Josip Runjanin

Josip Runjanin or Josif Runjanin (Serbian: Јосиф Руњанин; 8 December 1821 – 2 February 1878) was an Austrian composer best known for composing the melody of "Lijepa naša domovino", the Croatian national anthem.

Runjanin was born Josif Runjanin to a Serb family on 8 December 1821 and baptized in the Serbian Orthodox Church of Pentecost in Vinkovci. He received his education in Vinkovci, and then Sremski Karlovci. He served in the Imperial Army as a cadet in the town of Glina along the Military Frontier. While serving in Glina, he attained the rank of captain, and became proficient in playing the piano, being taught by the military bandmaster of Glina. There, he was introduced to the Illyrist circles, where he met noted poet Antun Mihanović. It is generally agreed that Runjanin, an amateur musician, composed the music for Mihanović's patriotic Croatian song Lijepa naša domovina in 1846 using inspiration from Gaetano Donizetti's aria O sole piu ratto a sorger t’appresta from the 3rd act of his opera Lucia di Lammermoor, according to Croatian musicologist Josip Andreis.

His song Ljubimo te naša diko was composed using motives from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. Ljubimo te Naša Diko (Hrvati svome banu) was composed in honour of the ban of Croatia Josip Jelačić.

The Croatian anthem by Mihanović and Runjanin would be first played in the streets of Zagreb in 1891 during the Croatian-Slavonian exhibit, so both men only achieved postmortem fame. An obedient soldier, Runjanin was later made colonel.

In 1864 at the age of 43, Runjanin married the daughter of the pensioned captain Toma Perković. As a representative of the First Banate regiment, he entered the Croatian Assembly in 1865.

After retirement, Runjanin moved to Novi Sad where he died at the age of 57 on 2 February 1878 and was buried at the Serbian Orthodox cemetery.

There are several schools in Croatia named after Runjanin, most notably the elementary Music School of Josip Runjanin (Osnovna glazbena škola Josipa Runjanina) in Vinkovci.