
Slovenia 1 Slovenia 1
Serbia 2
'Slavonia' 2
Jugoslavia 51
Dalmatia 35

AUSTRIA Dalmatia 286 286

Slav Plot 81
Slav Church 59
*Other Slav 53 *AUSTRIA 106
Vienna 2
Austria 104

**Serbia 1151 115

6 Total South Slav 401

*Personal interviews with *could include Bohemians
'old time' South-Slav indicates and Slovenians
that these Austrians were Croats
Dalmatians and Slovenes. **Serbian Cemetery burial
for 1920 to 1930 was 115. The
Majority of these individuals
came from Montenegro and
Dalamatia.

It would be safe to estimate that 90% of the total South-Slav count of 401 were from
Dalmatia. From 1849 to 1930 there were 1650 individuals listed.

F. Societies

Society or lodge records are an excellent source of infonnation because

they will usually indicate the exact place of birth. They also establish a true
nationality for the South Slav insofar as being reported as Austrian or Italian is
concerned. The two best source documents are the article of incorporation
filings found in a state depository, or any local business directory. The
following organizations in California were traced in this manner:

Organizations in California

I. Slavic American Benevolent Society of Watsonville 1898

2. Slavonian American Benevolent Society of San Jose 1895
3. Slavonian American Benevolent Society of Los Angeles 1895
4. Croatian Slavonian Benevolent Society of Los Angeles 1895
5. Slavonian National Social Club of San Francisco 1897
6. Austrian Benevolent Society of San Jose 1878
7. Austrian Protective Society of San Francisco 1889
8. Russian and Pan-Slavonic Benevolent Society of
San Francisco 1869
9. Greek-Russian-Slavonian Benevolent Society of
San Francisco 1872
10. Austrian Benevolent Society of San Francisco 1885
11. Austrian Military Benevolent Society of San Francisco 1883
12. Serbian Montenegrin Benevolent Society of San Francisco 1881
13. Slavenska Citaonica of San Francisco 1869
14. Slavonic Illyric Benevolent Society of San Francisco 1859

Newspaper Advertisements

A good source of information has been the newspapers in the mining towns.
They usually carried the events, stagecoach arrivals and departures, business
advertisements and other important data. Examples of such for Nevada are listed:

Belmont Curier 10-28-1876 Descovich, John Voted

Carson Daily Times Gregovich, M. P. Monarch Saloon
2- 5-1881

7
Daily Terr. Enterprise 1-10-1863 Medin, Marco S. F. Fruit Store
Daily Trespass 2- 6-1867 Gugnina, N. Fire Engine Company
Esmeralda Union Wkly 11-23-1867 Novacovich, J. Saloon
Eureka Sentinal 9-13-1882 Pavlovich, N. Family Fruit Store
Panamint News 3-13-1875 Perasich, N. A Horahle Murder
Sacramento Daily V. 7- 7-1863 Millinovich, M. Shot at Virginia City
True Fissure 11-27-1880 Slavonians Pioneer Silver Locators

IV. Yugoslavs in the U. S. Prior to 1900.

A. Yugoslavs in California 1849 - 1900

The first Yugoslavs in California came from Dalmatia and Montenegro, as

seamen and merchants. It is interesting to note that they were first known as
'Slavonians' by the American people. This, to the writer's knowledge, is the
only place in the world that 'Slavonian' was synonymous with Yugoslav or
South Slav. One would more readily understand the term 'Slavonian' during the
1850's and 1860's if the only other identity to use were'Austrian.' The general
American public did not know where Dalmatia or Montenegro was, but they
did know at the time what 'Slav' meant. By using 'Slavonian' they identified
themselves to a Slavic heritage and Slavic land. Another interesting fact was the
use of Serbian by the Montenegrin and and Dalmatian in California. To
the writer's knowledge, the majority of the 'Serbs' or Serbians, as indicated by
statistics and various benevolent society names in California, came from the
area of the Boka Kotorska in in Montenegro. This was understandable in that
the Montenegrin was culturally tied to Serbia and Serbian politics, and rather
than be called and Austrian or Turk, they chose 'Mother Serbia' or the general
term Slavonian. So then, the status of the South-Slav in California from 1850
to 1917 was to be called what he really was not, as far as the correct or
formal meaning indicated. Being reported on statistics and the U. S. census as
Austrian, Italian, Hungarian, Greek and Turkish was to his detriment. It was
then refreshing to find entries listed as 'Serbian' or 'Slavonian,' at least one
definitely knew the national origin. Following is a sampling from each census.

Name Age Census Year Occupation Country Origin

Antunovich, F. 33 1860 Coffee Saloon San Francisco Italy

Same 53 1880 Coffee Saloon San Francisco Austria
Barovich, N. 35 1860 Saloon San Francisco Russia
Same 55 1880 Saloon Santa Clara Austria
Calabota, S. 67 1870 Restaurant San Francisco Austria
Same 77 1880 Restaurant San Francisco Slavonian
Geicich, Vincent 30 1860 Physician San Francisco Italy
Same 40 1870 Physician Los Angeles Dalmatia
Same 50 1880 Physician Los Angeles Austria
Lazarovich, John 31 1860 Grocer Los Angeles Slavonian
Same 41 1870 Saloon Los Angeles Austria
Same 51 1880 Saloon Los Angeles Montenegro
Militich, Stephen 35 1870 Saloon San Francisco Austria
8
 The preceeding then is simply to emphasize the difficulty in establishing
the identity of the first Jugoslav pioneers. It is obvious that a person named
Marinkovich listed as Austrian in 1860 is a South Slav, but this was not known
by the American census takers and for the researcher he was added as another
'Austrian.' The problem exists to this day in that many Croatians who came
prior 1919 still report as Austrian on the official census. The writer places no
value on either the Jugoslav or Austrian census in America, because of the
above, and would state with some qualification that at least 50% of the
Austrian census of 1920-1930-1940 should go to the Jugoslav census in
California.

