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Ferdinand Budicki

Ferdinand Budicki II (/bʊdˈɪtskiː/; 11 April 1871 – 25 June 1951) was a Croatian pioneer of car, bicycle and airplane culture.[1] A resident of Zagreb, Croatia, Budicki was reportedly the first to drive a car in his home city,[2] and the first to open a car dealership and repair shop in Croatia.[3] In April 1901, he drove from Vienna, Austria to Zagreb in an 1899 Opel, stirring up a commotion, as people and horses that drove carriages at the time were not used to motor vehicles, even though the car's top speed was, according to Budicki, a mere 30 km/h (19 mph).[2]

Ferdinand Budicki II
Budicki, c. 1940
Born(1871-04-11)11 April 1871
Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
Died25 June 1951(1951-06-25) (aged 80)
Zagreb, Yugoslavia
NationalityCroatian
Known forPioneering motorsports in Croatia

Early life

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Ferdinand Budicki was born on 11 April 1871[4] in Zagreb to Marija (née Panian) and Ferdinand Budicki (Sr.). His parents were renowned craftspeople.

Having completed two grades of Realschule, Budicki first trained for a locksmith, then studied mechanics abroad. He assembled his own bicycle while living in Vienna. He subsequently used it in 1897 to travel throughout Europe and northern Africa, reportedly traversing 17,323 kilometres (10,764 mi).[2][5]

Family

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He married twice, first to Josephine Axmann (1877-1965) of Vienna, with whom he had five children. They divorced in 1912. In his later years he remarried, to his former maid Pepica Bocivaušek, who cared little for his sporting legacy.[6]

Their eldest daughter Greta lived with her mother in Vienna and married Harald Svenfelt, a cavalry officer in the Swedish army and co-owner of the Cloetta Ljungsbro chocolate factory.[7][8] Their children include dressage athlete Ulla Håkansson.[9]

Their surviving son, Dr. Viktor Budicki (1905-1944) was a bacteriologist, trained in the USA and served in the military in 1927 in Varaždin. In WWII, he was interned in the Stara Gradiška concentration camp by the Ustaše, accused of hiding foreign citizens. He died in a 1944 camp typhoid epidemic, and was honourably buried in a marked grave for his medical service to camp detainees and Ustaše alike.[10][6][11] He operated a children's hospital in the camp, and disinfected the camp's wells with the help of Julij Hrženjak.[12][13][14][15] His Austrian-American wife, Margaret Juers Budicki, settled in Eugene, Oregon and worked as a field counselor for the Lane County Juvenile Department,[16][17][18] where she authored poetry in a book titled "Splinters" [19] and contributed articles to the feminist magazine The Women's Press.[20]

Their youngest daughter Jelena studied teaching and English at Newbold College, then worked as the Adventist Church secretary and treasurer for the Sava Conference until 1930.[21] She married Pastor Fred Edwards, an English missionary to Ghana and teacher at the Adventist school in Agona, Ashanti.[22][23] Their three children are dentist and missionary to the Caribbean Thomas Siegfried Ferdinand Edwards (1931-2013),[24] youth pastor and author Ronald Valerius Edwards (1932-2022)[25] and Margaret Anthony.

Ferdinand speculated in family letters that the "unique" surname Budicki is a corruption of the Polish "Budiczky".

Career

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Ferdinand Budicki, automobile pioneer, seated in his car, ca. 1920s? (Photo courtesy of Croatian Technical Encyclopedia)

In 1901, Budicki purchased a used car from Opel & Beyschlag [de] in Vienna for 4,000 Austro-Hungarian crowns. The car had single-cylinder 3.5 horsepower (2.6 kW) motor and could reach a speed of 20 km/h (12 mph). Its fuel consumption was 10 L/100 km (28 mpg‑imp; 24 mpg‑US).[4] Budicki was taught how to drive by Otto Beyschlag and received extra training in the form of observing an electric tram driver at work.[26] He subsequently drove the car from Vienna to Zagreb. The following year, he travelled the same route on a Laurin & Klement motorcycle. This took him 13 hours and 45 minutes; his progress was reported live at Zagreb's Ban Jelačić Square.[4]

Whether he was the first car driver in Zagreb is disputed, as an Obzor article states that Count Marko Bombelles from Varaždin drove to Zagreb in a Benz & Cie. car on 17 August 1899.[26][27][28]

 
F. Budicki's car, two-wheeler and sewing machine shop at 2 Gundulićeva Street, Zagreb, 1910. (Photo courtesy of Croatian Technical Encyclopedia)

On 28 August 1901, Budicki received his driving licence in Vienna.[2] In 1904, he started giving driving lessons.[4] In 1910 Zagreb started to issue its own driving licences. Budicki's license was not recognised, so he took a driving examination on 27 July 1910 and received the licence with serial number 1.[2] However, as none of the examination committee members knew how to drive, Budicki had to teach them before the examination.[29] He subsequently opened Zagreb's first driving school.[4] Budicki was also the first to receive a traffic ticket for speeding on 6 June 1901 in Mavrova Street (today Masaryk Street).[26] In 1905 he flew a hot air balloon from Zagreb to nearby Gornja Stubica and Mraclin, taking the first aerial photos of Zagreb,[30] while the next year he completed a successful flight from Zagreb to the Adriatic island of Krk.[4]

