Andrija Kačić Miošić

Andrija Kačić Miošić
Andrija Kačić Miošić
Born	(1704-04-17)April 17, 1704 Brist near Makarska, Venetian Dalmatia (now Croatia)
Died	December 14, 1760(1760-12-14) (aged 56)
Occupation	Franciscan monk
Nationality	Venetian
Education	Zaostrog monastery and Buda
Literary movement	Enlightenment
Notable works	Razgovor ugodni naroda slovinskog (Pleasant Conversation of Slavic People, 1756), a history in verse

Andrija Kačić Miošić (pronounced [ǎndrija kâtʃitɕ mîɔʃitɕ]; April 17, 1704 – December 14, 1760) was a Croatian poet and Franciscan monk, descendant of one of the oldest and most influentinal Croatian noble families - Kačić.

Born in Brist near Makarska, he became a Franciscan monk. He was educated in Zaostrog monastery and Buda. He used to teach philosophy in Zaostrog and Sumartin on Brač.

His most important work is Razgovor ugodni naroda slovinskog (Pleasant Conversation of Slavic People, 1756), a history in verse, in which Kačić Miočić, influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment, tried to spread literacy and modern ideas among common people. It was the most popular book in the Croatian-speaking lands for more than a century. It also played a key role in the victory of the Shtokavian dialect as the standard Croatian language. It contain poems about Skanderbeg which were basis for tragedy Skenderbeg written by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski in the 19th century. They were also basis for Život i viteška voevanja slavnog kneza epirskog Đorđa Kastriota Skenderbega written by Jovan Sterija Popović in 1828.

Using the ten-syllable verse of folk poetry and relying on Mavro Orbini and Pavao Ritter Vitezović, Kačić Miošić narrates and sings about the history of the Slavic peoples from the antiquity to his age. He, like Ivan Gundulić, describes the Slavic peoples from the Adriatic to the North Sea as one people. The book exalts many heroes from the famous Croatian families of the age of the Ottoman wars. Since the book includes some important folk poems, many readers considered it a folk songbook.