Držic, Marin

Držić, Marin 

Born 1508, in Dubrovnik; died 1567, in Venice. Croatian dramatist; a representative of the literature of the Dubrovnik republic.

The son of a priest, Držić became a priest himself. He was educated in Dubrovnik and at the University of Siena in Italy. He played an important role in the creation of the Dubrovnik theater. Amateur companies performed his plays in verse and prose. His career in drama began in 1548 or 1549. His most popular comedy was Uncle Maroje (staged in 1550), about contemporary life in Dubrovnik and Rome. This play, as reworked by M. Fotez, is performed today in Yugoslavia and in the USSR (in the Evgenii Vakhtangov Theater). His many plays, which are full of local color, contain sarcastic condemnations of vices.

WORKS

Djela, 2nd ed. Zagreb, 1930. In the series Stari pisci hrvatski, book 7.

REFERENCE

Švelec, F. Komički teatar Marina Držića. Zagreb, 1968.