Mate Čvrljak: Mons. dr. Božo Milanović
(inauguracija biste 1990. godine)
Božo Milanović, svećenik, profesor, znanstvenik, kulturni i javni djelatnik (Kringa, 10. X. 1890 – Pazin, 28. XII. 1980). Djetinjstvo je proveo u hrvatskoj narodnjačkoj obitelji. Obrazovanje je započeo u rodnoj Kringi, a nastavio u Carsko-kraljevskoj velikoj državnoj gimnaziji u Pazinu (1901 – 1910), prvoj srednjoškolskoj ustanovi istarskih Hrvata te se u višim razredima uključio u pokret katoličke mladeži. Mladog gimnazijalca zaokupljale su osobito prirodne znanosti pa je proučavajući korištenje magnetizma i elektriciteta projektirao neku vrstu elektromotora s električnim komutatorom što je kasnije kao bogoslov prijavio patentnom uredu u Beču. Teologiju je studirao u Centralnom bogoslovnom sjemeništu u Gorici (1910 – 1914), a za svećenika je zaređen u Trstu 1914. Kao bogoslov postao je tajnik i predsjednik Akademskog hrvatsko-slovenskog katoličkog ferijalnog društva Dobrila (osnovano 1908) te je za ljetnih praznika osnivao mladenačka društava na području tadašnje Istre. Kroz tri bogoslovne godine organizirao je 20 mladenačkih društava s oko 3.000 članova. U kolovozu 1914. postavljen je za kapelana u Pićnu. Kao mladi kapelan izabran je za blagajnika Tiskovnog društva u Pazinu te je zajedno sa S. Brajšom uspio sanirati financije i aktivirati društvo, koliko je u ratnim godinama to bilo moguće. U Prvom svjetskom ratu austrijske su ga vlasti nakratko zatvorile kao politički nepoćudnog, ali je ubrzo pušten. Godine 1917. i 1918. boravio je u carskom zavodu Augustineumu u Beču pripremajući doktorat iz moralne teologije. Disertaciju je napisao i predao, ali ju nije stigao obraniti jer je Austro-Ugarska Monarhija kapitulirala. Po završetku rata kratko je župnikovao u Kringi odakle vodi tiskaru u Pazinu te 1919. počinje ponovno izlaziti list Pučki prijatelj. Najznačajniji i najplodniji dio Milanovićeva života je razdoblje između dvaju svjetskih ratova. Nakon okupacije Istre bio je pod stalnom prismotrom talijanske policije, pretrpio je i nekoliko divljačkih napada fašista, a kako bi ga zaštitio, tršćansko-koparski biskup A. Bartolomasi premješta ga 7. veljače 1922. na dužnost župnog pomoćnika u župu sv. Ivana u predgrađu Trsta, nastanjenom pretežno slovenskim vjernicima. Dekretom od 19. rujna 1938. imenovan je kapelanom u centralnoj gradskoj župi sv. Antuna Novog. Njegova glavna aktivnost u Trstu bilo je izdavaštvo zbog održavanja nacionalne svijesti istarskih Hrvata i Slovenaca. Započeti rad u Tiskovnom društvu samo je premješten i nastavljen u Trstu. Nastavio je izdavati list Pučki prijatelj koji od 1929. nosi ime Istarski list, kalendar Istranin (1922 – 24), od 1925. Istarsku Danicu, ali je priređivao i tiskao brojna izdanja knjiga, brošura, molitvenika, pripovijedaka, pjesmarica, knjiga za djecu (Ciba-biba, Kolačići), knjiga s praktičnim poukama (Veterinarska čitanka, Pravna čitanka u dva dijela, Gnjojenje i gnjojidba), katekizme, višekratna izdanja molitvenika Oče, budi volja tvoja i Oče naš. Kroz Društvo sv. Mohora za Istru (osnovano 1924. kao bratovština) čiji je bio osnivač, predsjednik, blagajnik i tajnik, razvio je zamašan kulturno-prosvjetni i izdavački rad te je sa suradnicima pridonio očuvanju istarskog identiteta između dvaju svjetskih ratova u vrijeme kad je fašistička vlast nastojala posve izbrisati