Many significant personages were born and lived in the Ozalj region; these are truly great personalities of Croatian history and culture. BERNARDIN FRANKOPAN (1453-1529), one on the most distinguished magnates of his time, was probably born in Ozalj. In 1479 he issued the well-know charter which granted the residents of Trg the right to settle under Ozalj. According to Primoz Trubar, he commissioned a translation of the Bible into the Croatian language. The eldest portion of today's Ozalj castle is the Zrinski Palace, constructed by the NIKOLA SUBIC ZRINSKI (1508-1566), ten years before his heroic death defending the fortress at Szigetvar in southern Hungary. This is shown by the inscription engraved above the entrance to the first floor of the palace. Nicola's son JURAJ ZRINSKI (1549-1603) distinguished himself in many battles against the Ottomans. He also befriended many writers and established a printing press in Nedelisce. He left an inscription in the stone of the entry tower of the Ozalj castle that notes the year of its construction, 1599. Ban PETAR ZRINSKI (1621-1671), after the death of his elder brother, Ban Nicola, continued the movement against Viennese imperialist absolutism. A famous hero in battles against the Ottomans, his life ended with beheading on 30 April 1671. As a poet, he published the Croatian translation and adaptation of"Adrianskoga mora sirene" first written by his brother Nicola in the Hungarian language. FRAN KRSTO FRANKOPAN (1643-1671), a comrade-in-arms of Petar Zrinski in his battles against the Ottomans, joined the latter in his resistance to the Austrian emperor, and they were executed together. He is considered the most talented poet of the Ozalj circle. In addition to his collection of poems titled "Gartlic za cas kratiti" and other poetic works, he also translated the works of Moliere and left behind him a very interesting philosophical and poetic vision titled "Trumbita sudnjeg dneva" ("The Trumpet Of Judgment Day"). ANA KATARINA FRANKOPAN ZRINSKI (1625-1673) decisively stood by her husband Petra and assisted him in his political activities. An educated woman and great philanthropist for Croatian culture, she published a translation of the German prayer book,"Putni tovarus" ("Traveling Companion"). She is also credited with a book of divinations,"Sibila". Recently found poems written by the gifted Katarina were published under the title Raj duse ("Paradise of the Soul"). The FRANKOPANS and ZRINSKIS promoted Croatian culture for centuries. The eldest lords of Ozalj were tied to the northernmost traces of the Glagolites on Croatian soil. During the seventeenth century, they conceived of a Croatian cultural space with several other writers, and they became known in Croatian literature as the writers of the OZALJ LITERARY CIRCLE. They wrote in a so-called hybrid three-dialect language, which was a mixture of elements of the Kajkavian, Chakavian and Shtokavian Croatian dialects. The literary and linguistic work of the Ozalj circle was forcefully ended in 1671 when the Zrinski-Frankopan resistance was crushed. IVAN BELOSTENEC (1594-1675) owes his economic and cultural development to the Paulist monastery in Svetice. His major life's work is the large, encyclopedic Illyrian (Croatian)-Latin, Latin-Illyrian three-dialect dictionary titled Gazophylacium. JURAJ KRIZANIC (1618-1683), a learned Dominican doctor, political scientist, philosopher, theologian, writer, composer and world traveler, was born in Obrh near Ribnik. In his particular way, he belonged to the Ozalj circle not only in the geographic, but also in the literary-linguistic sense. Count THEODOR BATTHYANI (d. 1813) became known far and wide studing tehnical inventions. In renewing and repairing the Ozalj castle, Batthyani also raised its economic standards, constructing manufacturing facilities for linens and bricks. JURAJ KAMENAR the local squire, was responsible for establishing a public school in Vrhovac in 1871. He collected folk songs, stories and ethnographic artifacts from the Ozalj region. EMILIJ LASYOWSKI (1868-1949) was born in Brlog-grad near Kamanje. His booklet Grad Ozalj i njegova okolica ("The Ozalj Castle and its Environs") is only one of the many books from the rich opus of this capable historian. As the 'Brothers of the Croatian Dragon', he deserves much of the credit for the preservation of the Old Castle of Ozalj and the arrangement of its museum collection. Only SLAVA RASKAJ (1877-1906), a painter born in Ozalj, knew how to depict the slopes, forests, Old Castle, emerald-green Kupa River, local people and the countless brilliant flowers of the Ozalj region in such a masterful fashion. A student of the renowned Bela Cikos, she listened to her inner voice and created in her own, distinct manner. She became the greatest Croatian water-color painter.