Ivan Ančić (Croatian pronunciation: [ǐʋan âːnt͡ʃit͡ɕ]; 11 February 1624 – 24 July 1685) was a Croatian theologian and writer.^[1]

He was born in Lipa near Tomislavgrad in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina,^[1] and likely finished his basic education at the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena monastery in Rama, where he was ordained as a priest in 1643. He attended gymnasium in Velika and finished his philosophy-theology studies in Cremona (three years), Brixen (1650–1651) and Naples (1651–1653).

In Assisi, he began his work Vrata nebeska i život vični (The Heavenly Gates and Life Everlasting) in 1676 and finished it in Loreto in 1677. That same year he printed his work Ogledalo misničko in Rome. He wrote in the "Duvno style" of the Shtokavian dialect using the Latin alphabet in which there are noticeable elements of bosančica. His translations from Latin are still articulate examples of a good understanding of the language.

Apart from his printed works, two handwritten pieces have been preserved. The first is an autobiography (written in 1679), while the second is a report about the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena from 1680.

He died in Ancona.^[1]

Works

• An Everlasting Thesaurus of the Angelic Indulgences Sanctified of Our Father Francisco (Latin: Thesaurus perpetuus indulgentiarum seraphici ordinis sancti patris nostri Francisci, 1662)
• The Heavenly Gates and Life Everlasting (Croatian: Vrata nebeska i život vični, 1678)
• The Christian Light and Spiritual Delight (Croatian: Svitlost karstianska i slast duhovna, 1679)
• The Ministerial Mirror (Croatian: Ogledalo misničko, 1681)

Sources

• Mihanović-Salopek, Hrvojka (2006). "Ivan Ančić kao promicatelj europskoga humanističkog civilizacijskog kruga na prostorima osmanlijske vlasti u BiH" (PDF). Dani Hvarskoga kazališta (in Croatian). 32 (1). Retrieved 18 August 2015.