Bishop Antun Mandić – »the Imaginer of All That is Better and More Exalted in the Diocese«

Bosanski ili đakovački i srijemski biskup Antun Mandić, rođen u Požegi 14. kolovoza 1740., umro u Đakovu 11. siječnja 1815. godine, spada među značajnije osobe crkvenoga i svjetovnoga života XVIII. i XIX. stoljeća. I na svjetovnom i na crkvenom području obnašao je vrlo značajne zadaće. Na svjetovnom bio je nadzornik za hrvatske narodne škole za Hrvatsku i Slavoniju i tajni savjetnik carskoga dvora, a za vrijeme napoleonskih ratova povjerenik za Slavoniju. Na crkvenom području napredovao je od rektora Požeškoga sjemeništa, župnika, začasnoga i aktivnoga kanonika do naslovnoga biskupa prištinskoga i, konačno, do bosanskoga ili đakovačkoga i srijemskoga biskupa (14. srpnja 1806.). Njegovo najznačajnije djelo bio je osnutak Bogoslovnoga sjemeništa u Đakovu (1806.). Kao đakovački biskup, Đakovu je dao novo lice. On je sa sobom iz Beča u Đakovo poveo kompozitora Jakoba Heibla, Mozartova šurjaka, i postavio ga za ravnatelja kora. Uredio je biskupsku rezidenciju, naselio je koloniju Nijemaca, osnivao cehove u Đakovu, namjestio liječnika i apotekara, podigao svilaru, kasnije ju pretvorio u pivovaru, zasadio vinograde u Drenju i Mandićevcu, uredio korita rijeke Jošave i Kaznice te obnovio vodenice. Uredio je ribnjak u Štrbincima, zvjerinjak uz Jošavu, u kojem je bilo i bijelih jelena. Imao je pravo njegov nasljednik biskup Josip Juraj Strossmayer kad je izjavio: „Mandić je zamišljatelj svega boljega i uzvišenijega u biskupiji.“Bishop of Bosnia or Đakovo and Srijem Antun Mandić, born in Požega, 14 August 1740, died in Đakovo, 11 January 1815, belongs among the more important figures of ecclesial and secular life of the XVIII and XIX century. He performed important functions in both the secular and ecclesial milieu. In the secular, he was a supervisor for Croatian national schools for Croatia and Slavonia and a secret adviser to the imperial court, and during the Napoleonic Wars he was a commissioner for Slavonia. In the ecclesial milieu, he advanced from the rector of the Požega seminary, parish priest, honorary and active canon to the titular bishop of Priština and, finally, to the Bishop of Bosnia or Đakovo and Srijem (14 July 1806). His most important work was the founding of the Theological Seminary in Đakovo (1806). As the bishop of Đakovo he gave Đakovo a new face. He brought with him from Vienna to Đakovo composer Jakob Haibel, Mozart\u27s brother in law, and appointed him director of the choir. He renovated the bishop\u27s residence, settled a colony of Germans, founded guilds in Đakovo, set up a doctor and a pharmacist, built a silk factory and later turned it into a brewery, planted vineyards in Drenje and Mandićevac, improved the riverbeds of Jošava and Kaznica and restored water mills. He renovated a fishpond in Štrbinci and a menagerie along Jošava which also included a white deer. His successor, Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer was right when he said, "Mandić was the imaginer of all that is better and more exalted in the diocese.