The University of Zagreb (, ) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the University North are the only public universities operating in Northern and Central Croatia. The history of the University began on September 23, 1669, when the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Leopold I issued a decree granting the establishment of the ''Jesuit Academy of the Royal Free City of Zagreb''. The decree was accepted at the Council of the Croatian Kingdom on November 3, 1671. The Academy was run by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

for more than a century until the order was dissolved by

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...

in 1773. In 1776, Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

issued a decree founding the ''Royal Academy of Science'' which succeeded the previous Jesuit Academy. Bishop

Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; ; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church, politician and benefactor (law), benefactor. Between 1849 and his death, he served as the Bishop of Đakovo, Bishop ...

proposed the founding of a University to the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

in 1861. Emperor Franz Joseph signed the decree on the establishment of the University of Zagreb in 1869. The Act of Founding was passed by the Parliament in 1874, and was ratified by the Emperor on January 5, 1874. On October 19, 1874, the ''Royal University of Franz Joseph I'' was officially opened. The University is composed of 29 faculties, 3 art academies and 1 university center with more than 70,000 students.

History

Academy

The beginnings of the later university date back to 23 September 1669 when Emperor and King Leopold I Habsburg issued a decree granting the establishment of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Academy of the Royal Free City of

.Rüegg, Walter: "European Universities and Similar Institutions in Existence between 1812 and the End of 1944: A Chronological List", in: Rüegg, Walter (ed.): '' A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 3: Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (1800–1945)'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, , p. 685 According to that document the study of philosophy in Zagreb acquired a formal and legal status as ''Neoacademia Zagrabiensis'' and officially became a public institution of higher education. The academy was run by the Jesuits for more than a century until the order was dissolved by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. Under a new leadership in 1772 the academy enrolled a total of 200 students. In 1776 Empress and Queen

issued a decree founding the Royal Academy of Science (). It consisted of three studies or faculties of philosophy, theology, and law. The former political- cameral studies became part of the newly established faculty of law, and thus were integrated into the academy. Each of the faculties of the Royal Academy of Sciences had several chairs teaching one or several courses. During the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791 and following the Austrian occupation of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

on 8 October 1789 the Royal Academy requested to be granted the university status with the following argumentation: The academy in Zagreb remained until 1874, despite numerous organizational changes, the focal institution of higher education in Croatia, educating most of the members of the Croatian intelligentsia.

University

Bishop

in 1861 proposed to the

the founding of a university at Zagreb. During his visit in 1869, the Emperor Franz Joseph signed the decree on the establishment of the University of Zagreb. Five years later, the Parliament passed the Act of Founding, which was ratified by the Emperor on 5 January 1874. On 19 October 1874, a ceremony was held in the name of the founding of the ''Royal University of Franz Joseph I in Zagreb'', making it the third university in the Hungarian realm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1874 the University had four faculties: * Law (''Pravno-državoslovni fakultet'') * Theology (''Bogoslovni fakultet'') * Philosophy (''Mudroslovni fakultet'') * Medicine (''Liječnički fakultet'') The Faculty of Medicine was not put into function in 1874; it had to wait until 1917. The Faculty of Philosophy served as the general scientific faculty. Since 1876 it had geology, botany, physics, mathematics, and chemistry; since 1877 zoology; since 1882 pharmacy; since 1883 geography. In 1860, the Royal Agriculture and Forestry College was founded in Križevci. In 1898, the Academy of Forestry (''Šumarska akademija'') was founded as part of the Faculty of Philosophy, which encompassed all technical studies. In 1919, this school became the Faculty of Husbandry and Forestry. In 1919, the School of Technology (''Tehnička visoka škola'') was founded, which was transformed into a university faculty in 1926. Also in 1919 the School of Veterinary Medicine (''Veterinarska visoka škola'') was founded; it transformed into a university faculty in 1925. From 1920 to 1924 shortly existed Faculty of Eastern Orthodox Theology. Great Hall of the Rectorate of the University of Zagreb

Great Hall of the Rectorate of the University of Zagreb

In the Faculty of Philosophy, major reorganization ensued in the 1920s, as mathematics, pharmacy and other sciences started to split off, first with the creation of separate mathematics and pharmaceutical departments in 1928, when the faculty was renamed into its current name ''Filozofski fakultet''. In 1926, the university was composed of seven faculties: * Theology (''Bogoslovni fakultet'') * Law (''Pravnički fakultet'') * Medicine (''Liječnički fakultet'') * Philosophy (''Mudroslovni fakultet'') ** Philosophy dept. (''Filozofski odjel'') ** Pharmacy dept. (''Farmaceutski odjel'') * Husbandry and Forestry (''Gospodarsko-šumarski fakultet'') * Veterinary Medicine (''Veterinarski fakultet'') * Technology (''Tehnički fakultet'') ** Construction dept. (''Građevni odsjek'') ** Engineering dept. (''Strojarski odsjek'') ** Chemical engineering dept. (''Kemijsko-inženjerski odsjek'') On 26 August 1936 a group of Macedonian students belonging to the MANAPO signed the ''Political Declaration'', an illegal document requesting political and social emancipation of Macedonians in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. During the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

(1941–1945), the university was known as the ''Croatian University'' (Hrvatsko sveučilište). The individual departments of the Faculty of Philosophy became separate faculties in 1942, 1946 when the Faculty of Sciences was formed, and finally in 1963. In 1956, the Faculty of Technology was divided into four faculties: * Architecture-Construction-Geodesy (''Arhitektonsko-građevinsko-geodetski fakultet'') * Electrical engineering (''Elektrotehnički fakultet'') * Mechanical engineering-Shipbuilding (''Strojarsko-brodograđevni fakultet'') * Chemistry-Food technology-Mining (''Tehnološki fakultet'') These eventually split up into the current layout. In 1999., the University decided to implement European Credit Transfer System – ECTS. When Croatia signed to be a part of The Bologna declaration, all of the universities in Croatia adopted this system of easily readable and comparable degrees. University offers 160 undergraduate programmes (ba/bsc), 22 integrated undergraduate-graduate programmes, 9 vocational undergraduate programmes, 174 graduate programmes (ma/msc), 1 vocational graduate programme, 72 doctoral programmes (PhD) and 165 specialist postgraduate programmes.

