Bobovišća na moru (on Brač Island) is known as the poet’s port as it hosts the house of the Nazor family and its most famous member, the eminent Croatian writer Vladimir Nazor, who wrote some of his most beautiful works here: Voda, David i Golijat, Prsten, Moj otac and Pastir Loda. Vladimir Nazor built his symbolic fort and a monument to his sisters called Tri sestrice (Three sisters) above the village.
Today, the family house of Vladimir Nazor keeps a small memorial collection with his manuscripts, personal possessions, and photographs, while a statue of the poet, the work of the academy-trained sculptor Mirko Ostoja, has been erected at the lower end of the bay.
Shepherd Loda, real name Anton Sapunar, born on 20 September 1895 to mother Vica and father Petar, was one of eleven brothers and sisters and lived in Ložišće. He is the topic of the eponymous novel written by famous Croatian writer Vladimir Nazor, but who was he in real life?
He was low in stature, almost a midget, and mentally on the slow side. He lived in Ložišće with his sister Haramina, near the bell tower. He came to Milna once a year, always for the feast. As he was of cheerful spirit, everyone would gather around him, especially the children. He had the mind of a child of five or six, never went to school, and could not read and write, but he knew several rhymes that he had learned from Vladimir Nazor.
Whenever the children asked him to sing, he would climb on a small table or column and recite the rhymes. They would give him a coin afterward and he would be very grateful.
After the war, the feasts were no longer as well organized as they had been before, as they were of a religious character, and as such efforts were made to suppress them. Nevertheless, this did not stop Loda from coming. During this period, he would always appear in a trenchcoat, even though it was midsummer. When someone asked him where he got his trenchcoat, he would say with great pride: “Our poet Nazor sent it to me, Vladimir Nazor gave it to me.” And he always had a smile on his face …
He died on 06 April 1975 and was buried at the local cemetery in Ložišće.
Author: www.tz-milna.hr
