Personage > Alberto Ognjan Štriga
Alberto Ognjan Štriga, the son of judge Ivan Štriga Cunovečki, Esq. and Cecilija, Raizner, Esq. He finshed primary school in Križevci, Gymnazium in Zagreb and Velika Kaniža, and graduated in law. He was an important member of the Illyrian Movement, and had an important role in the music scene of the period, since he was an opera singer. He was hailed as one of the most original Croats of the 19th century.At the time of the Illyrian Movement, Štriga searched for the most talented people and guided them by motivating and advising them, so he was actually a talent manager, but above all, he was an ardent patriot.
In 1840 he founded the first Music Association in Zagreb, with conductor Vatroslav Lisinski as its president. He urged Lisinski to compose patriotic and rousing songs (budnice and davorije), as well as the first Croatian opera, Ljubav i zloba (Love and Malice), while he asked Dimitrija Demetra, a writer, to write the libretto for the Opera. From 1849 to 1850 he was in charge of theatre plays performed by a groupe of Croatian actors in Zagreb, as well as the performance of Verdi’s Troubadour which was performed in Croatian in 1869. He also performed the baritone role in Ljubav i zloba (Love and Malice. He performed in Prague, Brno, Saint Petersburg (Petrograd).In 1848 Štriga joins the army of Banus Josip Jelačić and his courage earned him the rank of officer, which he refused. His exceptional courage earned him the "Golden Cross with a Crown " honour, the only recognition he received.
Štriga was also the president of the National Land Archives, and in 1876 he was traveling around the country, giving lectures on fruit-growing and viticulture. When he retired, he came back to Zagreb, where he lived until his sudden death caused by stroke, on Sunday, March 7, 1897, at 1 a.m. He was buried in the Zagreb cemetery, Mirogoj, next to his friend, Vatroslav Lisinski, and other participants of the Illyrian movement. He was one of the most prominent and charismatic contributors to the formation of national identity.