hrvatske i slovenske nacionalne osjećaje. Značajno je doprinio internacionalizaciji slučaja V. Gortana. U Trstu je ostao do 1941. kada su ga fašisti internirali u Bergamo kod Milana (do rujna 1943). Uspijevao se potajice sastajati i dogovarati s istarskim župnicima i koparskim sjemeništarcima iz Istre te tiskati i širiti knjige i brošure na hrvatskom i slovenskom jeziku. Nakon pada fašističkih vlasti u rujnu 1943. vratio se u Trst studenome gdje se opet prihvatio izdavačke djelatnosti (kalendari, katekizmi, molitvenici). Nakon završetka rata u srpnju 1945. predstavnici narodnooslobodilačkog pokreta dr. Dušan Diminić i Ivan Motika uspostavili su kontakt s Milanovićem radi dobivanja potpore Crkve za pregovore o budućim državnim granicama. U zamjenu je od jugoslavenskih vlasti zatražio da se omogući utemeljenje istarskog hrvatskog sjemeništa s osam razreda gimnazije, utemeljenje istarskog svećeničkog društva, izdavanje jednoga vjerskoga lista, da se dopusti podučavanje vjeronauka u školama i nastavak djelovanja Društva sv. Mohora za Istru. Za postizanje potpunog političkog i diplomatskog oslobođenja Istre na sastanku održanom 31. srpnja 1945. u franjevačkom samostanu u Pazinu, 44 svećenika potpisala su izjavu u kojoj traže da mora biti Istra iz etničkih, geografskih i ekonomskih razloga priključena Demokratskoj Federativnoj Jugoslaviji. Presudno je bilo njegovo angažiranje s drugim istarskim svećenicima u susretima s Međusavezničkom komisijom za razgraničenje u ožujku 1946. tijekom kojih je podatcima crkvene statistike dokazivao da Istra i Slovensko primorje moraju pripasti Jugoslaviji. Tom je prilikom u zgradi tadašnjeg Biskupskog sjemeništa (današnja zgrada Pazinskog kolegija) postavio i uredio popratni katalog izložbe pod nazivom Svjedočanstva o slavenstvu Istre. Sudjelovao je u radu Pariške mirovne konferencije. Kao član delegacije Julijske krajine odlazi na turneju u Francusku i Belgiju gdje se bori za pravedno rješenje granica. U studenome 1946. preselio se iz Trsta u Pazin i ondje preuzeo dužnost ravnatelja sjemenišne gimnazije koju je obavljao do 1968. godine. Bio je rektor Visoke teološke škole u Pazinu (1955 – 1965). Predavao je filozofsku grupu predmeta i pisao teološke udžbenike. Uz publicistiku bavio se znanstvenim radom, ponajviše proučavanjem povijesti Istre u 19. i 20. stoljeću. Vodio je Istarsko književno društvo sv. Ćirila i Metoda u Pazinu (od 1981. IKD Jurja Dobrile), koje je nastavilo vjersko-izdavačku i publicističko-prosvjetiteljsku djelatnost Društva sv. Mohora za Istru.
Dobio je više državnih odličja, nagradu 25. septembar Općine Pazin, počasni naslov prelata Njegove Svetosti te počasni doktorat zagrebačkoga Teološkoga fakulteta. Njegovo ime nosi Centar za informacije i komunikacije (CIK) u Pazinu, a posvećene su mu ulice u više gradova širom Istre i drugih dijelova Hrvatske. U rodnoj Kringi u spomen-parku koje je nazvano njegovim imenom, postavljeno je spomen-poprsje.
Glava portretiranog snažno je okarakterizirana kiparskom sintaksom nizanja odvojenih partitura koje suoblikuju fizionomiju opuštenog lica starog muškarca s izbočenom čeonom kosti, upalim očima, velikim podočnjacima i istaknutim nosom zaglađenog hrbata. Donja partija, bradom i krutom vilicom, rječita je za definiciju karakternih osobnosti ovoga, na mnogim poljima društvenog života, zaslužnog Istrana.
