Culture of Milan nevertheless it retained a sort of central position in cultural debates. New ideas and movements from other countries of Europe were accepted and discussed: thus Realism and Naturalism gave birth to an Italian movement, "Verismo". The greatest "verista" novelist, Giovanni Verga, was born in Sicily but wrote his most important books in Milan. Milan is a major nationwide and international centre of the performing arts, most notably opera. Milan is the location of "La Scala" opera house, one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, and throughout history has hosted the premieres of numerous operas, such as "Nabucco"
Milan (given name) From the name of Milan and its variants a number of surnames were created. The most famous are: Milanović, Milanovac, Milanković, Milanić, Milač, Milavec, Miletić, Milić, Miljković, and others. Milan (given name) Milan (Cyrillic: Милан) is a common Slavic male name and less commonly, a Roman name. It is derived from the Slavic element "mil", with meanings kind, loving, and gracious. Milan was originally a diminutive or nickname for those whose Slavic names began with "Mil-". It is used predominantly by Czechs, Slovaks and Serbs but also frequently in Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary. It was in