Dreams of a Poet Diplomat
By Alireza Bahram
TEHRAN: I saw him at the unveiling ceremony of an artistic cultural treasure in the historical garden of the Italian Embassy Residence. Two days later, I was sitting across from him in one of Tehran’s cafés and listening to his words.
Around us, young boys and girls were expressing love to one another, while he spoke slowly, but with warmth and continuously, about people, world order, politics, religion…
He talked about his dreams and sorrows. The words of a diplomat and poet are very audible.
Dr. Drago Stambuk is the ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Tehran. He was a doctor who worked in London for many years and focused on the research of liver diseases and AIDS.
Since the collapse of Yugoslavia, he has been the ambassador of Croatia to countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan and Iran.
He says that his entry into politics, after the formation of the small country of Croatia, was to help reduce the suffering of the people; as he helped patients in his medical career.
As journalists, we have seen many ambassadors. They all have one thing in common: a dry, protocol-oriented diplomatic demeanor.
Drago Stambuk, however, has strong feelings. As a result of his study and experience of history, philosophy and different cultures of the world, he has reached interesting analyzes that are evident in his words.
He is also a poet with more than 70 books of poetry, in various languages, whose emotions flare when he talks about human suffering.
This poet and politician, whose childhood memories were formed on an island in Croatia (Yugoslavia), in the ruins left by the Second World War, also has interesting analyzes about the Balkan war. He understands the suffering of people in the war with all his heart and he is angry and sad about it.
Stambuk, who has a history of friendship with Mother Teresa, became a politician because of the attack on his people and their massacre, but he has remained a poet.
He is familiar with myths and in every part of the world where he has a mission, he has established a good relationship with the mythological concepts of those countries.
His Excellency the ambassador is not happy in his poems either. With a language that is not so simple, in a way that sometimes becomes complicated, he constantly illustrates and talks about humanity, life and death.
Drago Stambuk, who is in the last part of his mission in Iran, is leaving with a heavy backpack from this trip that started in 2019; His load includes two books in Farsi, several cultural events and interviews with the press, as well as studies about the old culture of Iran, especially ancient Iran. It is interesting to know that according to this European thinker, the name of the Croatian nation came from a region in the east of Iran during the Persian Empire.
Drago Stambuk is a politician and a poet who thinks about people and peace more than politics and poetry.
This is a translation of one of his poems:
Zephyr
If you have two loaves of bread
Give one to a poor man,
Sell the other
And buy jasmine
To feed your soul.