Mate Čvrljak, akademski kipar (Konjevrate kod Šibenika, 30. IV. 1934 – Rijeka, 17. IV. 2018). Diplomirao je kiparstvo na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Zagrebu u klasi prof. Vanje Radauša (1961), od 1962. do 1964. bio je suradnik majstorske radionice Antuna Augustinčića. Od 1965. do 2000. radio je kao profesor umjetnosti u Srednjoj školi Mate Blažina u Labinu i suutemeljitelj je Labinskih ateliera. Sudjelovao je na skulptorskim simpozijima, od 1972. godine održao brojne samostalne izložbe, a 1985. izložbu skulptura u Kaštelu u Pazinu. Čvrljak je autor javnih spomenika u Labinu, Buzetu, Aranđelovcu (Srbija), Iloku, Puli i Medulinu. Ostvario je značajan opus portreta i poprsja koji su postavljeni u javne i otvorene prostore. U pazinskom Parku istarskih velikana autor je sedam bisti.
Mons. dr.sc. Božo Milanović
Sculptor: Mate Čvrljak, inauguration of the bust: 1990
Božo Milanović was a priest, professor, scientist, cultural and public worker (Kringa, October 10, 1890 – Pazin, December 28, 1980). He spent his childhood in a Croatian family who were followers of the People’s Party. He began his education in his native Kringa and continued at the Carsko-kraljevska velika državna gimnazija state high school in Pazin (1901–10), the first secondary school of Istrian Croats, joining the Catholic youth movement in the upper grades. The young high school student was particularly interested in the natural sciences, so while studying the use of magnetism and electricity, he designed a kind of electric motor with an electric commutator, which he later reported as a theologian to the patent office in Vienna. He studied theology at the Central Theological Seminary in Gorica (1910–1914) and was ordained a priest in Trieste in 1914. As a theologian, he became the secretary and president of the Akademsko hrvatsko-slovensko katoličko ferijalno društvo Dobrila (Academic Croatian-Slavic Catholic Ferial Society Dobrila, founded in 1908), and during the summer holidays he founded youth societies in the area of what was then Istria. During three theological years, he organized 20 youth societies with around 3,000 members. In August 1914, he was appointed chaplain in Pićan. As a young chaplain, he was elected treasurer of the Tiskovno društvo in Pazin and, together with S. Brajša, managed to rehabilitate the finances and activate the society as much as it was possible during the war years. In World War I, the Austrian authorities imprisoned him for a short time as politically undesirable, but he was soon released. In 1917-1918 he stayed at the Augustineum imperial institute in Vienna for the preparation of his doctorate in moral theology. He wrote and submitted his dissertation but did not get to defend it because the Austro-Hungarian monarchy capitulated. After the end of the war, he was a pastor in Kringa for a short time, from where he ran a printing house in Pazin, and in 1919, the Pučki prijatelj newspaper started to be published again. The most significant and fruitful part of Milanović’s life is the period between the two world wars. Following the occupation of Istria, he was under constant surveillance by the Italian police, suffered several savage attacks by the fascists, and in order to protect him, the Bishop of Trieste-Koper, A. Bartolomasi, transferred him to the position of parish assistant in the parish of St. John in the suburbs of Trieste on February 7, 1922, which was mainly inhabited by Slovenian believers. By decree of September 19, 1938, he was appointed chaplain in the central city parish of St. Anthony the New. His main activity in Trieste was publishing to maintain the national consciousness of Istrian Croats and Slovenes. The work started at the Tiskovno društvo was just moved and continued in Trieste. He continued to publish the Pučki prijatelj newspaper, which from 1929, was called Istarski list, calendar Istranin (1922–24), and from 1925 Istarska Danica, but he also edited and printed a number of editions of books, brochures, prayer books, stories, songbooks, books for children (Ciba-biba, Kolačići), a book with practical lessons Veterinarska čitanka, Pravna čitanka u dva dijela, Gnjojenje i gnjojidba, catechisms, multiple editions of prayer books Oče, budi volja tvoja and Oče naš. Through the Društvo sv. Mohora za Istru society (founded in 1924 as a fraternity), of which he was the founder, president, treasurer and secretary, he developed a large-scale cultural, educational and publishing work, and with his colleagues contributed to the preservation of the Istrian identity between the two world wars, at a time when the fascist government tried to completely erase Croatian and Slovenian national feelings. He significantly contributed to the internationalization of V. Gortan’s case. He stayed in Trieste until 1941, when the fascists interned him in Bergamo near Milan (until September 1943), although he managed to secretly meet and negotiate with Istrian pastors and Koper seminarians from Istria, and to print and distribute books and brochures in Croatian and Slovenian. Following the fall of the fascist government in September 1943, he returned to Trieste in November, where he again took up publishing activities (calendars, catechisms, prayer books). After the end of the war, in July 1945, representatives of the People’s Liberation Movement – Dr. Dušan Diminić and Ivan Motika established contact with Milanović in order to obtain the support of the Church for negotiations on future state borders. In exchange, he asked the Yugoslav authorities to enable the establishment of the Istrian Croatian seminary with eight high school classes, the establishment of the Istrian priests’ society, the publication of a religious paper, to allow the teaching of religious education in schools and the continuation of the activities of the Društvo sv. Mohora za Istru society. On July 31, 1945, at a meeting held in the Franciscan monastery in Pazin, 44 priests signed a statement demanding that “for ethnic, geographical and economic reasons, Istria must be annexed to the Democratic Federative Yugoslavia” to achieve complete political and diplomatic liberation of Istria. His involvement with other Istrian priests at meetings with the Inter-Allied Demarcation Commission in March 1946 was crucial, during which he used church statistics to prove that the Istria and Slovenian coast had to belong to Yugoslavia. On that occasion, in the building of the then Episcopal Seminary (today’s building of the Pazin College), he set up and edited the accompanying catalogue of the exhibition entitled Svjedočanstva o slavenstvu Istre (Testimonies about the Slavic origins of Istria). He also took part in the work of the Paris Peace Conference. As a member of the Julian March delegation, he went on a tour to France and Belgium, where he fought for a rightful border solution. In November 1946, he moved from Trieste to Pazin and assumed the position of director of the seminary high school there, which he held until 1968. He was rector of the Theological College in Pazin from1955 to 1965. He taught a philosophical group of subjects and wrote theological textbooks. In addition to opinion journalism, he was engaged in scientific work, mostly studying the history of Istria in the 19th and 20th centuries. He led the Istarsko književno društvo sv. Ćirila i Metoda society in Pazin (from 1981 IKD Jurja Dobrile), which continued the religious-publishing and journalistic-educational activity of the Društvo sv. Mohora za Istru society. He received several state awards, the 25. septembar award from the Municipality of Pazin, the honorary title of Prelate of Honour of His Holiness, and an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Theology in Zagreb. The Centre for Information and Communications (CIK) in Pazin bears his name, and streets are dedicated to him in several cities throughout Istria and other parts of Croatia. A memorial bust was also placed in the memorial park named after him in his native Kringa.
The head of the person portrayed is strongly characterized by the sculptural syntax of a series of separate parts that shape the physiognomy of the relaxed face of an old man with a protruding frontal bone, sunken eyes, large dark circles, a prominent nose with a smooth back. The lower part, with a beard and a stiff jaw, are eloquent for the definition of the character personality of this, in many fields of social life, meritorious Istrian.
Mate Čvrljak, was an academic sculptor (Konjevrate near Šibenik, April 30, 1934 – Rijeka, April 17, 2018). He graduated in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb under prof. Vanja Radauš (1961). From 1962 to 1964, he was an associate of Antun Augustinčić’s master workshop. From 1965 to 2000, he worked as an art teacher at the Mate Blažina High School in Labin and co-founded the Labin Ateliers. He participated in sculpture symposia, and from 1972 held a number of solo exhibitions with an exhibition of sculptures in Pazin Castle in 1985. Čvrljak is the artist behind public monuments that can be found in Labin, Buzet, Aranđelovac (Serbia), Ilok, Pula and Medulin, and he also created a significant body of work of portraits and busts placed in public, open spaces, with seven of them being placed in Pazin’s Park istarskih velikana.