Kumicic, Evgenij
Kumičić, Evgenij
Born Jan. 11, 1850, in Brseč, Istria; died May 13, 1904, in Zagreb. Croatian writer. Studied medicine and philosophy at the Universities of Prague and Vienna and then became a teacher. Beginning in 1883 he devoted himself to literature and political activity (he was a member of the Croatian parliament).
Kumičićs novels, which are critical of the vices of bourgeois society (Mrs. Sabina, 1883, and The Orphan, 1885), played an important role in the transition of Croatian literature from romanticism to realism. However, in his historical novels (The Conspiracy of Zrinjski and Frankopan, 1892-93; and Queen Lijepa, 1902), he did not avoid romantic idealization of the ancient Croatian aristocracy.