Naslov
Mirko Seljan (1871-1913) - Croatian Explorer and Cartographer of Africa

Autori
Slukan-Altić, Mirela

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u zbornicima skupova, cjeloviti rad (in extenso), znanstveni

Izvornik
Proceedings of the Symposium on The History of Cartography of Africa / Elri Liebenberg - Cape Town : ICA Commission on the History of Cartography, 2003, 19-28

Skup
The History of Cartography of Africa

Mjesto i datum
Cape Town, Južnoafrička Republika, 04.08.2003. - 06.08.2003

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Seljan brothers; cartography; Ethiopia

Sažetak
Brothers Mirko and Stjepan Seljan are among the most famous Croatian explorers who took part in numeruos expeditions in Africa and South America. In 1899 they went to Africa, where they explored southern Ethiopian area (at the time called Abyssinia) in services of emperor Menilek II and they founded a settlement that got its name after them - Seljanville. For his merits in exploring Africa, Mirko Seljan was appointed governor of southern Ethiopian provinces, and Stjepan his deputy. Thanks to the diplomatic skills of Seljan brothers, Menilek significantly expanded his reign. Southern borders of Ethiopia, determined by Menilek II with help from Seljan brothers, are the same today, so we can say that Seljan brothers were directly involved in creating what Ethiopia is today. During 1900 and 1901 Seljan brothers have done a lot of geographical and ethnographic research in Ethiopia that were unexplored and poorly known at the time. Based on the research, Mirko Seljan created a detailed geographical map of southern Ethiopia. The map’ s title is &laquo ; ; Om&ograve ; ; , Lac Rudolf & Stefanie – Gardulla Margarette, dessiné apr&egrave ; ; s la nature par Mirko Seljan&raquo ; ; . The title and the key of the map are written in french, with the exception of a note saying that detailed information with explanation is to be found in a separate offprint (Erklärung d.h Specification der nötigen Details in Separat - Ausgabe verfasst) . The map was finished on 15th November 1900 in Seljans’ residence in Ouba. Under the date of making, there is an autograph of Mirko Seljan, Governor of Equatorial Provinces (Gouvernere des provinces &egrave ; ; quatoriles). The map represents Gamo-Gofa province and parts of Sidamo and Kaffa provinces, altogether about 50 000 km2 explored and surveyed by Seljan brothers (Keler, 1979 ; 207). Taking into account the detailed scale and technique of representation of geographical elements, we can regard Seljan’ s map as the first topographical map of southern Ethiopia. Mirko Seljan’ s map of southern Ethiopia significantly improved cartographical knowledge of East Africa and corrected many mistakes recorded on older maps. The map is kept in the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb, where the majority of Seljan brothers’ legacy can also be found.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest

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