"Stories from Ragusina: Stjepan Tot on the Demographic Development of Gruž and Lapad"

As part of the Stories from Ragusina program, historian Stjepan Tot will deliver a lecture titled "Gruž and Lapad: Demographic Development from the Second Half of the 17th to the Beginning of the 20th Century" on Thursday, September 10, 2026, starting at 7:00 PM at the Scientific Library (Cvijete Zuzorić 4, 3rd floor). The lecture focuses on the historical-demographic aspects of the development of the Dubrovnik districts of Gruž and Lapad—which, according to the ecclesiastical-administrative organization, constituted the parish of Gruž—from the oldest surviving parish registers to the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Demographic dynamics will be examined within the context of political, ecclesiastical, and socio-economic conditions, as well as the process of demographic transition in the Dubrovnik area. Research findings regarding population trends, confessional structure, natural population movement—particularly mortality—and immigration will also be presented. The lecture will explain how positive demographic trends in Gruž and Lapad correlated with the modernization and urbanization of the city of Dubrovnik, into whose urban fabric they were ultimately woven. Stjepan Tot, born in Dubrovnik in 1996, is a Croatian historian, a teaching assistant for the undergraduate program *History of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean* at the University of Dubrovnik, and a third-year PhD candidate in History at the Croatian Catholic University in Zagreb. In his scholarly work, he focuses primarily on historical-demographic research of the Dubrovnik area. He presents his research findings at scientific conferences and public lectures, as well as publishing them in academic journals. His primary research interest is centered on natural and mechanical movement and population structures in the early modern period and the 19th century.