Budicki entered the business of new vehicles by opening a bicycle and sewing machine shop called K touristu ("At the Tourist's") at 24 Mavrova Street in 1899. In the early 1900s, the shop began selling cars and motorcycles as well.[2] On 1 June 1906, Budicki founded the first Croatian Automobile Society, which opened with 14 members.[26] From 1910 to 1928 he was the general distributor for Ford in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In 1929, he started a taxicab company and a bus line from Zagreb to Sv. Ivan Zelina. Later that year he had to exit the automobile business due to the stock market crash of 1929, retaining only a car repair shop.[2]

Death

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Budicki died in Zagreb on 25 June 1951 at the age of 80.[4][1] He was buried in Mirogoj Cemetery, Zagreb, but his remains were transferred to the 12th Mirogoj Cemetery ossuary due to lack of upkeep.[10][6] He was born a Roman Catholic and became a Seventh-Day Adventist in his later years.[31]

Legacy

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On 4 July 2013, the Ferdinand Budicki Automobile Museum was opened in Zagreb, honouring Budicki's pioneering legacy in its name.[32][33] In 2018 the museum moved to Westgate Shopping City, Zaprešić,[34] due to a lack of public funding and disagreements between mayor Milan Bandić and manager Valentino Valjak.[35][36] The Varaždin City Museum [hr] hosts Budicki's cycling medals.[4]

Interview by author Valentino Valjak

"Later on, I didn't realise till quite recently that he [Ferdinand Budicki] was an engineer. That's interesting, something that has to be very precise, and that's the kind of man I believe he was. I met him once - it was the first time we could visit Zagreb after the war - that was, I think, 1947, I'd be about 14 then..."

Pr. Ronald V. Edwards, Documentary film BEŠTE LJUDI - IDE AUTO (2019)

Valjak has written extensively about Budicki in his book BEŠTE LJUDI - IDE AUTO (Povijest automobilizma u Hrvatskoj 1898. -1945.) [RUN PEOPLE - A CAR IS COMING (A history of motoring in Croatia 1898-1945). A documentary film by the same name has also been produced in Croatian, with an English interview of grandson Ronald V. Edwards.[37]

In Zagreb, there is a Ferdinand Budicki Street in the neighbourhood of Staglišće.[38][39]

Budicki is also remembered as the founder of Zagreb Fair and Croatian Sports Alliance [hr].[40]