JUGOSLAV BUSINESSES IN SAN FRANCISCO

The restaurant, coffee saloon, saloon and fruit businesses occupied the
talents of many Jugoslavs during the 1850's and 1860's in California. There
were over 1000 business houses in San Francisco from 1850·1900 owned by
Jugoslavs. They also established in number in San Jose, Sacramento and ,Los
Angeles. One would question the ability of the Dalmatian and Montenegrin to
establish in business with a limited knowledge of English. But he was a seaman
and fortunately linguistic in that he knew Italian and German and had traveled
extensively throughout the world. 'Jugoslav restaurants and saloons can be
found in the gold mining towns during the 1850's and 1860's. The earliest
businesses were established in San Francisco during the 1850's. A few of the
earliest in San Francisco from Montenegro were:

BaIich, Luka 1861 Saloon Boka

Cherovich, Andrew 1861 Saloon Boka
Chielovich, Elia 1862 Saloon Boka
Chiucovich, Peter 1862 Saloon Boka
Obradovich, Spiro 1858 Restaurant Boka
Radovich, Anton 1852 Coffee Saloon Risan
Dabovich, Nikola 1856 Fruits Boka
Pavlovich, Nikola 1851 Fruits Pastrovich

Many other pioneers from Dalmatia had also established in San Francisco
during this period. The majority of the Dalmatians and Montenegrins belonged
to the Slavonic Illyric Mutual and Benevolent Society of 1857. In fact, a Slavic
cemetery was organized by the Society in 1861. This cemetery, because of the
Spanish influence in California at that time, was called 'Slavonic Terra.' They
buried any South Slav, and it is certainly commendable and indicative of a
colony well established by 1860. The first burial was Nikola Simunovich, a
Dalmatian; the next Marko Milinovich and Marko Zenovich from Montenegro.
The first American born was buried in 1865, Dominic Carcovich and his father,
Vincenzo, a Dalmatian, in 1866. A few of the first Dalmatian businessmen in
San Francisco were:

9
~AME YEAR OCCUPATION ORIGIN

Cernich, Antonio 1858 Fruits Dalmatia

Chatcovich, John 1858 Fruits Dalmatia
Gasivoda, ~!arko 1859 Fruits Slavonian
Gasivoda, Stephen 1859 Fruits Slavonian
Grego, George 1860 Fruits Brae
Militich Antonio 1856 Fruits Dubrovnik
Trobock, Nikola 1856 Fruits Lopud

10
 In 1869 there were 29 coffee houses listed in San Francisco and 18 were
owned by Jugoslavs. Of 16 restaurants listed in San Jose in 1882, 8 were South
Slavs. A typical advertisement that was listed in Stockton in 1879 is as follows;

'Independent restaurant conducted on the European plan, French,

German, Italian, Spanish and English spoken. Private rooms elegantly
furnished. Eastern and Californian oysters served in every style. Board per
day, week or month. The only first class restaurant in the city. M.
Mitrovich & Company, Proprietors.'

Another in San Francisco during the same period was:

'John Ivancovich & Company (John Ivancovich, George Beley & Peter L.
Vucanovich) Importers and Exporters, foreign and domestic fruits,
wholesale dealers, commission merchants and manufacturers of California
wines.'

The majority of the restaurants, coffee saloons and fruits businesses

during this period were in the well known 'Barbary Coast' district of Ban
Francisco. A man did not enter at night without companions or pistol because
he was apt to be 'Shanghaied' and sold to a sea captain as a sailor on one of the
many ships in the harbor without seamen, as they had all run off to the gold
fields. The period was so lawless that the sheriff was powerless and a citizens
committee formed the famous 'Vigilantes' and hung a few from lamp posts in
the center of town and ran the rest out of the city, telling them the same fate
would await them if they returned. This period of disorder and disrespect for
law and order saw the birth of the Slavonic lllyric Mutual & Benevolent Society
in 1857, a protective society that buried its dead, paid a sick benefit and
assisted destitute Slavonians and also represented them in the local courts
through their more prominent businessmen. On Davis Street alone from 1850
to 1900 there were 110 Jugosiav businesses. The majority of the Jugosiavs
were centered near the waterfront on Davis Street (where the Slavonic Society
was organized), Leidesdorff, East Street, Commercial Street, Jackson Street,
Stockton Street, Sacramento Street and Mission Street. The Greek Russian
Slavonian Orthodox Church was organized in 1864. Although the latter
lists Greek and Russian, the writer would dispute this. The president was the
Russian Consul, but the vice president and trustees were all from Montenegro,
being: Nikola Dabovich, John Franeta, Luka Zenovich, Savo Martinovich, ilia
Chielovich, Edward and Bozo Radovich, Peter Vucanovich and George
Lazarevich from Belgrade. Another society, the Pan-Slavonic, appeared with
Nikola Gregovich, a Montenegrin, and George Fisher as president. George
Fisher had a plantation in the South prior to coming to California, and was a
judge in San Francisco. He was known as George Ribar in Mexico (Ribar means
Fisher) and is believed to be Slavonian or Serbian. He was known to speak
Spanish, German, Hungarian, Greek, Italian Dalmatian dialect and
Serbo-Croatian. He was also the Greek Consul in San Francisco.

11
 YUGOSLAV PIONEERS OF SACRAMENTO 1849·1865

Sacramento, during the gold rush period of the 1850's-60's, was the first
stop of those wanting to seek their fortune in the gold fields. The pioneer
miners either traveled overland or by river bargo from San Francisco. The
Jugoslavs had already established mining parties in the Amador and Calaveras
regions. Although San Francisco had the largest colony of 'Slavonians' at the
time, many of the first pioneers opened saloons and restaurants in Sacramento.
Many of these saloons, coffee houses and restaurants were also boarding
houses for fellow Jugoslavs who had recently arrived from San Francisco on
their way to make a 'strike' in the fabulous gold fields of the mother lode. A
few, rather than take their chances in the mountains, established themselves in
Sacramento in various occupations. One may reasonably question the ability of
a non·English speaking person, being in a definite minority as the pioneer
Jugoslavs were, to establish saloons and restaurants. The writer has
documentary evidence that many of the first pioneers had been in business in
the southern part of the United States prior to coming to California. The
majority of these Sacramento Jugoslavs came from Dalmatia and the
general area of Boka Kotor in Montenegro. They were of Catholic and Serbian
Orthodox faith. A great many considered themselves as 'Slavonians.' 9n
November 26, 1860, a delegation consisting of Nikola Barovich, John
Barovich, John Uzovich and President Dr. Vincent Gelcich from the Slavonic
Illyric of San Francisco, arrived on the morning barge from San Francisco in
charge of a banner to be presented ·to their brothers of the Slavonic lllyric
Society of Sacramento. This day was the anniversary of their organization. This
then, to the writer's knowledge, is the third oldest Jugoslav organization
in America. It must be noted that Croatian Catholic and Serbian Orthodox
participated in this organization. Marko Ragusin, the first pioneer in
Sacramento, appeared in 1849, being 21 years of age, as he voted that
year. He listed himself as a Slavonian from Louisiana. He later moved to San
Jose and opened a saloon, again being one of the first Jugoslavs in that area. He
married a native Californian and they had their first child, Perina, in 1857.
Martin Rancich had a soda works and saloon in Sacramento, first
appearing in 1851. He was also an American citizen and in one instance
listed himself as Italian and another as an Austrian. He came to California from
Pennsylvania. Louis and Marko Maina from Budva were long established in the
Sacramento area. Marko operated a coffee saloon in 1861. They were
both American citizens. They can also be found in Amador County as gold
miners in the early 1850's. The following, listed chronologically, are some of
the first Jugoslav pioneers in the Sacramento area:

Ragusin, Marko 1849 Saloon Slavonian

Brown, John 1850 Waiter for Maina Dalmatia
Rancich, Martin 1851 Saloon Austria
Bishop, Martin 1852 Miner with Rancich Austria
Kosta, Frank 1853 Universal Coffee Saloon Dalmatia
Calisich, Antonio 1853 Atlantic Exchange Austria
Vlautin, Paul 1863 Universal Coffee Saloon Konavlje
Vlautin, Paul 1852 Gold Miner, Amador County

12
 The last listed pioneer, Paul Vlautin, from Konavlje, Dalmatia, was
perhaps typical of many of the earliest pioneers. He is known to have mined
gold in 1851-52 in Amador County and, having made a strike, returned to
Sacramento to acquire the Universal Coffee Saloon, but prior to that returned
to San Francisco where he was a director of the Slavonic Society in 1860. He
returned to San Francisco in the early 1870's and purchased a coffee saloon
and boarding house on Davis Street. This saloon on Davis Street became the
center of local Dalmatian fishermen and gold miners. He married a Portugese
girl, and they had their first child, Paul, in 1872. His brother, Jacob
Vlautin, a restauranteur, was buried in the Slavonic Plot in San Francisco in the
year 1885. Paul died in 1894 at the age of 74 and was also buried in the
Slavonic Plot. Although the above list of pioneers does not represent all of the
Jugoslavs during this period, it does give some indication of their activities.
Many more passed thru Sacramento on their way to the gold mines and worked
as waiters, cooks, bar keepers and various other occupations. The below list of
families is believed to be the first in the Sacramento area. It is most
interesting to note the number marrying Irish girls. This proved to be the case
throughout California. Statewide, the majority married Jugoslav girls, then
Irish, Mexican and Californians of Mexican descent.

Batich, Thomas 1870 28 Laborer Austria

Mary 29 Wife Ireland
Colombo, Martin 1871 23 River Pilot Dalmatia
Anne 18 Wife Ireland
Louise Daughter California
Ivanis, Drago 1860 38 Merchant Slavonian
Cath. 32 Wife Slavonian
Jacob Son Slavonian

YUGOSLAV GOLD MINERS

With the discovery of gold in the tailrace at Sutter's Mill at Coloma in

1848, the greatest movement of Jugoslavs to the Western United States was to
begin. This single factor which was to change the history of California and
shape her destiny also changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yugoslavs
from the coastal areas of Istria, Slovenia, Croatia, Dalmatia and Montenegro.
The 'Slavonians' who came were not followers, but leaders in the hardy group
of pioneers who were later to establish one of the richest states in the Union.
The Yugoslavs came as single men off the many sailing ships that landed at
San Francisco. Others may have come overland through the southwest from
New Orleans. The majority of the first who came were seamen by profession
and upon hearing of the gold discovery, simply left their ships and ventured
into the gold fields of Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Manposa, Nevada,
Placer, Plumes and Tuolumne Counties. On that momentous day in 1848, when
gold was discovered, John Sutter had in his employ at the mill a person
whom he called the 'Sailor Man.' The 'Sailor Man' later stated he was a

13
 'Slavonian' and it is claimed that he was present at the mill that day when the
first gold nuggets were observed in the tailrace. This then, places a South-Slav
at the discovery of gold in California and is certainly a fitting reminder to
future Slavonic-Americans that the South-Slav had his place in the gold rush era
of early California. Another indication of the extent of South-Slav in the early
mines was
the Adriatic Mining Co., of 1878, the Slavonia Gold and Silver Mining Co. of 1876 and the
Serbia and Slavonian Mining Co. of 1876. The Illyrian Gold and Silver Mining Co., organized in
1863, in the San Domingo District of Calaveras County with a capitalization of 60,000, had as
the principal organizers Nikola Bieladenovich, Andrew Bujan and Andrew Jordan. Another
interesting venture was the Slavonian Gold and Silver Mining Company of 1863, being
organized with a capitalization of 140,000, had as its principals Paul Grecich and John Centras.
There were undoubtedly many other companies and ventures organized by Slavonians during
this period that had not been recorded but simply made as mutual agreements by the parties
concerned.
Out of all the mining areas, the Amador region eventually had the largest concentration
of Jugoslavs. There is no present day evidence of any major colonies being left in any other of
the mining counties. The Serbian church and cemetery in Jackson is a lasting memorial to all
the fine Serbian men that had pioneered the Amador region. This church is the oldest in
America and the writer encourages all who may wish to see the mining country of California to
visit this old but stately tribute to Serbian pioneers in America. In 1874, the Slavonic Illyric
Mutual & Benevolent Society of San Francisco built the first Slavonian building to be found in
America at Sutter Creek.
The first gold mining pioneers in the Amador region formed gold mining ventures and
also became American citizens in great numbers. They usually mined in groups of three to
five and lived in boarding houses, if available, that were operated by Slavonians who had made
a gold strike and subsequently purchased land, built homes and married. Many of the pioneers
married Irish and Mexican girls.
Usually the boarding houses were indicative of the national origin of the Slavonians. The
miner would live with those of his own region. From available records it can be stated with
some certainty that the majority of the pioneers came from the island of Brac, the area of
Dubrovnik and the general area of the Boka Kotor. One of the oldest families in the Amador
was the Dabovich family from the Boka Kotor, one such branch of the family was listed as:

Name Age Occupation Nativity

Dabovich, Andrew 33 Gold Miner Boka

Louisa 23 Wife Boka
George 4 Son California
Theodore 2 Son California
Ellen 43 Mother-in-Law Boka
Stephen 22 Brother-in-Law Boka
Dolly 16 Sister-in-Law California
May 10 Sister-in-Law California
Anna 10 Sister-in-Law California
Curelich, Chris 26 Boarder
Clemovich, George 22 Boarder

14
 Another boarding house, with apparently all the boarders from the island of Brac, is listed
in the 1870's as follows:

Matulich, Antone 44 Farmer Brac

Virginia 28 Wife Switzerland
Mary 8 Daughter California
George 6 Son California
Madeline 3 Daughter California
John 2 Son California
Andrich, Anton 44 Gold Miner Brac
Novacovich, John 26 Gold Miner Brac
Perco, John 41 Gold Miner Brac
Nizetich, Nikola 31 Gold Miner Brac
Satulich, Sam 29 Gold Miner Brac
Slavich, Andrea 31 Gold Miner Brac
Lukinovich, A. 36 Gold Miner Brac
Citargin, George 30 Gold Miner Brac
Buccolich, Lawrence 28 Gold Miner Brac

Many of the first Slavonian pioneers who had ventured into the gold mining regions saw
the need for other types of goods and services and rather than suffering the privations of the
majority of gold miners, opened saloons, fruit stands and general provision stores. It was not
unusual to find Dalmatians with businesses in every major mining area during the 1850's &
1860's. A few of the first were:

Malitich, Nikola 1860 Sonoma Co. Fruits

Malisich, Antonio 1860 Trinity Trader
Pecovich, Sam 1860 Butte Fruits

One of the most interesting pioneers was a Dalmation by the name of John Davis. He
landed in San Francisco in 1849 and immediately went to the mines at Auburn on the
American River in Placer County and after three months of successful gold mining he
established a mule-pack train between Sacramento and Auburn to supply gold miners. After a
few months at this endeavor he came down with mountain fever and all his mules were stolen.
Upon regaining his health, he with disgust at losing his mules, gave the remaining equipment to
a Mexican and went to the Mariposa mines for another stake.
After making another "strike" in the Mariposa area, he returned to San Francisco by
horse and on the way had his horse stolen which caused him to walk from San Jose to San
Francisco. In 1850, in San Francisco, he built a house on Commercial Street and operated a
restaurant and lodging house until 1851 when he sold his holdings and purchased 400 acres in
Contra Costa County and married. His marriage in Oakland was the first marriage tlf western to
take place in that city.
The pioneering spirit and early exploits of .the Jugoslav gold miners has long since passed
in the mining areas, but should certainly not be forgotten.

15
 The individuals and mmmg parties would extend to thousands of names in the gold
mining regions. After the gold fields had lost their attractiveness, the Jugoslavs established
farms, ranches, vineyards, orchards and businesses in every part of California. A great many of
the first land holdings were purchased with miner's gold.

Pioneer Jugoslavs in Los Angeles from 1841 to 1900

If one were to look for a reason for the Dalmation coming to California, Los Angeles and
the surrounding area would certainly have been the determinating factor. There is no other
part of California so similar in climate and geography to the Dalmation Coast. Until 1900 Los
Angeles was a sleepy hamlet in comparison to San Francisco and Sacramento.
The first pioneers to arrive were merchants and traders who married local girls of Mexican
or Spanish descent. Later came the restauranteurs and saloon owners who tired of the fog and
cold of Northern California. Then came the wealthy goldminers and those that found no gold
from the mining camps of the Amador, Tuolumne, Butte and Calaveras areas. They came alone
or in groups of two or three. There is little evidence of any families coming directly from
Dalmatia.

The first pioneer was Mattias Sabichi or Sabich coming from Mexico to Los Angeles in
1841. He had a son, Matias, in Mexico in 1841 and a son, Francisco, in 1842 in Los Angeles.
Matias was a trader and merchant. He was listed as an Austrian, but the writer has reason to
believe he was a Dalmatian because at a later date his son, Francisco, an orchardist, had
employed John Cuculich as a nurseryman. Both of these names are found in Dalmatia. The
father, Mattias returned on shipboard with his sons to Europe in 1852. He died before reaching
England and his sons were educated in England and France, then returned to their native
California.

John Lazarevich, a native of Montenegro, came to Los Angeles in the late 1850's. He
became a citizen in 1869 in Los Angeles. It is known he came to California in 1850 and it can
be assumed he tried his luck in the goldfields prior to settling in Los Angeles. He married a
native Californian and had four sons: John, born in 1864; Stephen, born in 1866; William,
born in 1873; and two daughters, Annie, 1875 and Rosa, 1879. He had a saloon and grocery
establishment for many years and was undoubtedly known by all the pioneers coming to Los
Angeles. He subsequently retired as a capitalist.

Doctor Vincent Gelcich, a physician and surgeon, from Starigrad, Island of Hvar,
Dalmatia is perhaps one of the most colorful Slavonian pioneers to come to California. He
practiced medicine in 1856 in San Francisco; organized the oldest South-Slav society in
America, the Slavonic Illyric Mutual and Benevolent Society of San Francisco in 1857; served
in the Civil War as a Colonel in the Union Army; and became the first coroner of Los Angeles
County. He married an Irish girl and is known to have had three children. He moved to Los
Angeles in the 1860's to practice medicine and operate a pharmacy. He waS without doubt
well known and respected by the local Slavonian community.

Andrew Jordan, a Los Angeles pioneer of 1869, was listed as being an Austrian. It is
known he was a partner with Nikola Bieladenovich and Andrew Bujan in the Illyrian Gold and
Silver Mining Company of 1863. This venture was organized in the San Domingo District of

16
Calaveras County with a capitalization of $60,000. The writer could state with some certainty
that he was a Dalmatian by virtue of his association with Bieladenovich and Bujan and the use
of Illyrian in the mining title. The name Jordan is found in the district of Dubrovnik,
Jugoslavia. Andrew was a grocer in Los Angeles and married a South American girl and had
one daughter, Victoria. Joseph Jordan, probably his brother, was a stock raiser of sheep in Los
Angeles in 1870. He had a family of three and his wife was an American from Kentucky. He
was an American citizen and mined gold in Amador County in 1859.

