MEGLIO TARDI CHE MAI...Better later than never....
I am a little late in congratulating my good friend and companion in so many adventures of the last few years, composer Michael Pepa, on his last very exciting recognition!
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| Ambassador Veselko Grubišić of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Ottawa on March 18, 2015 |
On March 18th of this year, composer Michael Pepa was awarded REDOM DANICE HARVATSKE S LIKOM MARKA MARULIĆA, the Order of Danica with the figure of Marulić.
He was invited to Ottawa to meet the Croatian Ambassador, Veselko Grubišić, who presented him with the medals for his ongoing support of the Croatian culture. A quick look at his many projects will show that this is a very long relationship, built over so many years, which created some very solid and lasting collaborations (some of which I have been lucky beneficiary in the last couple of years).
The title of this honour, which can be compared to the Order of Canada, is quite detailed. The reason is that there are several Orders of Croatian Danica, but the one S LIKOM MARKA MARULIĆA is awarded for special merits in culture, while others are for science, education, innovation, sports,...
Marko Marulić, whose Latin name was Marcus Marulus Spalatensis, was a Croatian writer, born in Split in 1450. Most of his writings were in Latin, some in Italian, and he obviously wrote substantial works in the Croatian language as well. There is some speculation that he might have studied in Padova and have traveled in Italy, but he spent most of his mature life in the humanistic cultural circle of his native Split, covering many important roles on the judicial and administrative level. As an interesting anecdote, it seems that the first known use of the word psychology is attributed to him! It is his role as a patriotic figure, in particular in his efforts against the Turks, that gave him such an important place in Croatian history, in particular with his many biblical and secular poems in Croatian, the most famous of which was his epic poem Judita.
The medal itself has a picture of Marko Marulić with a book in his hands and the background of the city of Split, with its cathedral's bell tower.
I was looking to see who else had won such a medal in the past, and I recognized one other name: Berislav Šipuš, composer and the Minister of Culture of Croatia, Michael's good friend in Zagreb, also received the award in 2009!
A little addendum, a few years later, now 2017, we went back on tour to Zagreb and we took a picture with Michael and the "original" Marko Marulić !
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| Zagreb 2017 |
