Friar Ivan Despot

Friar Ivan Despot (Zaostrog, 19. VIII. 1851. Split - Dobri, 19. II. 1886) is a Croatian writer and poet; after his death in Split he was buried in a special grave in front of the monastery church in Zaostrog.

No matter how respected and celebrated he was, he was forgotten considerably quickly among the wider public. It is no wonder the Austrian occupiers undertook everything possible in order to suppress the memory of Friar Ivan Despot – a great man of Zaostrog, Primorje, a great Dalmatian and above all a great Croat. He strove for the affirmation of the Croatian language and culture, and devoted all his spiritual and working strength to the unification and independence of Croatia. This bothered equally the Yugoslav Unitarians; consequently the literary and national deeds of Friar Ivan Despot of Zaostrog were systematically ''forgotten'' during the war and post-war period of the 20th century.

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