The origin of the surname Grohovaz and its history

 The surname Grohovaz seems to derive from the Hungarian Grahovac. In the early 1300s there is evidence of the first Grahovacs in the territories of today's Slovakia. In the mid-1300s they are also present in today's Bosnia and Croatia. Between the end of 1300 and the beginning of 1400 they founded the Montenegrin city of Grahovac, near the fortress of Ostrvica, where they fought but were annexed to the Ottoman Empire in 1451. From there someone moved to Rijeka and others founded Grohovo where activities and family possessions are registered as early as the beginning of the 1400s. The first documented Grohovac is Matteo Grohovac, who was public employee at Fiume  in the 1446. This group of Grahovac who founded the village of Grohovo gave rise to the surname Grohovaz / Grohovac. In the 1527 Margarita Grohovac was the owner of windmills and of some industrial plants for the transformation of the wool. In 1597 Bartolomeo Grohovac became Mayor of Rijeka and a few years later Archdeacon of the same city. The presence of a public notary from Rijeka Georgius Grohovaz is recorded in 1679. In 1775 the Grohovac family had 4 vineyards in Grohovo and one in S. Katerina (3 medium-sized and one small). In 1799 Mr. Vincenzo Grohovaz turns out to be a "Chancellist" (deputy councilor) in Rijeka. In 1833 Joseph G. became Lieutenant of the administrative division of the Habsburg army of instance in Bjelovar. In 1909 my grandfather's uncle John Angelo Grohovaz emigrated to America; his son Gianni Angelo emigrated to Canada in '26. My great-grandfather Angelo, his brother Narciso, Beniamino G, Ferdinando G, Giovanni G. and Natale G. fought in 1919 with D'Annunzio in the battle of Fiume (“Impresa di Fiume”). In 1938 Kasimir Grohovac was one of the first professional civil aviators; he flew on a RWD-13. After 1945 Narciso, my great-grandfather's brother, undergoes the seizure of all assets, as does Ida Grahovac. Arno Grohovaz (aka Orlando), a partisan, fared worse as he was interned in the German camp of Linz, from which he will not get out alive. Anzelmo, Giuseppe, Josip and Marijan were also partisans. After the Second World War my grandfather's cousin, Marcello, emigrated to Australia, while the other cousin Julio Natale emigrated to South Africa. My grandfather Luciano and his wife Tosca Viezzoli, instead, emigrated to the "new" Italy, as redefined by the peace treaties.