Draft:Jovan Nako

Jovan Nako (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Нако; Veliki Komloš, Habsburg Monarchy, 16 September 1814 - Vienna, Austria-Hungary, 19 March 1889) was wealthy patron and big landowner in the county of Torontál in Austria-Hungary, now part of Serbia and Romania. He is best remembered as the benefactor of the first Jovan Nako literary endowment managed by Matica srpska.

Biography

Jovan Nako is a descendant of the old Cincar noble family, originally from Old Serbia, today's North Macedonia. The Nako brothers - Hristifor and Kirill - were wealthy merchants, who bought in 1781 and 1782 large land holdings in Banat (Veliki Komlos, Velika Teremija and Veliki Semikluš for 70,000 florins and at the same time acquired ennoblement. The Nako family split into two branches: the count's (Christiphor's descendants) and the noble (Cyril's) descendants. In 1813, Alexander Nako received the title of count.

Josif Nako, son of Kirill Nako, with his wife Constantia had six children, of whom only Jovan survived. He became an orphan at an early age, losing his father at the age of two and his mother at the age of eleven. During his lifetime, his mother authorized Ludwig Udwarnoki of Kiš Joka to be her son's guardian and administrator of their property. After the death of Constantia, Jovan's uncle, Count Alexander Nako, tried to get guardianship and manage his nephew's property. This did not happen, however, and the authorities appointed the vice-bishop of Torontál County, Ignjac Hertelendi, as the new guardian.

Matica srpska

Jovan Nako studied law in Budapest. Although by origin Cincar he always felt like a true Serb, which can be seen from his charitable gestures to help Serbian culture, but also the Serbian provinces then occupied by Austria-Hungary.

Under the influence of Teodor Pavlović, he became a member of Matica srpskain 1833, to which he bequeathed 5,000 florins in silver, with the interest to be used to award prizes for literature. The trustee wrote in his foundation act that he gave a gift: "out of love, which I always carry in my chest towards my kindred, and desire, with which I want to see a more educated and enlightened Serbian people". These funds were used to establish the first literary endowment in the Serbian nation.

He signed the "basic letter" as endowment on 7 January 1844, and the important provision was that he pays 5% interest annually up to a certain amount. Baron Jovan fulfilled his promise in 1872 when, in addition to the founding contribution, he also gave all the interest. In 1889, the money fund grew to 27,000 florins From the fund of this endowment, 23 literary works were awarded in the period from 1846 to 1913. Their subjects included prose and poetry, translations of world literature and philosophical works, as well as literature related to religion. In 1845, Jovan Subotić received a prize of 40 Florin for the song "King of Dečani". From the very foundation of Matica srpska, he was interested in its work, and since 1837 he attended meetings and participated in the work of the Board of Matica srpska. He opposed the relocation of Matica from Pest to Novi Sad.

Matica honored him whenever there was an opportunity, so on the occasion of the celebration of the centenary of the birth of Sava Tekelija, in 1871, he was awarded a silver Matica srpska medal, and shortly after Matica moved to Novi Sad (1864) a portrait of Jovan Nako, together with portraits of other benefactors, are on display at the new premises of the venerable institution known as Matica srpska.

Private life

Jovan Nako possessed several passions: theater, music and travel. In the family castle in Veliki Komloš, he founded a private theater troupe and theatre where plays were performed, mostly in German and Serbian. Many performances had charitable goals - e.g. to build a kindergarten in Zrenjanin or to help the poor. Two orchestras were constantly engaged in the theater - string and brass. He also trained his voice (tenor) at the Burgtheater in Vienna, with the Italian professor and composer Luigi Gugliemi, the nephew of Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. In the middle of the 19th century, Comloșu Mare was a gathering place for educated people and cultural workers, among whom the great mother's benefactor Christifor Schifman, who was the manager of Nako's estate there, also stood out.

He spent most of his time, especially in winter, with his wife in the palaces in Vienna and Budapest. In the end, travels around the world and a luxurious life contributed to the financial collapse of Jovan Nako. He sold the castle in Pest, leased the land holdings, and retired to Vienna, where he lived on the rent for the rest of his life.

In 1835, he married Anastasia Vučetić, the daughter of a wealthy Trieste shipowner. On the occasion of the wedding of John and Anastasia, held on 29 April 1835 in Trieste, a special "Greeting" in verse was written and printed in Trieste by a certain D.V. They had three children in their marriage, of whom only daughter Mileva survived. The sole heiress Mileva went on to marry Duke Zurlo San Marco, and converted from Eastern Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism.

Death

Jovan Nako died on 19 March 1889 in his villa in Vienna, and was buried on 25 March 1889 in the family tomb of the Orthodox Serbian-Romanian Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Veliki Komlos.

References

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: Јован Нако