BUNTIĆ, DIDAK. – Croatian Franciscan, born in Paoča in Herzegovina on 9 October 1871, died in Bronjo on 3 November 1922. He studied in Innsbruck, and from 1895 to 1919 was a professor at the grammar school in Široki Brijeg; thereafter he became provincial of his Order, a member of the National Council, and a deputy in the Constituent Assembly of the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Full of courage and endowed with an exceptional social sense, he saved the people of Herzegovina from famine during the years 1915–18, effectively promoted the economic improvement and the civilization of the people (using his own method, he taught approximately 13,000 peasants to read and write), and reorganized the studies of his religious province.
BIBL.: O. Knízovič, Život i rad fra D. B., Zagreb 1938; B. fra D., in Hrvatska Enciklopedija, III, ibid. 1942, pp. 516–17. Pietro Čapkun