Karol Grossman

Dr. Karol Grossman (1864-1929) was born the first son of a landowner in Drakovci. After studying law in Graz, he opened an attorney’s office in Ljutomer in 1901. Grossman was an intelligent man with interests in literature and theatre and became interested in the fields of photography and film early in the twentieth century. He purchased a magic lantern while in Dresden, Germany, before acquiring an amateur 17.5mm movie camera which he used to film worshippers leaving mass in his home town of Ljutomer. The film, Odhod od mase v Ljutomeru (Leaving the Mass in Ljutomer) was the first film ever shot in Slovenia, and Grossman quickly followed it up with Sejem v Ljutomeru (Fair in Ljutomer) and Na domacem vrtu (In the Home Garden). All of these films are now stored at the Slovene Film Archive, which is part of the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia.