Stanko Vukadin: Jože Šuran

(inauguracija biste 1976. godine)

Jože Šuran, zemljoradnik, narodnjak, antifašist (Šurani kraj Tinjana, 5. IV. 1890 – Višnjan, 29. IV. 1944). Bio je jedan od najviđenijih narodnjaka, sljedbenik ideja hrvatskih preporoditelja i uzoriti zemljoradnik, pratio je stručnu literaturu, nabavljao nove alate i poticao susjede i sumještane na napuštanje tradicionalnih načina obrade tla i uzgoja stoke u skladu s novim dostignućima.  Zbog njegovih političkih ideja, zbog borbe za jezik i napredak hrvatskih sela od 1930-ih nalazio se na listi talijanskog fašističkog pokreta kao državni neprijatelj. Prve potpunije vijesti o narodnooslobodilačkom pokretu (NOP) saznao je krajem 1942. godine, a od kontakta s Mariom Špilerom, tajnikom Mjesnog komiteta Komunističke partije Hrvatske (KPH) Rijeke koji je u travnju došao u Istru, potpuno se posvetio ustrojavanju NOP-a na području Tinjana i Poreča. Potkraj siječnja 1943. organizirao je sastanak istaknutih suradnika NOP-a Poreštine kraj Rapavela. U svibnju 1943. postao je član KPH te bio sekretar partijske organizacije u Smolicima i predsjednik seoskog narodnooslobodilačkog odbora (NOO). Surađivao je s Joakimom Rakovcem i Milanom Jurcanom na mobilizaciji Istrana u Narodnooslobodilačku vojsku Jugoslavije, upućujući ih preko Učke prema Gorskom kotaru gdje se vodila otvorena borba s okupatorom.  Najveću skupinu od 69 dragovoljaca (od 16 do 25 godina) s područja Poreštine, Tinjanštine i Rovinjštine Šuran je 29. srpnja 1943. preko Rušnjaka vodio do prve partizanske baze na Motovunštini. Nakon kapitulacije Italije 1943. organizirao je otvoreni ustanak i osobno vodio razoružavanje talijanskih karabinjerskih posada u Višnjanu i Tinjanu. Bio je predsjednik Kotarskog NOO-a Tinjana. Tijekom njemačke okupacije Istre jedan je od najtraženijih osoba zbog diverzantskih akcija i uništavanja telefonsko-telegrafskih stupova. Uhvaćen je 27. travnja 1944. tijekom akcije sustavnog pretraživanja područja između Smolici i Muntrilja i mučen ne bi li izdao svoje osobe za kontakt, a potom obješen u Višnjanu u predjelu Šaline.

Narodnim herojem proglašen je 20. prosinca 1951. godine. Njegovo ime nosi osnovna škola u Višnjanu.

Likovnu osobitost autora poprsja narodnog heroja Jože Šurana određuju zatvorene, potpuno zaglađene površine sa stiliziranim, ali jasno prepoznatljivim anatomskim formama na trokutastom licu. Glavnom odlikom oblikovanja s anuliranjem detalja i adicijom, a ne prožimanjem elemenata fizionomije – visoko i izraženo čelo, debele obrve, vodoravno položene oči, duži, pravilan nos, veće, pune usne, postignut je dojam fizičkog vitalizma te dobrohotnost i smirenost u  izrazu portretiranog.

Stanko Vukadin, akademski kipar (Ugljane kod Trilja, 20. VIII. 1935). Akademiju likovnih umjetnosti upisao je 1958. godine, a diplomirao 1963. u klasi prof. Vanje Radauša. Nadahnuće egipatskom skulpturom polučilo je snažno, arhetipsko pojednostavljenje.

Jože Šuran

Sculptor: Stanko Vukadin, inauguration of the bust:1976

Jože Šuran was a farmer and a supporter of the People’s Party, anti-fascist (Šurani near Tinjan, April 5, 1890 – Višnjan, April 29, 1944). He was one of the most visible supporters of the People’s Party, a follower of the ideas of Croatian revivalists, and an exemplary farmer. He followed professional literature, acquired new tools and encouraged his neighbours and fellow villagers to abandon traditional methods of tilling the soil and raising livestock in accordance with new achievements. Thanks to his political ideas, and his fight for the language and progress of the Croatian villages, he was on the list of the Italian fascist movement as an enemy of the state from the 1930s. He learned the first complete news about the National Liberation Movement at the end of 1942, and following contact with Mario Špiler, the secretary of the Local Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia Rijeka, who came to Istria in April, he fully dedicated himself to the organization in the area of Tinjan and Poreč. At the end of January 1943, he organized a meeting of prominent associates of the Movement of the area of Poreč near Rapavel. In May 1943, he became a member of the Communist Party of Croatia and was secretary of the party organization in Smolici and president of the village National Liberation Committee. He cooperated with Joakim Rakovac and Milan Jurcan on the mobilization of Istrians for the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, directing them via Učka towards Gorski kotar, where an open fight with the occupier was taking place. Šuran took the largest group of 69 volunteers (from 16 to 25 years old) from the area of Poreč, Tinjan and Rovinj, on July 29, 1943 through Rušnjak to the first partisan base in the area of Motovun. Following the capitulation of Italy in 1943, he organized an open uprising and personally led the disarmament of the Italian carabinieri crews in Višnjan and Tinjan. He was the president of the District National Liberation Committee of Tinjan. During the German occupation of Istria, he was one of the most wanted persons due to his acts of sabotage and destruction of telephone and telegraph poles. During the systematic search of the area between Smolici and Muntrilj, he was captured on April 27, 1944, and tortured to see if he would betray his contacts, and then hanged in Višnjan, in the area of Šaline. He was declared a national hero on December 20, 1951. The elementary school in Višnjan bears his name.

The artistic distinctiveness of the sculptor of the national hero, Jože Šuran, is determined by the closed, completely smoothed surfaces with stylized, clearly recognizable anatomical forms on the triangular face. The main feature of shaping with the elimination of details and the addition, rather than the permeation, of the elements of physiognomy: a high, pronounced forehead, thick eyebrows, horizontally placed eyes, a long, regular nose, large, full lips, the impression of physical vitality and benevolence and calmness in the expression of the portrait is achieved.

Stanko Vukadin is an academic sculptor (Ugljane near Trilj, August 20, 1935). He entered the Academy of Fine Arts in 1958 and graduated in 1963 under prof. Vanja Radauš. Inspiration from Egyptian sculpture has resulted in a strong simplification, which is archetypal.