Ante Biankini from Stari Grad and His Emigrant Fate

Rad donosi fragmentarnu sliku života i djelovanja dr. Ante Biankinija, odnosno, tek ključne akcente i liniju budućih istraživanja ovog još nedovoljno obrađenog, ali važnog liječnika s nedvojbenim političkim angažmanom među iseljeništvom u SAD-u. Naravno, u fokusu interesa ostaje njegova važnost i utjecaj među suvremenicima, kako na lokalnoj i nacionalnoj tako i na međunarodnoj razini zbivanja.Ante Biankini was born in Stari Grad on the island of Hvar on August 31, 1860 in the family of ship-owners, whose fortune was a result of maritime trade with salted fish and wine throughout the Mediterranean. Already as a medical student in Vienna, he engaged in socio-political issues. After his studies, he returned to his native Stari Grad and became active in the local political life, when he was elected to the municipal administration as a member of the People\u27s Party. However, after the schism within the party at the regional level, he went into opposition and became instrumental in the affirmation of the Party of Rights’ politics in Stari Grad. For several years he worked as a doctor in Stari Grad, but in 1898 he permanently settled in Chicago with his wife Zlata. Shortly thereafter he started working as a surgeon in Chicago and New York, and later taught as an assistant professor at Northwestern University Medical School (1909 - 1914). This is his most productive scientific and literary period. In addition to surgery, he deals with issues of alcoholism, death penalty and euthanasia. In addition to scientific work, Biankini was actively involved in social life of Croatian immigrants in the United States and from the very beginning of life in Chicago he is involved in the Croatian transnational politics. He left Stari Grad as a member of Party of Rights, whose political convictions in a foreign world has taken on ever stronger anti-Austrian character. He became editor of “Croatian flag” (which he renamed the “Yugoslav flag” in 1917), published numerous articles, at home and abroad. Toward the end of his life in 1931, in Zagreb daily “Novosti” he emphasizes the struggle being waged between patriotic journalism and one poisoned by alien propaganda, which says a lot about how he understood the importance and role of the media. He was particularly politically engaged on the eve of the First World War, acting as President of the Yugoslav National Committee in the US since 1915, and as president of the Yugoslav National Council in Washington since 1916. He was a member of the Yugoslav Committee in London since 1916. His long-time friendship with Woodrow Wilson has yet to be further documented, i.e. this relationship has to be understood with the detailed historical reconstruction, and thus adequate historical significance of possible impacts against the evident and decisive attitude of the United States against the Italian pretensions on our coast, given his former political engagement have to be evaluated. His work "American Yugoslavs and President W. Wilson" probably deepens the view of these relations, and represents a crucial point of reference on the parallel processes and circumstances in this period. While living in the United States, Ante Biankini visited Croatia several times with his family, and in 1933 he wished to return to his home in Stari Grad. However, death has come upon in 1934 in the United States, where he was buried. Two years later, his mortal remains were transferred and on 18 May 1936 he was buried in the family tomb in Stari Grad. The local historiography states that the remains of Dr. Ante Biankini were transferred at the expense of the US government, but such a statement is yet to be substantiated by historical sources, and background context in terms of the reasons for such actions of the US government