Early Life

Ivan Meštrović was born in the town of Vrpolje in Slavonia, but spent his childhood in a small village of Otavice in the Dalmatian hinterland. Both of these modern-day Croatian regions were in Austria-Hungary at the time. At the age of 16, a master stone cutter from Split Pavle Bilinić noticed his talent and he took him as an apprentice. His artistic skills were improved by studying the monumental buildings in the city and his education at the hands of Bilinić's wife, who was a high-school teacher. Soon, they found a mine owner from Vienna who paid for Meštrović to move there and be admitted to the Art Academy. He had to quickly learn German from scratch and adjust to the new environment, but he persevered and successfully finished his studies.