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<\/p>\nOruro is located in the highlands of Bolivia, at 3,700 meters above sea level, halfway between Sucre and La Paz, and has a population of just under 300,000. Oruro is a railway junction and the center of large mines, so it also attracted Croats in search of work. A large part of them came from the islands of Vis, Hvar and Bra\u010d after 1890. Jakov Sabioncello and Jere Jankovi\u0107 from Nere\u017ei\u0161\u0107a are mentioned among the first Bra\u010d residents in Oruro, who came there from the Chilean city of Antofagasta. They were followed by the Frani\u010devi\u0107 brothers, Marko Pavi\u0161i\u0107, Andrija Stipanovi\u0107, Nikola Mladineo, Ivan B. Dubrav\u010di\u0107, Marijan Hara\u0161i\u0107, Juraj Jankovi\u0107, Ivan Gardil\u010di\u0107, Franuli\u0107 and Papi\u0107. They were mostly engaged in trade, so although many of these trading companies collapsed after the First World War, in the 1930s we still find Croatian merchants in Oruro. They were: Marko Bakovi\u0107, Marko Defilipis, A. Nigojevi\u0107, J. Restovi\u0107, brothers Marijan and Ivan Hara\u0161i\u0107, Hara\u0161i\u0107 and Pavi\u0161i\u0107 Company, Petar Drpi\u0107, Josip Petricio, Juraj Cvitani\u0107, Petar Fornese, Me\u0161trovi\u0107, Nikola Mihai\u0107, Tomo Martini\u0107, \u0160imun Palaver\u0161i\u0107, Juraj and Ivan Papi\u0107, Marijan Franuli\u0107, Mato Acalinivi\u0107, Dinko, Frane, Jerko, Lucija and Marko Bakovi\u0107, Jerka Defilipis, Anton Jutroni\u0107, Vincent Orlandini and \u0160imun Palaver\u0161i\u0107.<\/p>\n
Special mention should be made of Marko Grubi\u0161i\u0107, agronomy engineer, wholesaler and industrialist, who invented a medicine for the treatment of tuberculosis and impotence. He made it from flour and two medicinal plants, and called it “Andean medicine”. He sent it for examination to many American hospitals and institutes, and even to Zagreb.<\/p>\n
Ivan Lupis Vuki\u0107 visited Bolivia in the 1930s, because he lived in Buenos Aires for a couple of years. According to his writings, the people of Bra\u010d imported goods from the USA and Europe, especially food, porcelain and drinks, and Pelinkovac, Maraschino and Prosecco from the old region.<\/p>\n
In addition to trade, the people of Bra\u010d were also engaged in mining, in which Ivan Dubrav\u010di\u0107 from Nere\u017ei\u0161\u0107e, co-owner of “The Bolivian Mine Company”, which he founded with capitalists from New York, was the leader. Apart from him, there were other mining entrepreneurs such as Pavle Radi\u0107, Ivan Restovi\u0107, Ante Kirigin, Toma Vidovi\u0107, Nikola Vrsalovi\u0107, Vicko Orlandini and Ivan Ostoji\u0107. The largest asbestos deposit in Bolivia was opened by Antun Ljubeti\u0107 from Sutivan.<\/p>\n
A group of settlers, including Santiago (Jakov) Frani\u010devi\u0107, brothers Juan (Ivan), Domingo (Nedjeljko) and Francisco (Frane) Garafuli\u0107, Juan (Ivan) Dubrav\u010di\u0107, Marcos Eterovi\u0107, Juan (Ivan) Franjola, Fabian Jeli\u010di\u0107, Andrija Kuko\u010d and Mate Sapunar, founded the first society in Oruro in 1912, which was called “Slavic Trade and Benevolent Society”. Their participation in the social, economic, cultural and political life of Oruro was very influential, which can be seen from the fact that they were engaged in numerous activities in the mining industry and trade. The ironworks and warehouses they managed, as well as the famous Hara\u0161i\u0107 chocolate factory, are woven into the economic history of the city and the building of true empires.<\/p>\n
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The first chocolate produced in Bolivia in 1909<\/p>\n
In its hundred years of activity, the society collected books for a small library and archive, and the fact that they were not lost should be especially thanked to Dr. Gonzalo Nigoevi\u0107 and his daughter Danitza. The statute and founding act of the company, minutes, bookkeeping documents (accounts, invoices for the purchase and sale of minerals, balance sheets), correspondence of the company with colleagues in Yugoslavia and Chile, documents of the Red Cross and other materials from 1912 to 1985 have been preserved. Then the company’s property was sold, and thanks to Dr. Nigoevi\u0107 and his daughter, the archive and library of old books printed in the Croatian language were saved, which are now located in the premises of the “Club Social Croata”.<\/p>\n
After the ”Benevolent Society”, the “Bomba Slava Numero 1 de Oruro” firefighting company was founded in 1914, the third in the country’s history. The immediate reason was that the warehouse of Marcos Bacovic (Bakovi\u0107), a dealer in fabrics, flour and groceries, burned down in a fire, and the neighbors could not do anything because of the lack of water. Then, in 1916, a branch of the ”Yugoslav National Defense” named “Ivan Ma\u017eurani\u0107” was founded.
\nThe Croats in Oruro built a cemetery in 1916, which is one of the most beautiful in South America and is under the protection of UNESCO. Since a large part of the settlers of that time were from the island of Bra\u010d, they knew how to work with stone, so the cemetery is decorated with marble mausoleums and tombs of exceptional beauty.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Branka Bezi\u0107 Filipovi\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oruro is located in the highlands of Bolivia, at 3,700 meters above sea level, halfway between Sucre and La Paz, and has a population of just under 300,000. Oruro is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bolivia"],"yoast_head":"\n