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Naši Stari Vidošcani (The Old Vidovici Folk)

On his seventieth birthday in 2016 Ivo Saganic launched the book which he self-published and which was a product of ten years of research. The village of Vidovici is his ancestral families native home. Vidovici sits nestled on a hilltop overlooking the port town of Martinšcica, similar to Lubenice a prominent landmark which towers over the sea only a few miles north of here. Vidovici is one of several dozen communities that had existed on the island of Cres, most small, some would say tiny settlements, that have declined for the last few decades. Vidovici is one of these hamlets that had a population of 150 in its heyday, but now contains only two inhabitants year round.

Capt. Ivo Saganic had a maritime career that spanned over 47 years, with 37 years as a ship's captain. He had completed four years of maritime training in 1965 after which he worked for the Jugolinija company going to Israel, Japan, and North America. In the last 12 years of his career he was captain of liftboats working in the Nigeria oil fields for the American companies Halliburton and Hercules Offshore. Saganic is now retired and resides in Martinšcica.

Saganic's parents came from Vidovici and the had a long ancestal lineage originating in the town. Saganic grew up in Martinšcica but wrote about the families which had lived in Vidovici. Beginning 30 years ago, Saganic wroted down his family tree information as told to him by his father, Ive, from memmory. Later in 2006, he began his extensive research by examining the church census records -- the Status Animarum -- for Vidovici which then led him to examine the parish records of all the nearby communities. Saganic spent over ten years researching the families of Vidovici, documenting individual biographies, creating family trees, outlining the history of each house in the community, and discovering where the inhabitants moved after they left. Saganic determined that there were 665 inhabitants of Vidovici over the last 200 years. Saganic's launch of Naši Stari Vidošcani last July is the accumulated efforts of his work.

He presents extensive documentation of the Vidovici residents who immigrated to Youngstown, Ohio. His research took him to the United States where he found records for 58 Vidovišcani who immigrated to Ohio, Pennsylavania, New York, and New Jersey. Fourteen pages details this exodus to America and include photographs of the ships on which the immigrants arrived. A detailed chart illustrates all the residencal locations in Youngstown, Ohio for the Vidošcani who relocated there in the first half of the 20th Century, while another chart lists all the 58 who left the village and their dates of entry into the United States between 1893 and 1972.

The book also provides individual biographies throughout it's pages. A great amount of detail accompanies these biographies. For example Franjo Saganic who was born in house number 2 in Vidovici in 1887 is described in several pages with three family pictures plus a photo of the S.S. Argentina on which he arrived in America. All those with the surnames Saganich (Saganic), Kucich - Cucci - Cucich (Kucic) and Stefanich - Stefani (Stefanic) in America, can trace their grandfathers, great-grandfathers or other relatives to the village of Vidovici. Now with the aid of Sanganic's book, they can find their family trees back 8 to 12 generations. The author excepts written communication in English for genealogical inquiries. He states that, "It is good to know that every man in America today that bears the name Saganich has their ancestral origins on the island of Cres dating from the the beginning of the 20th century."  

The cover of Naši Stari Vidošcani
features Marija Saganic (1882-1925),
Ivo Saganic's grandmother.

The first inhabitant of Vidovici discovered by Saganic was Ivan Saganic, written as Zuanne Sagagnich in the documents. Ivan was born in 1672, one of the many settlers who immigrated to the islands of Cres and Lošinj, from neigbouring Vrbnik on the island of Krk. The main part of Saganic's book contains chapters on each of the 27 houses which make up Vidovici. Twenty-six of these houses today are closed during the winter. By examing the dates when these houses were in use, one sees when specific families became established at these residences. Saganic has become the leading authority on Saganic family origins and history. The family genealogical charts provide a wealth of detail. Not only are the charts unique family histories stretching back, in some cases over two hundred years, they also provide the currently living descendants of those family.

House No.	Surname	Family Name	Oldest Individual	Dates
1	Saganic	Peritovi	Anton Saganic	1881-1964
2	Saganic	Matovi	Dinko Saganic	1835-1918
3	Saganic	Jakovjevi	Jakov Saganic	1871-1945
4	Saganic	Bravarovi/Franovi	Ivan Saganic	1789-1849
5	Saganic	Bravarovi	Ivan Saganic	1851-1899
6	Saganic	Preturovi	Dinko Saganic	1837-1873
7	Saganic	Saganicevi	Matija Saganic	1750-
8	Balon	Ivicevi/Blažovi	Bernardo Balon	1758-1836
9	Kucic	Anticevi	Anton Balon	1787-1875
10	Kucic	Kumpiri	Anton Kucic	1815-1905
11	Kucic	Mortovi	Damijan, Kucic	1800-1876
12	Kucic	Toninini	Mikula Kucic	1796-1865
13	Kucic	Gašpicevi	Ivan Kucic	1769-1850
14	Kucic	Memicevi	Dinko Kucic	1857-1942
15	Kucic	Principi/Dumijanjevi	Ivana Juranic	1759-1831
16	Kucic	Pašameti	Ivan Kucic	1835-1917
17	Kucic	Perovi	Mikula Kucic	1796-1865
18	Kucic	Karlovi	Dume Jurjako	1859-1905
19	Kucic	Ive Gašpicev	Ivan Kucic	1908-1998
20	Kucic	Gašpe Gašpicev	Gaspar Kucic	1911-2006
21	Kucic	Tone Principov	Anton Kucic	1917-1993
22	Kucic	Antonjevi	Antun Kucic	1809-1905
23	Kucic	Coticevi	Antun Kucic	1815-1905
24	Saganic	Capaftic/Pekovi	Andrea Saganic	1857-1920
25	Stefanic	Skopcarovi	Andrija Stefanic	1809-1881
26	Stefanic	Ivankini	Ivan Stefanic	1781-1856
27	Stefanic	Tone Ivankin	Anton Stefanic	1853-1902

