Mate Čvrljak: Vladimir Gortan

(inauguracija biste 2015. godine)

Vladimir Gortan, antifašistički borac (Beram, 7. VI. 1904 – Pula, 17. X. 1929). Rođen je u obitelji siromašnih seljaka. Osnovnu školu završio je u rodnom selu. Po zanimanju  zemljoradnik, a često je radio kao nadničar prodajući robu za račun jednog pazinskog trgovca.  Godine 1928. postao je neformalni član Borbe, tajne antifašističke organizacije istarskih Hrvata i Slovenaca, čiji su ciljevi i zadaci bili borba svim mogućim sredstvima protiv fašizma i za njegovo rušenje te borba za sjedinjenje s Kraljevinom Jugoslavijom svih slovenskih i hrvatskih krajeva koji su bili pod Italijom. U siječnju 1929. Borba se sjedinila s revolucionarnom organizacijom Slovenaca i Hrvata za obranu od fašističkog odnarođivanja pod nazivom TIGR (Trst–Istra–Gorica–Rijeka) koja je osnovana 1927. u Trstu. Uoči fašističkoga parlamentarnog plebiscita koji su talijanske vlasti organizirale 24. ožujka 1929. godine, a na koji su pod prisilom bili pozvani i Hrvati i Slovenci Istre, uslijedila je oružana akcija članova tajne organizacije (V. Gortan, Viktor Baćac, Dušan  Ladavac  i Vjekoslav Ladavac) s ciljem da se spriječi birače koji su cestama išli na izbore. U akciji je V. Gortan kao dragovoljac određen da blokira cestu Brestovica – Pazin, ispred povorke ispalio je nekoliko metaka u zrak, nastala je panika koju su podignuli za to zaduženi sudionici povorke S. Brajković i A. Rafaelić te su se seljaci razbježali.  Na cesti Beram – Pazin pokraj Kamuš brijega (danas Brijeg Vladimira Gortana) Viktor Baćac te Dušan i Vjekoslav Ladavac zapucali su ispred povorke birača, ali se povorka nije razbježala. U puškaranju je smrtno ranjen istaknuti narodnjak Ivan Tuhtan iz Trviža te lakše Mate Brajković – Bortulin iz sela Brajkovići. Čim su fašisti doznali što se zbilo, pohitali su u Beram. Gortan, općepoznati kao uvjereni antifašist, zatražio je da pobjegne preko granice u Jugoslaviju.  Uhićen je u vlaku na postaji Prem, na pruzi između Rijeke i Pivke, 8. travnja 1929. U procesu protiv sudionika akcije, koji je Specijalni sud za zaštitu države premješten za tu priliku iz Rima u Pulu vodio od 14. do 16. listopada 1929. godine, javni je tužitelj Dessy tražio smrtnu kaznu za sve. Slučaj je izazvao reakciju javnosti u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji te veliku međunarodnu pozornost. Tijekom suđenja i nakon izvršenja presude održane su demonstracije diljem Kraljevine Jugoslavije, osobito studenata i mladeži, najprije  u Zagrebu, zatim Beogradu, Ljubljani, Mariboru, Splitu, Šibeniku, Sarajevu, Subotici, Sušaku, Dubrovniku, Novom Sadu, Nišu, ali i u Parizu, Berlinu, Luxemburgu, Bruxellesu, Buenos Airesu te drugim gradovima i državama u svijetu. O procesu su izvještavale talijanske, hrvatske i ostale novine u Jugoslaviji te strani listovi među kojima čak američki New York Times. Za slučaj su se zainteresirali zagrebački nadbiskup, ljubljanski biskup i papinski nuncij u Beogradu Pelegrinetti na čiju je molbu papa Pio XI. posredovao kod Mussolinija koji je odredio da bude osuđen na smrt samo jedan od optuženih. Na kraju procesa smrtna kazna izrečena je V. Gortanu za djelo koje nije počinio, a ostali članovi Borbe osuđeni su na dugogodišnje kazne zatvora. Gortan je strijeljan 17. listopada 1929. godine na obali morske uvale u južnom dijelu Pule (danas Gortanova uvala). Njegovi posmrtni ostatci otkriveni su na groblju Monte Giro u Puli tek 1952, a 1953. preneseni u monumentalnu spomen-kosturnicu u Podbermu. Gortan je postao simbol otpora Istrana fašizmu pa su partizanske brigade nosile njegovo ime (Prva istarska partizanska četa, Prva istarska brigada).Danas njegovo ime nose ulice i trgovi u mnogim istarskim gradovima, ali i gradovima i mjestima diljem Hrvatske te osnovne, srednje škole i neke tvrtke.