His descendants live in the United Kingdom, United States, Sweden, Croatia, and Spain.[41]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Značajne ličnosti – B" [Personages of note – B] (in Croatian). Zagreb City Cemetery. Retrieved 11 August 2015. Categorized under Lipanj ("June")
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Opet taj huncut Budicki" [That rascal Budicki is at it again] (in Croatian). Technical Museum, Zagreb. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Ferdinand Budicki Auto Museum". Time Out. 23 February 2018 [24 April 2014]. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Budicki, Ferdinand". Croatian Technical Encyclopedia (in Croatian). Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. 4 March 2019 [10 November 2016]. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Na bicyklu po Europie" [On a bicycle across Europe]. Dziennik Chicagoski (in Polish). Chicago, Illinois. 28 June 1897. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Valjak, Valentino (29 January 2017). "FERDINAND BUDICKI - OD IDOLA ZAGREPČANA DO ZABORAVLJENOG TRAGIČARA; Iz monografije BEŠTE LJUDI - IDE AUTO (Povijest automobilizma u Hrvatskoj 1898. -1945.)" [FERDINAND BUDICKI - FROM THE IDOL OF ZAGREB TO THE FORGOTTEN TRAGIC; Facebook excerpt from the monograph: RUN PEOPLE - A CAR IS COMING (A history of motoring in Croatia 1898-1945)]. Facebook. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Cloetta i Ljungsbro" [(History of) Cloetta in Ljungsbro] (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Per Axel Harald Svenfelt on Swedish Portraits Archive". Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Ulla Håkansson on Olympedia". Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  10. ^ a b Valjak, Valentino (14 June 2012). BEŠTE LJUDI - IDE AUTO (Povijest automobilizma u Hrvatskoj 1898. -1945.) [RUN PEOPLE - A CAR IS COMING (A history of motoring in Croatia 1898-1945)] (in Croatian). Zagreb: Projekt Ferdinand Budicki. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Conflicting report of Viktor Budicki's poisoning by Ustasha on Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database". Archived from the original on 1 April 2023.
  12. ^ Jakovljević, Ilija (1999). Konclogor na Savi [Concentration Camp on Sava] (in Croatian). Zagreb: Konzor. pp. 100–101. ISBN 9789536317561.
  13. ^ "Logor Jasenovac broj V – Stara Gradiška" [Jasenovac camp number V - Stara Gradiška] (in Serbian). 7 April 2023 [9 October 2016]. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Zbrinjavanje i zdravstvena skrb o djeci s Kozare u prihvatilištima 1942. godine" [Care and health care of children from Kozare in shelters in 1942]. Hrvatski Focus (in Croatian). 7 April 2023 [17 March 2022]. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023.
  15. ^ Goldstein, Ivo (7 April 2023) [10 December 2018]. "Tragedija djece s Kozare – istina o krvavoj brutalnosti ustaša" [The tragedy of the children from Kozara - the truth about the bloody brutality of the Ustasha]. autograf.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 7 April 2023.
  16. ^ Tom Jaques (29 February 1960). "Reid Sends Counselors Back to Jobs". The Eugene Guard. Eugene, Oregon, USA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Nine Lane Juvenile Counselors Resign". Statesman Journal. Eugene, Oregon, USA. 17 February 1960. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Resignation of Juvenile Aides On Advisory Council Agenda". The Eugene Guard. Eugene, Oregon, USA. 17 February 1960. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  19. ^ Budicki, Margaret (1 January 1985). Splinters (1st ed.). Crone's Own Press. ASIN B0022MTC76. OL 2650626M. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023.
  20. ^ Budicki, Margaret (1980). "Articles by Margaret J. Budicki". Women's Press. Eugene, Oregon, USA. JSTOR community.28046954. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  21. ^ "Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1 January 1930". Review and Herald Publishing Association. p. 260. Archived from the original on 18 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024. J. Budicki is listed as Secretary and Treasurer of the Sava Conference, Djure Dezelica, Prilaz 77, Zagreb, Jugoslavia.
  22. ^ "Historical Dateline of Adventism in Ghana". 7 April 2023. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023.
  23. ^ "Obituary of Pastor Fred Edwards" (PDF). The Messenger. Vol. 90, no. 12/13. 21 June 1985. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 November 2023.
  24. ^ "TSF 'Sieg' Edwards autobiography on Geni.com". 13 April 2023 [7 December 2010]. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023.
  25. ^ Venter, Jacques (6 October 2022). "Obituary for Pr. Ronald V. Edwards". Archived from the original on 1 April 2023.
  26. ^ a b c d "Dolazak prvog automobila u Zagreb" [Arrival of the first automobile in Zagreb] (in Croatian). Technical Museum, Zagreb. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  27. ^ "Znameniti Viničanci" [Famous people from Vinica] (in Croatian). Municipality of Vinica. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  28. ^ "111 godina Opela u Hrvatskoj" [111 years of Opel in Croatia] (PDF) (in Croatian). Opel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  29. ^ Leko, Petra (ed.). "Zagreb kroz stoljeća" [Zagreb through the centuries]. Program priredaba [Events & Performances] (in Croatian) (July/August 2015). Zagreb, Croatia: Zagreb Tourist Board: 8. ISSN 1333-6584.
  30. ^ "ROADS OF FERDINAND BUDICKI (Zagreb sightseeing tour)". 7 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022.
  31. ^ Darko Kovačević (7 March 2013). "Najpoznatiji adventist u Hrvatskoj - Ferdinand Budicki, zaštitno ime novog muzeja u Zagrebu" [The most famous Adventist in Croatia - Ferdinand Budicki, the trademark name of the new museum in Zagreb] (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  32. ^ "Muzej automobila Ferdinand Budicki" [Ferdinand Budicki Automobile Museum] (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  33. ^ "Muzej automobila Ferdinand Budicki". Croatian Technical Encyclopedia (in Croatian). Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. 19 November 2020 [19 February 2018]. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  34. ^ "Ferdinand Budicki Automobile Museum (In Your Pocket: Essential City Guides)". 8 April 2023. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023.
  35. ^ "(FOTO) Grad i država okrenuli im leđa: Zatvara se Muzej automobila Ferdinand Budicki - Zagreb.info" [(PHOTO) City and state turn their backs on them: Ferdinand Budicki Car Museum closes - Zagreb.info] (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2 April 2023.
  36. ^ Tatić, Iva (18 January 2018). "Ferdinand Budicki Automobile Museum in Zagreb Closing Down at the End of February?". Archived from the original on 2 April 2023.
  37. ^ Valjak, Valentino (director); Edwards, Ronald Valerius (grandson of Ferdinand Budicki, interviewee) (30 September 2019). Dokumentarni film BEŠTE LJUDI - IDE AUTO & Povijest automoblizma u Hrvatskoj 1898. -1945 [Documentary film BEŠTE LJUDI - IDE AUTO & History of motoring in Croatia 1898 - 1945.] (YouTube documentary) (in Croatian). Zagreb, Croatia. O6cDxxdbe_w. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  38. ^ "Ulica Ferdinanda Budickog, 10110, Zagreb, Croatia" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  39. ^ Ulica Ferdinanda Budickog, 10110, Zagreb, Croatia (Map). Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  40. ^ Hrženjak, Dolores (12 February 2013). "Ferdin duh oživio među oldtimerima" [Ferdo's spirit revived by the oldtimers]. AutoIQ (in Croatian) (20). Zagreb: BIBIP Zagreb: 17, 16–19. ISSN 1848-5820. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2015. Alt URL
  41. ^ "Family tree on Geni.com". 1 April 2023. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024.

Further reading

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