August Senoa
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August Šenoa (November 14, 1838 – died December 13, 1881) was a Croatian novelist, critic, editor, poet, and dramatist.
He was a transitional figure, who helped bring Croatian literature from Romanticism to Realism and introduced the historical novel to Croatia. He wrote more than ten novels, among which the most notable are:
- "Zlatarovo zlato" / Goldsmith's gold
- "Seljačka buna" / Peasants' revolt
- "Diogenes"
- "Čuvaj se senjske ruke" / Pirates of Senj
In his novels, he fused the national romanticism characterized by buoyant and inventive language with realist depiction of the growth of petite bourgeois class.
This "father of Croatian novel" (and modern national literature) is at best in his mass Cecildemillean scenes and poetic description of oppressed Croatian peasantry, nobility struggling against foreign rule (Venetians, Austrians/Germans and Hungarians) and romanticised period from the 15th to the 18th century. It has become a commonplace phrase that "Šenoa created the Croatian reading public".
Šenoa was born in the Croatian capital Zagreb, then part of the Habsburg Empire. It's interesting to note that Šenoa himself was of German descent, his surname was originally spelled Schönoa. He also died in Zagreb at the age of 43.hr:August Å enoa