The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the hu ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop

Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; german: Joseph Georg Strossmayer; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian politician, Roman Catholic Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop, and benefactor (law), benefactor. Early life an ...

under the name ''Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts'' (, abbrev. JAZU) since its founder wanted to make it the central scientific and artistic institution of all

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austri ...

. Today, its main goals are encouraging and organizing scientific work, applying the achieved results, development of artistic and cultural activities, carrying about the Croatian cultural heritage and its affirmation in the world, publishing the results of scientific research and artistic creativity and giving suggestions and opinions for the advancement of science and art in areas of particular importance to Croatia. The academy is divided into nine classes; social sciences, mathematical, physical and chemical sciences, natural sciences, medical sciences, philological sciences, Literature, Fine Arts, Musical Arts and Musicology, technical sciences. The academy started in 1866 with 16 full members which grew to today's 160. Besides full, members can also be honorary, corresponding or associate.

History

The institution was founded in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

on 29 April 1861 by the decision of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sa ...

(

Sabor The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabo ...

) as the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. The bishop and benefactor

, a prominent advocate of higher

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

during the 19th century Croatian

national romanticism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

, set up a trust fund for this purpose and in 1860 submitted a large donation to the then viceroy (

ban Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

) of Croatia

Josip Šokčević Baron Josip Šokčević (german: Joseph Freiherr von Sokcsevits; 7 March 1811 – 16 November 1896), was a Croatian lieutenant marshal in the Austro-Hungarian Army who served as the ban of Croatia and as the governor of the Voivodeship of Serbia ...

for the cause of being able to After some years of deliberations by the

and the emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, it was finally sanctioned by

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

in 1866. The official sponsor was Josip Juraj Strossmayer, while the first chairman of the academy was the distinguished Croatian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Franjo Rački Franjo Rački (25 November 1828 – 13 February 1894) was a Croatian historian, politician and writer. He compiled important collections of old Croatian diplomatic and historical documents, wrote some pioneering historical works, and was a key f ...

Đuro Daničić Đuro Daničić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђуро Даничић, ; 4 April 1825 – 17 November 1882), born Đorđe Popović ( sr-cyr, Ђорђе Поповић) and also known as Đura Daničić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђура Даничић), was a Serbian philologist, ...

was elected for secretary general of the academy, where he played a key role in preparing the academy's dictionary, the ''Croatian or Serbian Dictionary of JAZU''. The academy's creation was the logical extension of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

, the institution initially created in 1669 and also renewed by bishop Strossmayer in 1874. Bishop Strossmayer also initiated the building of the Academy Palace in the

Zrinjevac Zrinjevac may mean: * Zrinjevac (Mostar), a central park in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Zrinjevac (Osijek), a park in Osijek, Croatia * Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square (AKA Zrinjevac), a park and square in Zagreb, Croatia {{disambig ...

park of Zagreb, and the Palace was completed in 1880. In 1884, the palace also became a host of the

Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters ( hr, Strossmayerova galerija starih majstora) is a fine art museum in Zagreb, Croatia exhibiting the collection donated to the city by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer in 1884. Located at 11 Nikola Šubić Zrin ...

that contained 256 works of art (mostly paintings). The same is today one of the most prominent

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

in Zagreb. The academy started publishing the academic journal '' Rad'' in 1867. In 1882, each of the individual scientific classes of the academy started printing their own journals. In 1887, the academy published the first "Ljetopis" as a year book, as well as several other publications in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

Vatroslav Jagić Vatroslav Jagić (; July 6, 1838 – August 5, 1923) was a Croatian scholar of Slavic studies in the second half of the 19th century. Life Jagić was born in Varaždin (then known by its German name of ''Warasdin''), where he attended the el ...

, Baltazar Bogišić,

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 1856 – 7 January 1943 ...

, Mihailo Petrović,

Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger (born October 25, 1856 in Zagreb, died December 24, 1936, Zagreb) was a Croatian geologist, paleontologist, and archeologist. Education Dragutin finished his elementary education in Zagreb, Croatia, as well as t ...

, Andrija Mohorovičić,

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavle Bilinić's ...

, Lavoslav Ružička, Vladimir Prelog,

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in ...

, Miroslav Krleža, Ivan Supek and

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...

were JAZU/HAZU members.

Name changes

The academy briefly changed name from "Yugoslav" to "Croatian" between 1941 and 1945 during the Axis client regime of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

. It has again been renamed "Croatian" in 1991 after Croatia gained independence from Yugoslavia.