Poprsje muškarca mlađe životne dobi rađeno je po predlošku fotografija izrađenih prilikom Gortanova hapšenja. Portret statične, frontalne postave određuje ozbiljan izraz trokutnog lica visokog čela te lukovi snažnih obrva, poduži nos širih nosnica i puna usta. Brižljiva, minuciozna modelacija govori o autorovoj težnji za realističkim prikazom ovoga istarskog antifašista koji se i postavom u Park istarskih velikana uzdiže u ovaj društveno reprezentativan razred.

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.

Vladimir Gortan

Sculptor: Mate Čvrljak, inauguration of the bust: 1971

Vladimir Gortan was an anti-fascist fighter (Beram, June 7, 1904 – Pula, October 17, 1929) and was born into a family of poor peasants. He finished primary school in his native village and then was a farmer by profession, often working as a day labourer, selling goods for the account of a Pazin merchant. In 1928, he became an informal member of Borba, a secret anti-fascist organization of Istrian Croats and Slovenes, whose goals and objectives were the fight against fascism by all possible means and for its overthrow, as well as the fight for the unification with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia of all Slovenian and Croatian regions that were under Italian rule at the time. In January 1929, Borba united with the revolutionary organization of Slovenes and Croats for the defence against fascist alienation from its people called TIGR (Trieste–Istra–Gorica–Rijeka), which was founded in Trieste in 1927. On the eve of the fascist parliamentary plebiscite organized by the Italian authorities on March 24, 1929, to which both Croats and Slovenes of Istria were forcibly invited, an armed action followed by members of a secret organization (V. Gortan, Viktor Baćac, Dušan Ladavac and Vjekoslav Ladavac), with the aim of preventing voters going to the elections on the roads. During the action, V. Gortan was appointed as a volunteer to block the Brestovica – Pazin road, he fired several bullets into the air in front of the procession and panic arose, raised by the participants of the procession in charge S. Brajković and A. Rafaelić, and the peasants scattered. Viktor Baćac and Dušan and Vjekoslav Ladavac fired shots in front of the procession of voters on the Beram-Pazin road near Kamuš brijeg (today Brijeg Vladimira Gortana), but the procession did not disperse. Ivan Tuhtan, a prominent supporter of People’s Party from Trviž, was mortally wounded in the shooting, and Mate Brajković – Bortulin from the village of Brajkovići also received minor injuries. As soon as the fascists found out what had happened, they immediately rushed to Beram. Gortan, widely known as a staunch anti-fascist, asked to flee across the border to Yugoslavia. However, he was arrested on the train at Prem station, on the railway line between Rijeka and Pivka, on April 8, 1929. In the trial against the participants of the action, which the Special Court for the Protection of the State, moved on that occasion from Rome to Pula, conducted from October 14 to October 16, 1929, public prosecutor Dessy requested the death penalty for each of them. The case caused a public reaction in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and great international attention. During the trial and after the verdict had been given, demonstrations took place throughout the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, especially by students and young people, first in Zagreb, then in Belgrade, Ljubljana, Maribor, Split, Šibenik, Sarajevo, Subotica, Sušak, Dubrovnik, Novi Sad, Niš, but also in Paris, Berlin, Luxemburg, Brussels, Buenos Aires and other cities and countries around the world. Italian, Croatian and other newspapers in Yugoslavia reported on the trial, as well as a number of foreign newspapers, including an American one (the New York Times). The Archbishop of Zagreb, the Bishop of Ljubljana and the Papal Nuncio in Belgrade, Pelegrinetti, became interested in the case, at whose request Pope Pius XI mediated with Mussolini, who ordered that only one of the accused be sentenced to death. At the end of the trial, V. Gortan was sentenced to death, for a crime he did not commit, and the other members of Borba were sentenced to long prison terms. Gortan was shot on October 17, 1929, on the coast of a sea cove in the southern part of Pula (now Gortan’s cove). His remains were only discovered in Monte Giro cemetery in Pula in 1952, and in 1953 they were transferred to the monumental memorial ossuary in Podberam. Gortan became a symbol of Istrian resistance to fascism, so the partisan brigades bore his name (First Istrian Partisan Armed Group, First Istrian Brigade). Today, streets and squares in many Istrian towns and places, as well as those throughout Croatia, primary and secondary schools and some companies bear his name.

Bust of a young man modelled on a commemorative postcard issued in 1953 on the occasion of the unveiling of the monument and ossuary of Vladimir Gortan in the Kras area near Beram, wearing a shirt with a bow tie and a jacket with wide lapels. The portrait of a static, frontal pose is determined by the serious expression of the triangular face with a high forehead and the arches of strong eyebrows, a long nose with wide nostrils and a full mouth. The careful, meticulous modelling speaks of the author’s aspiration for a realistic depiction of this Istrian anti-fascist, who, even with the setting in the Park istarskih velikana, rises to this socially representative class.

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.