Today’s issue of one of the leading Croatian newspapers has a major article and the entire front page dedicated to the effort of many Croatians of renown to rename Marshal Tito’s Square in the center of Zagreb. The old dictator has no place in the Croatian capital, some of them argue. Most of them are for the Republic of Croatia Square. However, the article goes through all the historical names of the square, the first of which was Cattle Market. There is no date attached, but it must have been in use a bit more than a century ago. The language of the time is enchanting, as well: Marvinski trg. As the words “market” and “square” are identical in Croatian, the name sounds decent enough. Eager to contribute to this important debate, I just sent a letter to the editor of the newspaper. “Let us be serious about history,” I began. “As a Croatian of international renown born in Zagreb,” I continued, “I am for renaming the square into its first historical name.” Of course, the likelihood of such a glorious event is zilch. And so is the likelihood that the newspaper will publish my letter to the editor.

Addendum (June 29, 2017)

Amazingly, Marshal Tito’s Square in the center of Zagreb is in the news to this day. And there is ever more hoopla about renaming it. Slowly but surely, it has become one of the leading concerns in this godforsaken country, which remains plagued by a host of much more worrying problems. To my chagrin, though, the original name of the square appears to be completely forgotten by now. In fact, the media are quiet about it, mainly because it is a dead giveaway about the city’s past. But it still strikes me as nigh perfect for the Croatian capital—the Cattle Market for true. By way of proof, it is enough to witness the shenanigans of the many belligerents. Even the cattle would be taken aback by some of them.