Božidar Petranović

Božidar Petranović (18 February 1809 – 12 September 1874) was a Serbian author, scholar, journalist, and one of the leading historians of Serbian literature and a distinctive proponent of world literature. He is also mentioned as Teodor (Greek version of Serbian Božidar) Petranović in some publications.

Born in Šibenik, Dalmatia, Božidar Petranović was one of the first Dalmatian Serbs to be educated in the newly constructed Metropolitanate of Karlovci's Gymnasium of Karlovci. He was also educated in Graz together with Ljudevit Gaj.

Božidar Petranović was the founder and publisher of the first Serb academic and scientific paper in Zadar, entitled the "Serbian-Dalmatian Magazine" (Srbsko-dalmatinski magazin). In 1838, Petranović claimed that the greater part of the population of the Kingdom of Dalmatia was "of Serb name" and spoke "true Serbian dialect". He later hired the Dubrovnik Orthodox priest Djordje Nikolajević as an editor of Magazin, and the two promulgated Ljudevit Gaj-Vuk Karadžić's language reforms. He also corresponded with author Niccolo Tommaseo and journalist Pacifico Valussi (1813-1893).

Throughout 1848-1849, Petranović argued that to secure a better economic future it was necessary to transfer Dalmatia into a commercial haven between sea and hinderland, between Mediterranean and Balkan trade by lifting maritime custom taxes. In this pursuit, Petranović, along with Stipan Ivičević and Zora dalmatinska editor Ante Kuzmanić, tried to found a Dalmatian-Bosnian newspaper. Ivičević also sought toconvince Habsburg authorities to set up a railroad line that connected Dalmatia directly to Mostar, Sarajevo, and Belgrade.

Petranović also wrote very interesting studies on Rousseau, Voltaire and Matthias Bel in the Serbian Journal (Srpske novine) in 1838. Also, in 1838, he claimed Dubrovnik's literary tradition for Serbia since Dubrovnik's (also known as Ragusa of old) authors "wrote in Serbian, but with Latin letters." (Croats particularly members of the Catholic clergy were of the opposite opinion and so the dispute continues to this day).

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