Novi prilozi za životopis Rajmunda Kunića
New contributions to Rajmund Kunić’s biography

Summary/Abstract: The life of the Dubrovnik Croatian Latin writer Rajmund Kunić (1719-1794) has hitherto been discussed in commemorative publications, lexicons and encyclopaedias, as well as literary historical studies. Kunić entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1734 in Rome. Following the completion of his studies of grammar, rhetoric and philosophy, he lectured in Fermo 1742/43, from where he moved to Città di Castello. By 1747/48 he was appointed professor of literature in Florence. In the following year he began theological studies during which, from 1751, he lectured in the Novitiate of St Andrew on the Quirinal Hill. In 1765 he was appointed Professor at the Roman College and it was during that period, in 1773., that the Jesuit order was abolished. This event marked a major turning point in his life and in his literary activity: although he remained a priest and continued to teach, Kunić established a close relationship with aristocratic and salon circles of Rome, especially the salon of Maria Pizzelli and the circle around Baldassare Odescalchi. In these social circles Kunić was highly respected for his erudition and levelheadedness. A study of his literary oeuvre reveals that he by and large abandoned longer poetic forms, such as elegy and carmina; he published his famous rendition of the Iliad and turned his attention to epigram as a form especially suitable for salon socializing. This essay also reveals hitherto unknown information that expands the knowledge of Kunić’s life. Thus the manuscript with the working version of an Italian poem confirms his interest in Italian poetry, hitherto known only from his contemporaries’ statements. Furthermore, a transcript of Baro Bošković’s poetry written in Kunić’s handwriting has been found. Benedikt Stay’s letters reveal details about their social encounters in Rome, and the collection of Kunić’s autographs contains, among other things, a petition to the Congregation for Index. There may be a portrait of Kunić in the estate of the Academia Arcadia of Rome.

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