Departments

The academy is divided into nine departments (classes): * Department of Social Sciences * Department of Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Sciences * Department of Natural Sciences * Department of Medical Sciences * Department of Philological Sciences * Department of Literature * Department of Fine Arts * Department of Music and Musicology * Department of Technical Sciences

The Institute for Historical Sciences

One of the research units of the academy is the Institute for Historical Sciences. It is located in a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

villa in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranea ...

, and holds a rich manuscript and library collection. Two peer-reviewed journals are published by the Institute, which are fully available online: ''Anali'' in Croatian and ''

Dubrovnik Annals ''Dubrovnik Annals'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1997. It covers all aspects of the history and culture of Dubrovnik and the Dubrovnik Republic. It is published by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts's Institu ...

'' in English.

Membership

There are four classes of members: *Full members *Associate members *Honorary members *Corresponding members The number of full members and corresponding members is limited to 160 each, while the maximum number of associate members is 100. Number of full members per department is limited to 24. Only the full members may carry the title of "

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

" ( en, F.C.A., hr, akademik (male members) or (female members)).

Chairmen

Criticism

The academy has been criticized to the effect that membership and activities are based on academic

cronyism Cronyism is the spoils system practice of Impartiality, partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. For example, cronyism occurs ...

and political favor rather than on scientific and artistic merit. In 2006 matters came to a head with the academy's refusal to induct Dr.

Miroslav Radman Miroslav Radman (born April 30, 1944) is a Croatian biologist. Biography Radman was born in Split, PR Croatia, Yugoslavia. From 1962–1967 he studied experimental biology, physical chemistry and molecular biology at the University of Zagreb an ...

, an accomplished

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

, a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...

, and an advocate of a higher degree of

meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...

and accountability in Croatian

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. His supporters within the academy and the media decried the decision as reinforcing a politically motivated, unproductive ''status quo''. Dr. Ivo Banac, a

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

professor and then a deputy in the

Croatian parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sa ...

, addressed the chamber in a speech decrying a "dictatorship of mediocrity" in the academy, while ''

Globus Globus is Latin for ''sphere'' or ''globe''. It may also refer to: Business * Globus Medical, a medical device company in Audubon, PA * Globus (clothing retailer), an Indian clothing retail store * Globus (company), a Swiss department store ch ...

'' columnist Boris Dežulović satirized the institution as an "academy of stupidity and obedience". Dr. Vladimir Paar and others defended the academy's decision, averring that it did take pains to include accomplished scientists but that, since Dr. Radman's work has mostly taken place outside Croatia, it was appropriate that he remain a corresponding rather than a full member of the academy."Dictatorship of Mediocrity" debate, ''Feral Tribune'', 2006
Banac speechPaar replyBanac response
Retrieved 2009-10-21

Nenad Ban Nenad Ban is a biochemist born in Zagreb, Croatia who currently works at the ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, as a professor of Structural Molecular Biology. He is a pioneer in studying gene expression mechanisms and the partici ...

, a distinguished molecular biologist from

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , a ...

and a member of the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founde ...

is only a corresponding member of HAZU. Ivan Đikić, a molecular biologist working at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

, and also a member of Leopoldina since 2010, has not been able to join HAZU even as a corresponding member, despite being the most cited Croatian scientist, with more citations than the academy's 18-member Department of Medical Sciences combined. From 2005 to 2007, the Department of Philological Sciences at the academy released several declarations on the linguistic situation in Croatia, which were criticised for being nationalistically motivated rather than linguistically based. In May 2022, the academy published a document outlining conditions for Bosnia and Herzegovina's entry into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, calling for a third Croat entity to be implemented in the country due to the rising challenges faced by Croats from "Serbian secessionist and Bosniak unitarist" policies. It also proposed conditions to be fulfilled by Serbia and Montenegro before they joined the EU. It has been criticized by analysts for its ethno-nationalist and political nature and has drawn comparisons to the controversial

SANU memorandum The Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, known simply as the SANU Memorandum ( sr-cyr, Меморандум САНУ), was a draft document produced by a 16-member committee of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) fro ...

Notes and references

External links

*
Zakon o Hrvatskoj akademiji znanosti i umjetnosti
*
Intelektualna krema pred vratima HAZU-a

* {{Authority control Academy of Sciences and Arts Academy of Sciences and Arts 1866 establishments in Croatia Buildings and structures in Zagreb Donji grad, Zagreb National academies of sciences National academies of arts and humanities Arts in Croatia Academy of Sciences and Arts Members of the International Council for Science Arts organizations established in 1866 Scientific organizations established in 1866 1866 establishments in the Austrian Empire Romanesque Revival architecture Academy of Sciences and Arts