Lewis Mazzanovich, a native of Hvar, Dalmatia, is found in Los Angeles in 1869. He was a
musician in San Francisco prior to 1869 and was a member of the Slavonic Society of San
Francisco. He came to America with a wife and one child, later having three children in
California. His sons were also musicians playing in the famous Bell Union Threatre and San
Francisco Opera House. The family were pioneers in San Francisco and Los Angeles. One son
while in the Army fought in the Apache Indian Wars and had a chance meeting with
Geronimo, chief of all the Apaches.

Antonio Perpich had a saloon and lodging house in Los Angeles in 1884. He married a
Spanish girl in the Oregon Territory in 1857 and had three children. Prior to coming to Los
Angeles, he had a restaurant and hotel in San Francisco. He was an American citizen and voted
in the Oregon Territory.

Nikola Perasich, a Dalmatian, was a pioneer of the 1870's in the grocery and liquor
business with Petrovich. He was killed in a gunfight in the pioneer mining town of Darwin.
Killed by a hired gun. His brothers were also involved in a stage holdup at Carson City, Nevada.

Other pioneers were Luka Bralich, 1871; Theodore Cereda, 1869; George Cumming
(associated with Lazarovich), 1858; Louis Dapretto (with Lazarovich), 1860; a Slavonian, John
Frank, 1871; Jerry Illich, 1874; Luka Marasovich, 1868; a Slavonian, Peter Marinkovich, 1875;
Vincenzo Marisich, 1879; Nikola Rageludich, 1870; Luka Sciscich, 1870; Thomas Stijich,
1874; and Marko and Baltazar Tomasevich, 1873.

A great many of the first pioneers came from the goldfields to Los Angeles. The mines
had started to lose their attractiveness after the 1870's. Many of them undoubtedly heard of
the beauty of Los Angeles from others who had been there earlier. A few coming from the
gold fields to make their home in Los Angeles:

Name Year From Occupation

Bangiar, Peter 1893 Amador Co. Gold Miner

Brajkovich, Christ 1895 Amador Co. Gold Miner
Commandich, Dominic 1863 Amador Co. Gold Miner
Deragna, Christ 1877 Amador Co. Gold Miner

17
 As indicated above a great many of the Los Angeles pioneers came from other areas of
California rather than direct from Jugoslavia. While being gold miners prior to arrival in Los
Angeles in the 1870's, 1880's and 1890's, they entered into the restaurant, grocery and saloon
business in Los Angeles. Some of them were able with the money made in the gold fields to
establish themselves in business and send for wives in Dalmatia.
Although San Francisco had hundreds of Dahnatian fishermen in the 1870's, Los Angeles
did have a few fishermen prior to 1900. Luka Marasovich, a pioneer goldminer, was a
fisherman in 1868. He married a Mexican girl and was a citizen. Vincenzo Maricich, a
Dalmatian, and pioneer goldminer of Nevada Co. in 1873, was fishing in Los Angeles in 1879.
He was a citizen and had a daughter Lucy. Frank Sisul, pioneer of Humbolt Co., fished in San
Pedro in 1896. He was a citizen. Andrea Vidovich, a Dalmatian, fished in 1892 and was a
citizen.
A few Dalmatians followed their age-old occupation of sheepherding. Three who worked
together in 1880 were Joseph Radovich, Francisco Robertson and John Pavlina. Nicholas
Paseta, a citizen, was also a sheepherder in 1880.
There were at least sixty restaurants, saloons liquor-groceries in Los Angeles prior to 1900
owned by Jugoslavs. One of the most well known was the Maison Doree on North Street
operated by Jerry Illich from Dalmatia. At the age of 20 he jumped ship as a seaman in San
Francisco and worked at various restaurants, then traveled to Los Angeles and opened his own
restaurant in 1874. "Jerry's" was headquarters for political and social banquets and known for
his celebrated "Paste".
The writer would estimate from available records that the Los Angeles Colony was at
least 500 in number prior to 1900. There were two societies organized prior to 1900, those
being the Slavonian Society and the Slavonian-Croatian Society. The majority of the members
came from Dalmatia and Montenegro.

Yugoslavs in Nevada 1860's

In John S. Hittell's Commerce and Industries of the Pacific Coast, published by A.L.
Bancroft and Co. in 1882, is listed under banks: C. Novacovich, Aurora, Nevada. Of thirteen
banks in Nevada at the time, C. Novakovich was owner of one of them. The Pacific Coast
Business Directory, published by Henry G. Langley in 1867, lists C. Novakovich as proprietor
of the Merchants Exchange Hotel and agent for Wellingtons Stage Lines.
During the same period that Marco Millinovich was shot and killed at his San Francisco
saloon in Virginia City and the gunfight of Nikola Perasich at Darwin, other Jugoslavs were
arriving from San Francisco and the California gold fields, such as Nikola Barovich in Austin;
John Ivancovich, Elia and George Perasich in Carson City; Martin Brazzanovich, Nikola
Gregovich and Nikola Mersich in Columbus; John Chiatovich and Company in Lida; Mat
Coschine, Geo. Gustianovich and Alex Mandich in Pioche; Elia Chielovich, Vincent Milatovich
in Reno; and Milatovich, Mobile, Radovich, Vucanovich, Vukovich, Zenovich, Medin, Gugnina
and Lovely in Virginia City.
During the early 1860's C. Novacovich and Nikola Trianovich were in the Lander area and
had made important silver locations. The "Sclavonians" were recognized by Thompson and
West in their History of Nevada in 1881 as b~ing original silver locators and one of the first
groups of white men in the Lander area. Their silver claims can be found in the county registry

