Ljudevit Gaj was a Croatian linguist, politician, journalist and writer. He was one of the central figures of the pan-Slavist Illyrian movement.
Antun Mihanović was a Croatian poet and lyricist, most famous for writing the national anthem of Croatia, which was put to music by Josif Runjanin and adopted in 1891. Klanjec, his birthplace, holds a monument to him and a gallery of his works.
The Illyrian movement was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of the 19th century, around the years of 1835–1863. This movement aimed to create a Croatian national establishment in Austria-Hungary through linguistic and ethnic unity, and through it lay the foundation for cultural and linguistic unification of all South Slavs under the revived umbrella term Illyrian.
Bogoslav Šulek was a Croatian philologist, historian and lexicographer. He was very influential in creating Croatian terminology in the areas of social and natural sciences, technology and civilization.
Ante Starčević was a Croatian politician and writer. His policies centered around Croatian state law, the integrity of Croatian lands, and the right of his people to self-determination. As an important member of the Croatian parliament and the founder of the Party of Rights he has laid the foundations for Croatian nationalism. He has been referred to as Father of the Nation due to his campaign for the rights of Croats within Austria-Hungary and his propagation of a Croatian state in a time where many politicians sought unification with other South Slavs.
Janko Drašković was a Croatian politician who is associated with the beginnings of the Illyrian movement, a 19th-century national revival. Drašković studied law and philosophy before joining the military, from which he was discharged on medical grounds. In the 1790s, Drašković pursued a political career, winning a seat in the Croatian Parliament and in the Diet of Hungary.
The House of Drašković, is a prominent Croatian noble family, supposedly descended from an old Croatian noble tribe of Kršelac, Stupić or Poletčić, while others considered the Mogorović family but it is less likely because they had a different coat of arms.
Matica hrvatska is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyrian movement during the Croatian National Revival (1835–1874). Its main goals are to promote Croatian national and cultural identity in the fields of art, science, spiritual creativity, economy and public life as well as to care for social development of Croatia.
Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia, and Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography was standardized in the late 19th century, it also covers the oldest works produced within the modern borders of Croatia, written in Church Slavonic and Medieval Latin, as well as vernacular works written in Čakavian and Kajkavian dialects.
The People's Party was a political party in the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.
Antun Mažuranić was Croatian writer and linguist, brother of Croatian Ban Ivan Mažuranić and writer Matija Mažuranić.
Vjekoslav (Alojzije) Babukić was a Croatian revivalist and a linguist.
Antun Nemčić Gostovinski was a Croatian writer.
Ljudevit Farkaš Vukotinović was a Croatian politician, writer and naturalist.
Dragutin Rakovac was a Croatian writer, translator and journalist.
AntunVramec (1538–1587/8) was a Croatian priest and writer. He wrote the first historical book in Slovene. As it was the second book written in the Kajkavian dialect, he was also a founder of the Kajkavian literature.
Josip Kušević was a Croatian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Croatian Parliament and the Diet of Hungary. As a politician, he opposed introduction of Hungarian language in official use in Croatia. Kušević is known for De municipalibus iuribus et statutis regnorum Dalmatiae, Croatiae et Slavoniae – the work compiling and advocating the rights of Croatia to a special status within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, i.e. the Croatian state right. His works influenced the Illyrian movement and Kušević was held in high regard by supporters of the movement.
Antun Kukuljević Sakcinski was a Croatian lawyer, judge and deputy county prefect before being appointed to sit at the Royal Court Table from 1831 to 1850. Kukuljević Sakcinski was a member of the Croatian Sabor and one of Croatian appointed delegates to the Diet of Hungary sittings in 1825 and 1832–1836.
Herman Bužan was a Croatian politician born in Varaždin. He studied philosophy and law at the University of Zagreb and the University of Pozsony before becoming a notary of the Zagreb County in 1831. The next year, the Croatian Sabor appointed Bužan one of its delegates to the Diet of Hungary convened in Pozsony, along with Count Janko Drašković and Antun Kukuljević Sakcinski. The three delegates were instructed to defend municipal rights of Croatia, the temporary nature of the decision to cede authority to the Hungarian Diet until Croatia has sufficient territory to become self-reliant and to protect the official status of Latin language. Finally, the delegates were to petition the king, if they were unsuccessful in the parliament, to grant Croatia the same autonomy in decision-making as enjoyed by Transylvania. Bužan advocated keeping Latin as the official language as defence of its state rights rather than defence of an extinct language, winning support of the Sabor on the issue. In 1835, 1839, and 1843, Bužan was reelected as a delegate to the Hungarian Diet where he spoke in defence of the Illyrian movement – the Croatian national revival movement. He was appointed to was appointed to sit at the Royal Court Table in Zagreb on behalf of the Zagreb County in 1841, later presiding over the body since 1846. Following an appeal issued by Ban of Croatia Josip Jelačić for contributions to help raise an army few months into the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Bužan was the first in the Sabor make a donation – by giving 300 forints. Later that year, Jelačić tasked Bužan, together with Josip Bunjevac, with securing control over the city of Rijeka for Croatia. In 1850, following introduction of the Bach's absolutism, Bužan was appointed an advisor at the Supreme Court of Cassation in Vienna. He was retired in 1862 and, later that year, he died in Črešnjevec near Tuhelj.
