There were many, but certainly one of the greatest was August Šenoa (1838–1881), whose statue, created by the sculptor Marija Ujević-Galetović, stands in Vlaška Street, in front of his birth house. Even though periods of his life and education took him away from Zagreb, it was a constant in his existence and creative work. A writer and a journalist, a playwright and translator, a theater critic – but he is best remembered as a writer of historical novels set in Zagreb, with stories about – as in the first Croatian historical novel The Goldsmith's Treasure – class struggle, intrigue and prejudice, with a message that love and justice conquer social prejudices.
Standing next to the storyteller and poet Antun Gustav Matoš (1873–1914), whose statue is located in the romantic Strossmayer promenade in Upper Town, seems to give the most beautiful view of Zagreb. Matoš himself thought his stories were the peak of his creative work, the critics valued his travelogues the most, and our contemporaries place poetry at the forefront of his opus. While circumstances made him leave Zagreb on multiple occasions, he would always return, so that even today, there, "suspended" on a bench and looking at the Lower Town roofs he loved so much, the bronze-cast Matoš, created by the sculptor Ivan Kožarić, is in constant interaction with passers-by, as well as with readers. The love between Matoš and Zagreb is lasting.
Marija Jurić Zagorka (1873–1957), the first Croatian professional female journalist, writer and gender equality activist, lived and created far ahead of her time. In her works, one of the most popular being the novel The Witch of Grič, love stories intertwine with elements of national history. Zagreb placed a monument created by Stjepan Gračan in front of the writer's birth house in Tkalčićeva Street.
The city also put up a monument to honor the greatest Croatian writer and encyclopedist of the 20th century, Miroslav Krleža. With his trademark style and use of language, ability to skillfully blend different genres and the eloquence of an intellectual of the highest order, Krleža gave analytical accounts on many subjects, providing layered depictions of people, times, social relations and ambience.
The monument to the great writer, created by Marija Ujević-Galetović, stands in Dubravkin put, a path which once Krleža often walked, now visited by his fans.