Josip Runjanin

Josip Runjanin (8 December 1821 – 20 January 1878), born Josif Runjanin (Serbian Cyrillic: Јосиф Руњанин), was an Austrian career military officer, politician and composer of Serb origin best known for composing the melody of the Croatian national anthem, Lijepa naša domovino ("Our Beautiful Homeland"), in 1846.

Runjanin received his education in Vinkovci and later in Sremski Karlovci. As a young man, he served in the Imperial Austrian Army as a cadet in the town of Glina, along the Military Frontier with the Ottoman Empire. While serving in Glina, Runjanin attained the rank of captain and became proficient in playing the piano. He is known to have composed only a handful of works, most famously the musical accompaniment to Antun Mihanović's patriotic poem Horvatska domovina ("Croatian Homeland"). The piece, under the title Lijepa naša domovino, was selected by popular acclaim as the anthem of the Croatian people at an economic exhibition in Zagreb in 1891. One of its stanzas was eventually integrated into the national anthem of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the piece later served as the national anthem of several Croatian polities, including that of modern-day Croatia.

A veteran of the Second and Third Italian War of Independence, Runjanin ultimately attained the rank of colonel, and served for two years in the Croatian Parliament beginning in 1865. Following his retirement from military service in 1876, he relocated to Novi Sad, where he died, penniless, two years later at the age of 56. Several schools in Croatia bear his name, including the Elementary Music School of Josip Runjanin in Vinkovci.

Birth and Death Data: Born Vinkovci (city and settlement in Vukovar-Srijem County, Croatia), Died February 2, 1878 (Novi Sad (city in Serbia, capital of Vojvodina) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1908 - 1913

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia 12843 10-in. between 1905 and 1908 Liepa naša domovina Žiga Rogač-Wang Male vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia 67391 10-in. between 1911 and 1913 Lijepa naša domovino Band (unidentified; Columbia Records) Band, with male vocal ensemble composer  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Runjanin, Josip," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/341512.

Runjanin, Josip. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/341512.

"Runjanin, Josip." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/341512

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