18
for that period. No doubt, after making their fortune in the silver fields, they returned to their
original pursuits of restaurant, saloon and hotel keepers. Thus, Nikola Trianovich and C.
Novacovich ventured into Aurora, one of the wildest mining towns in the West in the 1860's.
At the same time that the famed silver lodes were being discovered in Virginia City,
Aurora, less than 100 miles away was becoming one of the richest silver mining towns in the
history of America. First called Esmeralda in 1860, tents sprang up overnight and the famed
Wells-Fargo cut the first road, scaling the rugged mountains to Esmeralda's 7500 foot gulches
and inaugurated freight and passenger service over the Sierra to Sacramento.
The rich mines attracted so many people that on November 25, 1861 the Nevada
Territonal Legislature established Esmeralda County, naming Aurora its County Seat.
With Aurora at the height of its mining boom, the following advertisement appeared in
the Aurora Times on Oct. 7,1864:

l<:xchange Dining Saloon

:Vlerchant's Exchange Bldg.
Corner Pine and Winnemucca,
Aurora

Tlw undersigned, one of the owners of the Merchant's Exchange

Building, would respectfully announce to his friends and the
publit: generally that he has opened the basement of the above
building as a

FIRST CLASS Dining Saloon

which will be furnished with
the best the market affords.
And Served in good style.

Board by the Day or Week

meals at all hours

Nick Trijanovich

It should be noted that a Mr. White and a Mr. Mitchell were also part owners. Mitchell
Vucanovich, a vice president and Pioneer member of the Slavonic Society in S.F. was also
known as V. Mitchell.
The Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1867 lists Novacovich as owner of the
'Vlerchants' Exchange Hotel and also agent for Wellington Stage Lines.
The lower part of the hotel was apparently the saloon and dining room operated by
Nikola Trianovich. This was one of the finest buildings in Aurora at the time. Mitchell could
also have been the owner during 1861-1867.
Nikola Trianovich operated the Atlantic Exchange Restaurant in Sacramento in 1854
with Zambelich. He was also a shareholder with John Herzo, a Dalmatian, in the Excelsior
District, Nevada Territory, in 1863. After leaving Aurora he became a pioneer of Treasure

19
City, Nevada, at the beginning of the mining boom in 1869. He opened one of the first
restaurants in the White Pine District and the following ad appeared announcing his
establishment:

White Pine News dated

March 6, 1869.

Barnum's Restaurant

N. Trianovich & Company

Main Street
Treasure City
Two doors south of the
news office
Meals at all hours of
the very best

Early Pioneer

Marco Medin, pioneer from Budva, was one of the first pioneers in the Nevada territory
during the Great Silver Boom in the 1860's and 1870's. He was also one of the first Slavonians
in the territory, had a coffee stand on Market St. in 1859, and another fruit store at Kearney and
DuPont Sts. in 1860. His San ~'ranclsco nUlt Store was one of the largest establishments of its
kind in the Nevada Territory and State.
Grant H. Smith in his History of the Comstock Lode mentioned the Medin Building in
pages 53 and 54. It is interesting to note that this was one of the largest brick buildings in
Virginia City during the 1860's.
Marco married an Irish girl, Susan, either in San Francisco or Virginia City during the
1850's or early 1860's. His sons were John, Bernard, and Marco, and daughters Carry and Ann.
The United States census for 1870 lists his family as living in Virginia City. The Nevada State
Census for 1875 lists the family in White Pine County, Nevada.
As did many of the Slavonian pioneers, Marco married an Irish girl who undoubtedly
spoke English with Irish accent. He had a brother, Alexander, who was his business associate in
San Francisco during the 1850's. Alexander later opened a branch of Marco's business at
Austin, Nevada, called the Virginia Branch Store.

Struck It Rick

Silver mines were located at Hamilton and Treasure City (now ghost towns) in White Pine
County during 1869. To get in on the ground floor, Marco immediately departed for the rich
silver district. The editor of the White Pine News on April 8, 1869, noted Marco's arrival with
the following announcments:

Real Estate - Marco Medin, recently from Virginia City,

yesterday paid $14,000 in gold coin for the lot northeast corner

20
of Main and Dunn Sts., Hamilton. The lots fronts 100 feet on
on Dunn St. and 75 feet on Main, and Medin intends erecting at
first a tent, but afterwards a substantial building, to be occupied
as a fruit store. Medin belongs to that class of our foreign born
citizens (Slavonians) who form a large portion of the bone and
muscle and public spirit of the mining regions of Nevada, and
we hope he may find his investment a good one.

Marco apparently changed his mind about erecting a fruit store as the Inland Empire
Newspaper in White Pine County on October 4, 1870, listed the following advertisement.

MARCO MEDIN
Bar and Billiard Room
Corner of Main and Dunn Sts.
Hamiltion Nevada
Drinks 12 1/2 c /Billiards

Marco Medin was a true pioneer and a credit to the State of Nevada. His life, labors and
energies were spent in service of many worthy efforts. He was a member of the Virginia
Exempt Fire Assn. Engine Co. No.4; a leader in the Slavonian Colony in Nevada; pioneer
wholesale fruit dealer; pioneer builder; and most of all, a pioneer builder of the State of
Nevada.
Marco invested in many of the first mining ventures and was listed as a Capitalist in the U.
S. Census. He did not restrict his efforts to wholesale fruit and saloon ventures, but also
opened and located his own silver mine and became very wealthy in the process.

Yugoslavs in Arizona

The majority of South Slavs that appeared in Arizona during the 1870's and 1880's came
from the Gold Mines of California and the Silver Mines of Nevada.

ARIZONA CENSUS OF 1870 (Samplings)

Caranaja, John 39 yrs. Farmer Yavapai Austria

Franicovich, Elias 38 yrs. Farmer Yavapai Austria
Fry,M. 24 yrs. Laborer Yavapai Austria
Gruner, Henry 31 yrs. Laborer Tucson Austria (Samplings)

A check of one County in the Great Registers for voting indicated:

Great Register of Cochise County Terr. of Arizona

1881 (Samplings)

Ragenovich, Peter Austria Merchant Tombstone

Radovich, David Johnson Austria Cook Tombstone
Siwczynski, John Poland Miner Tombstone
Sugich, Michael Austria Miner Tombstone
21
 Although the numbers in Arizona during the 1870's & 1880's were small, they did leave
their mark as is evidenced by the following contributions of Margaretich to mining, Grossetta
to civic affairs and politics and Mazzanovich to Indian fighting.

