Nikola Gučetić

Gučetić, born into a distinguished Dubrovnik noble family, was a high-ranking official of the Dubrovnik Republic (multiple princes, diplomats), husband of Mara Gundulić (sister of Ivan Gundulić), and author of numerous Latin treatises printed in Venice and elsewhere.

The author examines his life chronologically and thematically: his education in Padua and Rome, the influence of Aristotelianism (through the Paduan School), his marriage to the intellectual Mara Gondola (who defended women's rights in the preface to his works), and his political career in a turbulent period (struggles with the Ottomans, trade, internal conflicts).

The main part is dedicated to Gučetić's works:

• commentaries on Aristotle's Rhetoric and Politics (he seeks to Christianize and modernize ancient thought),
• discussions on beauty (Dialogus de pulchro, where he hierarchically interprets beauty from bodily to divine),
• political philosophy (on state organization, war, governance, the influence of Machiavelli and ancient models),
• natural philosophy and metaphysical writings (on causes, demons, magic – in manuscripts and printed works).

Šifler-Premec emphasizes Gučetić's synthesis of Peripatetic philosophy with Christian theology, his humanistic optimism, his contribution to aesthetics and rhetoric, and his role in Dubrovnik's intellectual culture (along with Fran Petrić, Miho Monaldi, etc.).