Biography of Predrag Matvejević (1932–2017)

Predrag Matvejević was a writer, essayist, and intellectual known for his humanist and political engagement. He graduated in French language and literature in Zagreb and earned his doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1967.

He was part of the editorial circle of Praxis, a Zagreb-based philosophy journal that encouraged critical discussion of Yugoslav socialism and held renowned summer seminars on the island of Korčula. His involvement led to restrictions on his teaching in 1968. From 1970 onward, Matvejević became a public intellectual voice, publishing a series of 75 “open letters” (later collected as Letters from the Other Europe), in defense of writers and dissidents across Eastern Europe.

“In these 75 letters, I stand by freedoms—but not in a theoretical or abstract sense: I stand by the freedom of writers, literature, intellectuals, and the intelligentsia. From the Soviet Union to Yugoslavia, from Andrei Sinyavsky to Danilo Kiš, it is necessary to start believing in literature again.”

Expelled from the League of Yugoslav Communists in 1974, he became one of the region’s most prominent dissident thinkers. His major work, Mediteranski brevijar (Mediterranean: A Cultural Landscape, 1988), blends fiction, essay, and historical reflection, reconstructing the idea of the “Mediterranean” as a cultural and civilizational space.

Matvejević taught at the University of Zagreb until 1991, when the war and political persecution forced him to leave Croatia. He later taught at the Sorbonne (Paris III) and at La Sapienza University in Rome, where he lived until his retirement.

He remained an outspoken critic of nationalism and intolerance in post-Yugoslav societies, which led to several court cases and public controversies.

Matvejević received numerous awards, including the French Legion of Honor, Italy’s Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà, the Order of Danica in Croatia, and honorary citizenship of Sarajevo.