There is no stopping the growing fame of The Professor…
What started out as a silly idea to pass the time one late November morning with a YouTube video called The Dalmatian Grunt (see below, more than 25,000 views and rising), quickly became a regular and very popular part of Total Hvar, as Professor Frank John Dubokovich, self-styled Guardian of the Hvar Dialects, took it upon himself to educate his (mostly female) growing army of fans in the nuances of the Croatian language, Hvar-style.
The Professor’s fame quickly spread, and it was not long before he appeared on national television, educating his flock on the importance of Hvar dialect words on the subject of wine in a recent prime time show on HRT1 – The Professor makes an entrance on the programme Susur below at 04:40:
But it is the global appeal of The Professor which is truly frightening, and the Total Hvar inbox was not surprised to receive notification recently that The Professor not only had fans in Australia, but also that there was a new trend to add his iconic Hvar linguistic teachings to ringtones on mobiles.
So impressed was one man that he flew all the way from Sydney to Jelsa to catch up with The Professor to pay homage. Known as Toni to his friends, and raised on a diet of Brusje blitva which ensured a successful playing career, Ante Milicic is the current assistant boss of the Australian national football team. A fine man with Hvar roots, and an appreciation of the finer things in life. Like The Professor’s teachings, if not his coffee… Check out their meeting below.