The most unique aspect of Saganic's book is its language. Most of it is written in the Cakavian dialect of Croatian, known to the locals simply as 'Po našu' which roughly translates as 'in our own speach'. A chapter of dialect terms is provided in the volume. For the English reader the book is not difficult to understand even if they don't understand the language. With a list of a few Cakavian terms, one can understand the family trees and get a rudimentary appreciation of the biographical information. A chapter of dialect terms is provided in the volume. However, as a concession for those who do not want to make this kind of effort an introduction is appended in English at the front of the book, along with additional versions in standard Croatian, Italian, and German.

The volume is a large sized publication of 512 pages and provides a detailed genealogy of all the families that lived in Vidovici, Croatia since the beginning of the 1800s. All 27 houses in the hamlet have their inhabitants described in biographical outlines and forms a genealogical treatise for an entire community. Saganic who was born in the hamlet, The book which was printed in Rijeka is not known to be available in stores. Ivo Saganic handles the distribution of his book from Martinšcica, the closest town to Vidovici. For availablity of the book contact can be made directly with the author at:

Ivo Saganic
Martinšcica 6
51556 Martinšcica
Croatia
e-mail saganic.martinscica@vip.hr

Last July (2016) the book had a grand launch with a book signing in Martinšcica. The event was well attend with over two hundred people. It was held on the terrace of the hotel "Golden Lion". The folklore group Orlec preformed. Talks were given by Dr. Julijano Sokolic and Bernard Balon. Balon is editor of Zavicajne biblioteke Katedre Cakavskog sabora Cres-Lošinj (Native libraries Chair of Chakavian Assembly for Cres-Lošinj), and Sokolic is a journalist and president of the local Katedre Cakavskog sabora (Chakavian Council) who has written many books on the history and tourism on the island of Lošinj, including the towns of Mali Lošinj, Veli Lošinj, and Nerezine. Also in attendace were Ivo Saganic's aunt Dora Kucic, age 90, and Gino Kucic Gaspicev, the remaining two indigenous villagers of Vidovici.

 
Ivo Saganic and daughter at the book launch

Reference and photographs from: Vidovici dobili enciklopediju iz pera kapetana Saganica, by Bojan Puric, July 10 2016.

Ilovik i Sveti Petar (Ilovik and Saint Peter's)

Unlike Saganic, who wrote his book in the Cakavian idiom, Pavokovic chose to write her book in standard Croatian. Pavokovic's book is well illustrated with photographs of the people, the buildings of Ilovik, including the monastary, and the antique household artifacts used on the island in the previous century.

The full title of this book is Ilovik i Sveti Petar: dva otoka istoga imeni - na jednome se živi, na drugome vjecno pociva (Ilovik and Saint Peter: two island with the same name - on one you live, on the other you rest). There are two islands making up one settlement. Ilovik is the island where the village is found, and Saint Peter's is the ajoining island with it's cemetery. The cemetery is one of several featured in the book Kvarner Cemeteries and described in the last issue of this online newsletter (No.25 - 2016). The grave stones on Saint Peter's have been transcribed in Kvarner Cemeteries. A narrow channel separates the two islands, so in order to bury an individiual, a boat is used to take the body from the village to the cemtery, therefore the peculiar subtitle of the book.

Gordana was born in Rijeka, Croatia and studied sanitary engineering at the local medical faculty at the university. She also receive a Ph.D. in biomedicine and health care from the Medical Faculty in Rijeka, Croatia. Gordana as a naturalist is concerned with the conservation of biology. One of the co-authors of the book deals with the issue of illegal poisoning of wild animals and of sheep breeding and the production of Ilovik's sheeps cheese. Gordana is also engaged in photography, especially that of animals. She spends her time between Rijeka and Ilovik with her husband Ladislav Radoslovic and daughter Ivna.

Gordana Pavokovic at the book launch

Pavokovic describes her book through the eyes of the people on Ilovik, "I saw that their [the islanders] history is very long; there is a continuity of life on the islands for more than two millennia; they are here throughout history between alternating powers and different empires and states, and that these islands on the Croatian and eastern Adriatic coast are anything but historically insignificant".

