Milutin Cihlar Nehajev

Milutin Cihlar Nehajev (Senj, 25 November 1880 – Zagreb, 7 April 1931) was a Croatian writer, novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, literary and theatre critic, journalist and translator. He is one of the most significant representatives of Croatian literary modernity and versatile intellectuals of his time.

He was born into a Senj bourgeois family of Czech-Croatian roots (his father Sebald Cihlar immigrated from the Czech Republic). He finished elementary school in Senj and high school in Zagreb. He studied chemistry in Vienna, and in 1903 received a doctorate in philosophy. After his studies, he worked as a professor in Zadar, where in 1905 he started the newspaper Lovor. He lived and worked in Trieste (editor of the newspaper Balkan), Križevci (assistant at the Agricultural and Chemical Institute), and from 1912 permanently in Zagreb. He was a long-time collaborator and editor of leading newspapers (Obzor, Jutarnji list, Agramer Tagblatt) and a correspondent from Paris, Prague and Belgrade. In 1926 he was elected president of the Croatian Writers' Association.

Nehajev belonged to the generation of Croatian modernity. His work is characterized by deep psychological analysis, modernist sensibility, subtle irony and motifs of the decline of a sensitive intellectual personality, escape from reality, loneliness, the conflict of ideals and rude society and generational ruptures. He particularly stood out as an excellent theatre and music critic.

Nehajev was an engaged intellectual with pronounced national views. He supported Croatian state-building thought, rightism and the ideas of Eugen Kvaternik and Ante Starčević. He wrote about Croatian political figures (Ivan Mažuranić, Eugen Kvaternik) and national themes (the centenary of the Croatian National Revival). Although he was close to progressive circles in his youth, his political views were complex and sometimes contradictory – for example, his collaboration with unionist newspapers caused controversy. He always emphasized Croatian national identity and criticized foreign influences.

Most important works:

• Novels: Bijeg (1915, often considered the best novel of Croatian modernity), Vuci (1928, historical novel about Krsto Frankopan)
• Short stories and novels: Polonaze, Veliki grad, Zeleno more, Kostrenka, etc.
• Dramas: Prielom, Svjećica, Klupa na mješečini
• Essays: Study on Hamlet (1917), Rakovica (on the Rakovica Rebellion and Kvaternik), numerous studies on Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Ibsen, Flaubert, Strindberg, Zola, Šenoa, Gjalski, Leskovar, Nazor, etc.

In 1944 and 1945 (published by the Croatian Publishing Bibliographic Institute), 10 volumes of the collected works of Milutin Nehajev. Due to war and post-war circumstances, planned additional volumes were not published, so the collected works remain incomplete.

Nehajev died at the age of 50. Although he was not as popular with the public as some of his contemporaries, his prose, dramas and essays have a high artistic value and a strong influence on the development of modern Croatian literature. Today, his works are rediscovered as relevant due to their psychological depth, modern approach and rich intellectual heritage.