George Margaretich: 'He was a pioneer prospector and miner. He was born in Dalmatia
Austria. In 1842, he spent his early childhood in Dalmatia. He came to the United States in
1857, and shortly after, he became a member of a party of four young men who left Buffalo,
N. Y. and crossed the plains on horseback. They arrived in Amador County, California, 1858.
He mined and worked there until 1874. Then he went to Nevada. He mined there and was very
successful. Margaretich came to Arizona in 1879, where he lived the rest of his life. He was
important to the development of mining in Arizona. He mined at Cherry Creek at the
Wickenberg section. He prospected where he developed gold and copper mines, notably the
United Groups and Golden State mines. He mined gold and copper ore. He was considered one
of the substantial and able men of Maricopa County.'

Anthony Vincent Grossetta: Tucson could boast of no more public spirited citizen than
Anthony Vincent Grossetta who had lived in Tucson since 1880 and had been foremost in
many undertakings which had materially helped its growth as a tourist center, and as a place to
live.
In political and social circles, the world of commerce, the Grossetta family originated in
Austria. Some of that name crossed the Adriatic. Matthew, the grandfather of A. V. Grossetta
was a former stock raiser of Dalmatia, Austria, and Vincent, the father of the subject was born
near Ragusa where he was a shoe merchant. The only son who came to America was A. V.
Grossetta. Native of Ragusa, Austria, born April 27, 1856 was trained in public school, he
learned German, Slavonian and the Italian languages. When he was 12 years old he shipped
aboard a sailing vessel, and for six years cruised the high seas. He crossed the Atlantic and
worked On both English and American Ships.
In 1884 A. V. Grossetta came to America. He worked one year for the New York Central
Railroad. He went to Montreal, Canada, and connected himself with the Italian consulate for
two years. In 1887 he went to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and drifted to Tucson in 1880. He
worked for a grocer, then started his Own business in 1882. He had a small store near the
railroad station which was carried on until 1893. He was interested in the Tucson Grocery
Company and the Tucson Harware Company.
Grossetta was identified with the Tucson Building and Loan Association. He built several
homes there. He owned much local property and a well irrigated ranch 123 miles north of the
city plus a thriving orchard. He built the Tucson Opera House in 1897. Grossetta was the first
president of the Tucson Electrical Light Power Company. He was influential in organization of
the Hall Association of the Ancient Order of the United Workmen. He belonged to the Masons,
Tucson Lodge No.4 F. & A. M. Tucson, Shp. No.3 R. A. M. Arizona Commandery No.1 K.
T. also belonged to El Zaribah Temple, N. M. S. at Phoenix. Both he and his wife were
members of the Eastern Star. Grossetta was a leader in the Republican Party. He was a member
of the County Central Committee, and was a delegate to the territorial party conv.ention.
In 1900 he was the Republican nominee for the legislature, but he was defeated .. He was
in the City Council, and represented the first ward. He was an influential member of the Board
of Trade. He was approved ·by Governor Murphy a member of Board of Regents of University
of Arizona.

22
 Antonio Mazzanovich, 6th United States Cavalry

In :\lazzanovich's own words the following is related: 'About three P. :\l. they were all out
of sight, although we could see the smoke of their campfires coming up from behind a hollow
in thc foothills. Shortly thereafter, Geronimo rode into camp with half a dozen braves and
asked Lieutenant Overton if he would allow him one or more hours, as he wanted to see of the
tribe got what was coming to them. Three o'clock was the time that had been agreed upon as
the time for surrender. The lieutenant wired Colonel Carr for instructions.
'I happened to be standing alongside Geronimo's pony and when the old rascal was not
looking, I tried to nip one of the silver trinkets which dangled from his buckskin saddle; but I
failed, as he caught me in the act. Geronimo was a fine specimen of the Apache Indian, with
high cheekbones, a very determined face, straight mouth, thin lips. On this occasion he was 'all
dolled up' in his best, with a long war bonnet, the feathers of which trailed down on on each
side of his pony.'
Anton Mazzanovich was a member of General George Crook's Camp No.1, United Indian
War Veterans of America, Arizona Pioneers Association, Arizona Pioneers Historical Society
and Life Companion of the Order of Indian Wars of the United States, Washington D. C.
The Mazzanovich family were musicians upon coming to San Francisco in 1868. Lorenzo
and Lena Mazzanovich were listed on the United States Census of population in 1871 in Los
Angeles with four children, Anton 1860, John 1856, Paul 1858, and Lena 1869.
All of the children were born in Dalmatia, except Lena. One son John, was employed at
the Grand Opera House and the Famed Bella Union Theatre in San Francisco. They were
members of tbe Slavonic lllyric Mutual and Benevolent Society of San Francisco, organized for
less than a year, the family moved to Los Angeles. They were considered Dalmatian Pioneers
of that city and amongst its earliest residents. The Mazzanovich family was the first Dalmatian
family to settle in Los Angeles; although other Slavonian Pioneers had come earlier with their
families. They had married women of other then Dalmatian nationality.

V An Example of two Dalmatian names from the Thirteenth Century to date.

Musladin

The family Musladin originates from the village Ljubac, which belongs to the parish in
Klisevo. Ljubac is situated in a country called Primorje (this word means littoral). This country
stretches out north-west of Dubrovnik and from the village Orasac and Ljubac to the small
town Ston and the bay Klek. Primorje belongs to the district of Dubrovnik and was once a part
of the former Republic of Dubrovnik, which enjoyed a free existence until 1808. In Primorje
there is a row of villages along the seashore and a second one in the valley in the proximity.
The village Ljubac is situated in valley and an hours walk from the seashore.
The majority of the inhabitants of Ljubac have the family name Musladin. There is no
village called Musladin, but we can say the Ljubac is the village of this clan.
The parish in Klisevo, which includes Ljubac, has the church registers (Matricule) of birth
from 1707, deaths from 1786, and marriages from 1788. On basis of these registers the
genealogy of Baldo, born on May 25, 1855, has been made.

23
 The first Musladins born and noted are two male children both 'Florio.' The first born on
June 5th, 1735, is a distant ancestor of the above mentioned Baldo. The other was born on
October 29th 1722. The fathers and the grandfathers were usually noted in the registers. So on
the occasion of the birth of Florio I (1735) there is noted his father Peter and his grandfather
Nikola. As the oldest dated from 1707, their births are not noted. We presume that Peter was
born before 1707 (perhaps in the beginning of the 18th century or even at the end of 17th
century), while Nikola is born in 17th century. According to the dated known until now, we
know the direct ancestors of Baldo Musladin (born in 1855) from the 17th century (time of
the free republic) till now.
Many families in Dalmatia have nicknames. For instance Mate (Mathew) and his son
Baldo (born 1855) have the nickname Car (Emporor). The family name Musladin comes in
earlier times, though rarely, as Musladin, and still rarely as Muslade. Probably the
denomination Muslade was the personal name of the head of the race. Musladin means in
Croatian the son of Muslade.
The majority of Croatian and Serbian family names are the so. called 'patronimica'
(meaning drived from the personal name of the some ancestor). All peasants around Dubrovnik
are of Croatian nationality, and of Slavic origin, and thus the Musladins in Ljubac. Of course, it
does not exclude the possibility, that there were some who came from other, countries. It is
difficult to say from which language the root Muslade derives. It has no Slavic sound. There are
Turkish words begining with MUS/E/L--. The word 'musliman' meanS Moslem; 'muselim' or
'muselin' means a Turkish leader, chief or commandant and 'muselom' a kind of Turkish
soldier.
The village Ljubac is near to the province Hercegovina, which until 1878 was under the
Turkish rule. Therefore a Turkish root is possible. In Bosnia and Hercegovina a large part of
the Slavic population crossed over to the Moslem religion. They are not Turks, speak our
language but bear Turkish personal names. I respect the opinion of a prominent scientist,
turkologue and born in Bosnia, to whom I addressed for a definite explanation of this word.
To ascertain the origin of the name Musladin most attention should be taken because the
root of the word, namely musla is not of slavic origin and regarding the add din there are
different interpretations.
The word din exists as an independent word in the Arabic, having three different meaings.
The first meaning is judgement, second habit or custom and third religion or faith. In our case
the third one namely religion, shall be taken in consideration.
The oriental philogists differ in opinion upon the origin of the word din, - meaning
religion. Generally it is taken that the word din, - meaing religion, is of Persian origin and that
the Arabs accepted the word from them with the same meaning. Some orientalists believe that
the word din, - meaning religion, exists in the Arabic since the pre islam time. Anyhow, be
what may be, the Arabs used the word in that meaning and we can find it in the Koran. It is
interesting to note that the word din in the specific meaning indicates the Islamism. We know
the Arabs are the creators of the Islamism and that the Turks have accepted their religion,
becoming later the main propagators for that religion in the world as well as on the Balkan
Peninsula. Therefrom comes that the Arabic is the language of the Turkish religious cult and
erudition. Moreover, many Turkish names are of the Arabic origin too. We may find many
Turkish names ending with the add din and those are positively of the Arabic origin. Wherever
we find the ad din in those names, no doubt, there must be some connection with the religion.
That is what we may say regarding the oriental origin of the add din; let us, now consider

24
 CICCARELLI/KURKETIC

The name is found today in the village of Pucisce on the island of Brae, Dalmatia. It was
registered as nobility.
Of interest is the movement thru the centuries thru varied cultures and wars.

A short chronicle of events places the name:

Kukretic Ciccarellovic Klopanovic

Cikarelovic Zivic Ciccarelli
Cikarelic Mlinic

1300: In Neretva.
1392: King Tvrtko gave land and title in Bosnia
1462: Son Rados made Vojvoda
1463: Bosnia Fell.
Dominik went to the Vatican State.
Nikola to Island of Brae, Dalmatia.
1969: Found in South and North America as Ciccarelli.

VI. DALMA TIAN NICKNAMES (NADIMAK)

The only valid explanation given to me for the use of nicknames was the confusion in
identification of falIlilies on the Dalmatian Islands; some villages had perhaps three basic
family names.
The use of 'Nadimak' was found quite early and is still in use.

My father is still called:

Faraunic--------Pharos
F araon--------Same

This nadimak could have been given because the next closest island is Hvar, or in ancient
times Pharos. There are families on the Island of Hvar called Hektorovich which is the origin of
Eterovich.

A. Eterovwh Nicknames:
Karavana--Caravan Lovac--------Hunter
Bile-----------Whitney Katrida-----Chair
Kalajure----The Priest Buho/Gluho----Flea/Deaf
Kavo---------Coffee Mravak----The Ant

B. Eterovich Variations

Jerolim de Hectare Eterovic-Palusic

Eturevic Eterovic-Ramuza
Ektorovic Eterovic-F ortunic
Etorovic Eterovic-Bokanic
Eterovic-Soric Eterovic-Sterklic
Eterovic-Harzic Hektore-Hektoreo

26
 C. Ljubetic Nicknames

Kapoker Slipas Kapologo

Drstul. Markanicic Bucic-Majko
Marelovreton Art,ista Pin-Kotica
Blum Benedeto Steka
Cozic Biba Donko
Letun Pice Jerolo
VUini

27
 JOGOSLAVIAN RESEARCH FOONDATION
DlDSCAnD TO PRUVtVlHG F..."'ILY RESEARCH ""0 CULTUIII Of IUG05lAVlAl'fS WOIlU)WIDE

P.O. BOX 2145. IDAHO FAU.S. IOAHO 83401 lEt£PHONE (208) 522·8412
 Other Resources Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia Gen-Web
http://www.rootsweb.com/~yugoslav/

Yugoslavia Archives Addresses

http://www.maxpages.com/ourlostfamily/Yugoslavia

Archives of Serbia and Montenegro

http://www.arhiv.sv.gov.yu/e1000001.htm

Borders Before and after Yugoslavia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_before_and_after_Yugoslavia

Imenik mesta u Jugoslaviji Gazetteer of Yugoslavia, 1972.

This title is part of the Family History Center Microfiche Project. Ask your Family
History Center director for more information
The BYU Family History Center does NOT have this Film Number (6053513 )

Słownik geograficzny krolestwa Polskiego = Geographical dictionary of the

kingdom of Poland and other slavonic countries
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=title
details&titleno=1298440&disp=S%C5%82ownik+geograficzny+krolestwa+Pols%20%2
0&columns=*,0,0

FamilySearch Wiki
http://wiki.familysearch.org

Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc.

http://www.sloveniangenealogy.org/html/online_resources.html