The first dozen chapters of Pavokovic's book are short and cover Ilovik's history from ancient times to the 19th Century, and includes the Middle Ages, the Venician period, and the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Other historical chapters round out the coverage with more recent events such as the aftermath following the Second World War. Additional chapters touch on the lives of Ilovik residents from the 19th Century up to today. Biographical details on some of the inhabitants of Ilovik over the last two hundred years, including those that emmigrated from the island since the 1960's. The book is full of biographical and genealogical information. For example, two generations of the Karmelo Budinich describes their worked on Suez Canal in Egypt. There are ten pages devoted to Ivan Radoslovic (1879-1975) and his family. Ivan came to the island to work as a teacher at the island school, at the turn of the 19th Century. Ivan's orgins were in the Matesinich clan from Unije and Mali Lošinj dating back to the 18th Century.

Separate chapters describe the islands olive oil, vinyards, fishing, and sheep raising, all basic food resources employed on the island. These additional chapters make for interesting reading on the local horiculture. Some of the chapters are summarized below using the original Croatian chapter titles followed by an English translation.

Original Chapter Headings	English chapter translations
Župna crkva sv. Petra i Pavla na Iloviku	The parish church of St. Peter and Paul on Ilovik
Procesije na Iloviku	(Religious) Processions on Ilovik
Posljednja plovidba Ilovcana	The last voyage of the residents of Ilovik
Skola na Iloviku	The school on Ilovik
Ilovik i Sveti Petar u 20. stoljecu	Ilovik and Saint Peter in the 20th century
Svakodnevni život Ilovcana pocetkam 20. stoljeca	Everyday residential life on Ilovik during the early 20th century
Prica o djetinjstvu Ilovcana Karmela Budinica u Port Saidu	The story of Ilovik childhood resident - Carmelo Budinich in Port Said
Predmeti za svakodnevnu uporabu pocetkom 20. stoljeca	Items for daily use at the beginning of the 20th century
Ilovik nakon Drugog svijetskog rata	Ilovik after the Second World War
Struja na Iloviku	Electricity on Ilovik
Franjevci na Svetom Petru	The Franciscans on St. Peter's
Uredenje franjevackog odmarališta nije bio jednostavan zadatak	The interior of the Franciscan island (Saint Peter's)
Zavjetni dar nakon trovanja	Votive offerings
Životni put covjeka koji oslikava težak život Ilovcana u razdobljima siromaštva i rata	The hard life of Ilovik residents during periods of poverty and war
Djelatnosti na Iloviku	(Photos of everyday) Activities on Ilovik
Poljoprivreda na Iloviku i Svetom Petru	Agriculture on Ilovik and Saint Peter's
Masline na Iloviku i Svetom Petru	Olives on Ilovik and Saint Peter's
Predmet iz stare uljare za masline i za maslinik	The subject of the old olive mill and olive groves
Kako su se nekada mljele masline?	How were olives once pressed?
Vinogradi na Iloviku i Svetom Petru	Vineyards on Ilovik and Saint Peter's
Ribarstvo na Iloviku i Svetom Petru	Fishing on Ilovik and Saint Peter's
Lov ribe dinamitom	Fishing with dynamite
Ribarska radna zadruga Naprijed	"Forward" the Fishermen's cooperative
Ovcarstvo na Iloviku	Sheep herding on Ilovik
Kako se danas drže ovce na Iloviku?	How are sheep kept today on Ilovik?
Ilovacki ovcji sir	Ilovik sheep cheese
Prerada vune na otoku Iloviku	Processing of wool on the island of Ilovik
Turizam na Iloviku i Svetom Petru	Tourism on Ilovik and Saint Peter's
Izvori vode na Iloviku i Svetom Petru	Sources of water on Ilovik and Saint Peter's
Iseljavanje s Ilovika nakom Drugog svjetskog rata	Emigration from Ilovik after The Second World War
Legalni egzodus	Legal exodus
O dugovjecnosti Ilovcana	The longevity of the residents of Ilovik
Vjetrovi	Winds
Biljeska o autorici	Notes on the author
Literatura	Bibliography

Gordana Pavokovic launched her book, last summer during the community of Ilovik's "Dan Iseljenkia" or Immigrant's Day. The program began with the presentation of Gordana's book for visitors at the parish church. An addressed was given by historian Julijano Sokolic who wrote the foreword for the book, and by Mary Metz who made the prepress for the book. Reverend Milivoj Guszak and Mali Lošinj, Mayor Gari Cappelli were also on hand for the occassion. The square in front of the church was used for a preformance by the folklore society, Manfrina. Several expatriates and visitors were there to celebrate this first "Dan Iseljenkia" in thirty years and to round out the cultural and entertainment program for the evening.

The book is sponsored by the Croatian Heritage Foundation - Rijeka, Mali Lošinj, the town of Ilovik, the City Library of Mali Lošinj and the Tourist Board of Mali Lošinj. The book is written entirely in Croatian and consists of 283 pages published by Gradska knjiznica i citaonica Mali Lošinj (Mali Lošinj Town Library and Reading Room). In 2016 it had been sold at the Library, but all copies have now been distributed. More copies may be printed in the future.  

The book presentation at Ilovik parish church

Reference and photographs from: ODRŽAN DAN ISELJENIKA NA ILOVIKU 25.07.2016.