possible reunion with old friends in Split

[georgewood]

Hello,

My name is George Wood, and I was assigned to the former Yugoslavia more than fifty years ago, as posmatrac za organizaciju CARE. I spent nearly 3 years in the country, and GREATLY enjoyed my time there.
I was based in Belgrade in those days, but often traveled to Split and other points on the Dalmatian coast, including Dubrovnik, with my friend (and prevodilac) Cedomic ('Ceda') Jankovic, now deceased, takodje iz Beograda.

I would like to know if someone can help me to find friend from those days of long ago, since my son and I hope to travel to the Dalmatian coast early this summer. I had two friends, both of whom were teachers at the high school in Split. One was named Tonko (I have forgotten his last name), and he taught
Science or mathematics there in 1956. He was very jovial and humorous, and we laughed a lot together. Our common language was French.

The other was a young (in 1956!) English teacher, whose name I can clearly recall. It was Seka Drakulovic. She was a pretty girl, and her own English was very good. I last met Tonko and Seka in 1956 or 1957. We have been out of touch since then, na zalost. I am sure they both retired from teaching some time ago.

Since I would like my son, Michael, to meet them both
during our visit to the Dalmatian coast in May 2006,
could someone please put me in touch with either one?

My e-mail address is < [e-mail] >

I look forward very much to hearing from you. I ako slucajno vi ne govorite engleski, ja mislim da cemo moci nekako sporazumeti na hrvatskom, ako zelite.

Najlepse hvala, u napred! George G. Wood

[brightside]

Hello Mr. Wood,

Do you know the name or the type of the high school where they were teaching? There are many high shools in Split now, and it seems that only the newer ones have their web sites. That doesn't help us much, since we're looking for a high school which existed in Split in 1956.
It would be great if you could find someone in Split who could ask around. For a start, they should find out which high schools existed in Split at that time. Then they should talk to the headmasters of those schools, who could check the list of their former employers and give you their contact details. And who knows, maybe some of the teachers remember Ms Seka Drakulovic, or a Mr. Tonko as well. Although Ms Seka could have gotten married and changed her last name, she still should be listed somewhere in the school's register as Seka Drakulovic, since she worked as an English teacher under that name in the 50s.

I sincerely hope you'll find and reunite with your friends.

Best regards

[seka]

Drakulovic is pretty unusual surname in Croatia. There is only one Drakulovic in Croatia (in Zagreb), in the CRO telephone directory. Drakulic is far common surname, would that be possible that Seka's surname was Drakulic?

[georgewood]

seka said:

Drakulovic is pretty unusual surname in Croatia. There is only one Drakulovic in Croatia (in Zagreb), in the CRO telephone directory. Drakulic is far common surname, would that be possible that Seka's surname was Drakulic?

Zdravo, Seko -

Thank you very much for your response. It might very well be that the surname (and maiden name) of the Seka I knew as a young and pretty girl was Drakulic, rather than Drakulovic. You know, nearly fifty years is a long time, and as we get older, memory plays tricks on at least some of us. Tako je sa mnom!

Yes, I saw Milenko Drakulovic's name in the Croatia telephone directory, and it was the only one with that family name in all of Croatia - at least as far as I could tell. So I wrote him a letter in Croatian (a dear old Serbian friend living in Baden, Austria first corrected it over the telephone!), informing him that I would be calling on a certain day and at a certain time. When
I called, ten days later, the letter had still not arrived, and I explained, in halting Croatian, why I was calling.
He was quite nice, but he explained that his origins were Zagrebacki, and not Splitski. He didn't have any relatives in Split, and didn't know anyone from Split with his family name who had once been an English teacher there.

I guess I had better start again from scratch, and see how many families with the name of Drakulic still live in Split and are listed in the telephone directory. Seka
Drakulovic/Drakulic would have married long ago, but
maybe I can locate a family member who can put me in touch with her. I want my son, Michael, to meet at least one or two persons whom I knew, and whose friendship I cherished, from those days of long ago.
If you live in Split, or have a friend who lives in Split, could you/he/she possibly help me in this search?
I am more than willing to reimburse any telephone expenses.

If not, I absolutely understand. And I want to thank you most warmly, in any case, for the very helpful suggestions your constructive e-mail contained.

Hvala najlepse! George Wood

[Slatkica]

hmmmm, as far as I know Tonko is more of a nickname for someone called Ante/ Antonio, so maybe if you said more about this man