Opis
Vladimir Novak was born in 1928 in Varaždin, Croatia. At the age of 14 he joined the Military Academy “Zastavnička škola”, which was the most elite military unit during the Independent State of Croatia. He graduated from Real Gymnasium in Varaždin and in 1948 he studied the History of Arts at the University of Zagreb and later at the Motion Picture Academy in Belgrade.
He left Yugoslavia in 1959 as a political refugee and lived three years in Belgium. He arrived in the U.S.A. in 1962 and received his citizenship five years later. While living in Los Angeles he organized the Croatian Radio Program in 1963 (it is still on air), produced the very first Croatian flag with the printed chekered emblem, and organized the first and only rasing of the Croatian flag at the Los Angeles City Hall.
During the Entire 36 years of his life in the exile, he had been very active in Croatian and American politics and received many special commendation awards and honours.
He has been self-employed in commercial photography and advertising and he won several top awards for his work. His credits include photographs of some noted personalities, such as the United States President Ronald Reagan, general Omar Bradley, admiral dr. Uslyssess Sharp Grant IV., hotel-magnate Conrad Hilton, famous singer John Elton, and many others including motion picture stars. However, he was mostly involved in promoting the Croatian cause.
Since 1970 Vladimir Novak also collected and restored over 4000 valuable photographs dealing with Croatian immigration in America. Fortunately, he was able to bring them to Croatia in early 1994, when he retired and returned to his homeland.
