Durinici News

My trip to Croatia, like everyone else's trips from Australia in 2020 did not happen. However my son Ben and his family, who live in Paris, were able to fully utilise their booking in a seafront villa in Molunat. Ben and his wife and 4 children had a marvellous holiday. They were able to visit Dubrovnic when there was almost nobody there and enjoy the beauty of the Adriatic and the Croatian islands near Molunat. Swimming, diving off the cliffs and leisurely boat trips occupied most of their time.

They all avoided the clutches of COVID-19 and are safe and well at home in Paris.

When I was not able to go to Croatia, I planned a trip to Perth to see cousin Ned, but that also had to be cancelled. Maybe next year.

I recently discovered that there are Duratovic-Mise descendants living in Chile. This is of interest to Nicolas's descendants also as Nicolas's sister, Pave, married a distant cousin Mato Duratovic-Mise. At least 2 and possibly 3 of their children emigrated to America. So it seems that I and many other of Nicolas's descendants have 3rd cousins in Chile. There are still some puzzles to solve about how that line fits in our history. I do remember my father telling me many, many years ago that there was a Spanish Princess somewhere in our ancestry. I never found one, but maybe Chile has the answer.

Tim Juratowitch

I have confirmed all the travel arrangemnts for a return trip to Croatia this year. I am leaving Brisbane on June 29 and arrive in Zagreb (via Paris) on June 30. I am going to take 4 days to drive down the coast via Zadar and Split to Molunat. I will meet my son Ben and Ingrid and their children in Molunat for a week. We have an apartment booked with access to the beach and a beautiful view of the Adriatic sea. Molunat is a ten minute drive from Durinici and I will be able(with help from the locals) to show the family where Nicola was born and lived until 1848. We should also be able to spend some time with Duratovic and Antunovic 3rd cousins. Then we all will return to Paris and I will be home later in July.

Olivia Juratowitch is also travelling to Croatia in August this year. Olivia is Nicola's Great Great Grand daughter in George's family line.

Tim Juratowitch

Many of you will remember our distant cousin Ned Ðuratović from Perth, who joined us for the Juratowitch reunion in 2012. In October 2016, Ned was in Dubrovnik visiting his mother and sister. This was one of his annual trips home to see his family and reconnect with his friends. During the year Ned and Tim had a number of conversations about the family history which had been prompted by finally getting a copy of Ðuro's prison documents in February 2016. While in Dubrovnik, Ned had some conversations with his Uncle Pero who has lived in Sweden since 1961.Pero lived in Croatia until he was 25 and has extensive knowledge of the family history. Our 3rd cousin Stane Radman, who lives in Wooloongong, escaped from Croatia with Pero to a refugee camp in Latina (near Rome)where Pero helped to look after Stane's children. Stane met her husband, Marcelo, in Molunat. Pero went to Sweden, the Radmans came to Australia. Pero told Ned that all the Ðuratović families lived in a group of houses around the current Antunović house in Ðurinici. Ned decided to spend some extra time in Ðurinici to work out where these houses were and confirm if he and Tim had been shown the correct house when they were in Ðurinici in 2011. When Tim met Stane's brother Vlaho Antunović in Wooloongong in 2012, Vlaho stated that Tim had been shown the wrong house, but was unable to offer any further information on that topic to clarify which may have been the correct house. You will see from the following story, that Ned's cousin Pero may have been confused about which branch of the family we were interested in when he showed us the ruins of the house in Ðurinići. To Rosemary, Mary and Tina and their families, I apologise that you ,like me, inspected the wrong house. You will see from the map in Ned's story that you probably walked past the house without realising it was more than a storage and outdoor eating area.

 This is Ned's story:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz8ohx5uv0ap4pn/ned%27s%20story%20public%20version.docx?dl=0

It was so amazing to see where our Great Grandfather was born – how did you ever find the ruins of the House is beyond me!!

 Interesting that the neighbour had a satellite dish on her roof – modern technology mixed with the old world in Durinici.

We were treated to a very lovely day with our mutual cousin Lidija – who proudly showed us the wonders of Dubrovnik, from the top of the cable car,  our trip to Durinici, we then lunched at Dalmacya restaurant (of course!) overlooking the water and the Luxury Boats that were moored there.

From there down to the Old Town and walked around looking at the silver Bobbles for Teen & Lois.

 All in all a wonderful holiday and a most picturesque spot.  Lidiya was a delight 

READ Rosemary's story here  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31110895/Dubrovnik%20and%20Durinici%20by%20Rosemary%20Farrell.pdf

It is a great story.

Two other cousins from Victoria also visited Durinici this year.

If anyone else would like to do a family discovery tour please contact me at juratowitchreunion@hotmail.com

Cousin Tim