The ironic meaning of Mladen Kurbanovic’s first name is not lost on the St Albans centenarian.
In Croatian, ‘Mladen’ means ‘young’. While young in age he is not, the Doutta Galla nursing home resident is certainly young at heart.
After celebrating his 100th birthday in August last year, Mr Kurbanovic decided to pen an autobiography.
It’s a brief document – just two columns on a single A4 sheet – but it contains the most important aspect of his life – his devotion to God.
“I do not think any autobiography should be longer than this one,” he says at the bottom of the page.
With the help of his nursing home staff, Mr Kurbanovic plans to contact the Australian embassy in Croatia, informing it of his plan to send a copy of his autobiography and a set of gold cufflinks gifted to him by Senator Cory Bernardi.
He hopes a museum in the country of his birth will display the items together.
Mr Kurbanovic said he was given the cufflinks at a Liberal Party event three years ago after writing a letter to then Prime Minister Tony Abbott about his views on religious studies in government schools.
“I sent the letter to Tony Abbott and Cory Bernardi read it and said: ‘This is spot on’,” he said.
“Then he [Senator Bernadi] came to me at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron and gave me this little box.”
Mr Kurbanovic, a “reborn Christian”, said he wants the bible to be used in the school curriculum. “It’s the only text book for a decent life,” he said.
The Croatia-born man came to Australia in 1961 after fleeing Europe after WWII. He was a scientist until retiring at the age of 65.
