living
Croatia’s Contributions –
DID YOU KNOW?
W
hat are your
first thoughts
when you reflect
on Croatia? Do
you wonder, where
is Croatia or think ‘good question’?
Croatian Americans have made ma-
jor contributions to academics; art
and entertainment including film,
television, comedy, ballet, music; pe-
troleum discovery and production in
Texas, and promote the advancement
of Croatian American and Croatian
professionals such as scientists, doc-
tors, engineers, attorneys, and busi-
ness executives around the world.
This article focuses on a few of the
many Croatian contributions to our
lifestyle, business, and culture.
By Susanne Rothschild, MBA, PMP
President of The Rothschild Corporation
For example, did you know?
1. What are some of the
Croatian contributions to
American film, music and
art?
• Boris Dvornik starred in the
drama “The Ninth Circle” in
1960. A year later, he appeared
in the comedy, “Martin in the
Clouds”. His two sons, Dino
and Dean Dvornik, were re-
nowned pop musicians.
• Krist Novoselic, bassist and co-
founder of the band, Nirvana,
22 iF Magazine | July 2017
became a Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame inductee.
• John Malkovich, American ac-
tor and director, has appeared
in more than 70 films, includ-
ing “Of Mice and Men,” and
received numerous Academy
Award nominations. Born in
Illinois, his paternal grandpar-
ents were Croatian.
• Rick Rossovich, best known
for his role as Ron “Slider”
Kerner in the 1986 film “Top
Gun”, has appeared in over 30
fims.
• Mia Slavenska was prima balle-
rina of the Metropolitan Op-
era Ballet.
• Matthew Yuricich has been
nominated for the Academy
Awards as a specialeffects artist
three times.
• You can find a list of many
more artists, entertainers, mu-
sicians, screenwriters, direc-
tors and producers at https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_
of_Croatian_Americans.
2. What are some of the
Croatian contributions to
academics, science, inven-
tions and engineering?
• Henry Suzzallo, of Croatian
descent, was president of the
University of Washington from
1915 to 1926 and later served
as president of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advance-
ment of Teaching.
• Among mathematicians of
Croation descent are Mladen
Bestvina, Jaksa Cvitanic, Wil-
liam Feller, Gordana Matic,
and more.
• Pasko Rakic, MD, PhD, is a
neuroscientist working at Yale
School of Medicine Depart-
ment of Neuroscience. His
main interest is research in the
development of the human
brain.
• Marin Soljacic, is a professor of
physics at MIT. His experi-
ments and work in wireless
energy transfer are related to
the work of Nikola Tesla but
have significant differences.
• Victor Grinich is one of the
eight founders of Silicon Valey.
• Anthony Francis Lucas, an oil
explorer and inventor, orga-
nized with Pattillo Higgins the
drilling of the oil well known as
“Spindletop” near Beaumont,
Texas. This oil well led to the
start of the petroleum age.
• This is a mere sampling of the
many contributors of Croa-
tian descent. Refer to https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_
of_Croatian_Americans for a
more detailed listing.