Mato Marić
Mato Marić helped found the Croatian Club in Adelaide and later became a national leader in Australia's Croatian community.
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Quick Facts
Biography
Marić, Mato
Community Leader. (Stolac, 29 October 1927 - Broadbeach, Queensland, 7 June 2017).
Mato Marić arrived in Australia aboard the "Langfitt III" on 14 January 1950 and was initially placed at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp in Victoria. The following month, he relocated to Adelaide, where he worked briefly as a trainee fireman with the South Australian Railways. Marić played a central role in the early organisation of the Croatian community in Adelaide, co-organising the first major community gathering on 25 April 1950 in the Adelaide Parklands and serving as a founding committee member of the newly established Croatian Club Adelaide.
In mid-1953, Marić moved to Sydney, where he continued his community involvement and became a leading figure in the Croatian Australian community. He later served as President of the Central Council of Croatian Associations in Australia (Središnji Odbor Hrvatskih Društava Australije), contributing significantly to the national coordination of Croatian organisations.
Organisations
- The Croatian Club Adelaide
- The Central Council of Croatian Associations in Australia
Sources
National Archives of Australia. NAA: A2571, Maric Mato (29 October 1927), ship (Langfitt III), arrival date (14 January 1950).
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au (Accessed 29 July 2025)
State Records of South Australia. GRS 10638 Record of Employment Sheets – South Australian Railways.
https://archives.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/images/GRS%2010638%20index%20M-P.pdf (Accessed 25 August 2022)
Fabian Lovoković. Hrvatske Zajednice u Australiji: nastojanja i postignuća, Riverwood, NSW: Ligare Pty Ltd, 2010, pp. 499–501, 748.
Branka Dembić-Čubelić, personal communication via Facebook Messenger, 28 July 2025, regarding the birth and death details of Mate Marić.
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