[3][5] His father Adolf Abraham Kohn was from Bonyhád in Hungary, and his mother Terezija (née Fried) was from Darda just north of Osijek.

In 1877, at only 15 years of age, Svećenski was already recognized by the Osijek cultural public as a promising future musician.

[3] In September 1882, Svećenski started violin studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna with a scholarship from the Croatian government in the amount of 500 krones.

How much he cared about his new surname is witnessed through the records from the time of his great popularity in the United States, where he requested that his last name is written with the right Croatian spelling, a letter "ć".

Some of his notable pupils include conductor and violinist Robert Talbot,[7] and violist and composer Carlton Cooley.