He was born on April 28th of 1875 in Kolocep, a state that at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and that belongs to the empire of Croatia today. He arrived in Chile in 1892 along with his brother Vicko, attracted by the exploitation of saltpeter. Initially they settled in Iquique, where they started to sell meat and fish. Likewise, he entered into the saltpeter business through the purchasing of the credits of the Compañía Salitrera Progreso to the Banco de Chile. This society was the beginning of a great empire.
Later, he acquired a shipping company, which allowed him to have the dominion of shipping and selling of saltpeter. He was also an representative of an important English company producer of coal. Later, he acquired a bank, which helped him control his commercial transactions. However, the most important economical peak achieved was in 1923, when he bought the Compañía Lautaro from the English, which was the biggest in Chile. Due to the acquisition of this company, he achieved to control near the 30% of the total sales of saltpeter.
In 1928, and before the imminent crisis of nitrate he sold all his stock shares to the North American group Guggenheim Bros. After saving his capital, he invested in agricultural societies, such as the compañía Agrícola San Vicente (in Los Andes) and the sociedad Agrícola Ñuble Rupanco.
The following year, he retired to live in his residence built in Valparaiso’s cerro Alegre (Alegre hill), called Baburizza palace. This place, today, is the museum of Bellas Artes of that port.
He died on august 13th of 1941 in the city of Los Andes, at age 66.
Muere Evita