Trojan Gundulić

Trojan Gundulić (Italian: Troiano Gondola; c. 1500 - c. 1555) was a merchant and printer from the Republic of Ragusa who is remembered for his participation in the printing of the first book in Belgrade, The Four Gospels ("Četverojevanđelje").

Life

Trojan was born in the town of Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik, Croatia) into the Gondola family (Gundulić), which was a Ragusan noble family of Italian origins. Gundulić started as a barber in his hometown and remained in this trade after his arrival to Belgrade. He later went into the trade business, which enabled him to finance the printing of books. A large printing shop was established in Gundulić's house after he learned the printing trade from his mentor Radiša Dmitrović. Gundulić continued the work on Četverojevanđelje started by Radiša Dmitrović, who died early. In his turn, Gundulić passed the work to Hieromonk Mardarije of Mrkšina Crkva Monastery, an experienced printer. According to some sources, it was Hieromonk Mardarije who inspired first Dmitrović and then Gundulić to invest in printing business and organized all activities during set up of the printing house in Belgrade.

After the death of Gundulić in Belgrade c. 1555, 121 printed books were found in his house, including 59 copies of the Gospels.

Sources

• Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)