Faculties

Natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s * Faculty of Science

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Faculty of Architecture * Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology * Faculty of Civil Engineering * Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing * Faculty of Geodesy * Faculty of Geotechnics (in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

) * Faculty of Graphic Arts * Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture * Faculty of Metallurgy (in Sisak) * Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering * Faculty of Textile Technology * Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences

Biomedical sciences Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbio ...

* Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry * Faculty of Veterinary Medicine * School of Dental Medicine * School of Medicine

Biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

* Faculty of Agriculture * Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology * Faculty of Forestry

Social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

s * Faculty of Economics and Business * Faculty of Kinesiology *

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

* Faculty of Organization and Informatics in Varaždin * Faculty of Political Science * Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation * Faculty of Teacher Education

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

* Catholic Faculty of Theology * Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences * Faculty of Croatian Studies *

Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Sciences The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

The arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

* Academy of Dramatic Art * Academy of Fine Arts * Academy of Music

Philosophy and Religious Sciences

Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Sciences (FFRZ) is a part of the University of Zagreb,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

It remains a work of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

and traces its origins to 1662. FFRZ in Zagreb began as a Jesuit school of philosophy on 6 November 1662 with the establishment of the Philosophy Department at Zagreb College, which would become the University of Zagreb. The Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus (FFDI) closed in 1773 due to the suppression of the

, and the Jesuit philosophy school in Zagreb did not reopen until 1937, when it offered a three-year course leading to the licentiate in philosophy, as it does today. On 31 July 1989 the Congregation for Catholic Education of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

decreed that the Faculty of Philosophy could confer the baccalaureate, licentiate, and doctorate in philosophy. With a decision of 7 October 1992, the Ministry of Science and Technology entered FFDI into the register as a Scientific Research Organization in philosophy and it became a part of the Croatian Studies Department of the University of Zagreb. On 8 December 2016, the Senate of the University of Zagreb determined that FFDI would become a faculty and equal component of the University under the title Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Sciences (FFRZ). Undergraduates may major in Philosophy and Religious Sciences, Philosophy, or Philosophy and Latin Language. Graduate students may major in Philosophy or Religious Science. FFRZ also offers post-graduate studies. FFRZ has a formal relationship with Laudato TV to "work together to promote and implement educational, cultural and scientific activities in the Christian and humanistic atmosphere". University of Zagreb

In 2017 there were two current research studies at the Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Sciences: * Practical ethics and commitment to the common good in times of crisis. Is there a place for virtue in Croatian society? * Christian philosophy within the Croatian philosophy of the 20th century. On 5 May 2017 a symposium was held on "Religions and Migration: Displaced Persons and Refugees". The faculty is led by a chancellor and his deputy along with a dean and vice-dean. The chancellor is

Arturo Sosa Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal (born 12 November 1948) is a Venezuelan Catholic priest who has served as the 31st superior general of the Society of Jesus since 2016. He was elected by the Society's 36th General Congregation to succeed Adolf ...

, General Superior of the Society of Jesus based in Rome. His deputy is Dalibor Renić, Provincial Superior of the Croatian Province of the Society of Jesus based in Zagreb. The dean is Prof. Ivan Koprek, The Faculty Council is composed of all regular and extraordinary professors and the Faculty Conference includes all current lecturers, student representatives, and faculty officials.

Rectors

# Matija Mesić (1874–75) # Stjepan Spevec (1875–76) # Anton Kržan (1876–77) # Konstantin Vojnović (1877–78) # Franjo Maixner (1878–79) # Franjo Iveković (1879–80) # Aleksandar Bresztyenszky (1880–81) #

Franjo Marković Franjo Marković (or Franjo pl. Marković; July 26, 1845 in Križevci, Croatia, Križevci – September 15, 1914 in Zagreb) was a Croats, Croatian philosopher and writer. He was an academician, the first professor of philosophy at the renovated ...

(1881–82) # Feliks Suk (1882–83) # Blaž Lorković (1883–84) # Đuro Pilar (1884–85) # Gustav Baron (1885–86) # Franjo Vrbanić (1886–87) # Tadija Smičiklas (1887–88) # Antun Franki (1888–89) # Luka Marjanović (1889–90) # Natko Nodilo (1890–91) # Ivan Bujanović (1891–92) # Josip Pliverić (1892–93) # Vinko Dvořák (1893–94) # Antun Maurović (1894–95) # Franjo Spevec (1895–96) # Armin Pavić (1896–97) # Juraj Dočkal (1897–98) # Josip Šilović (1898–99) # Đuro Arnold (1899–1900) # Rudolf Vimer (1900–01) # Franjo Vrbanić (1901–02) # Vjekoslav Klaić (1902–03) # Ivan Bujanović (1903–04) # Josip Pliverić (1904–05) # Antun Heinz (1905–06) # Antun Bauer (1906–07) # Milivoj-Klement Maurović (1907–08) # Gustav Janeček (1908–09) # Josip Volović (1909–10) # Julije Rorauer (1910–11) # Julije Domac (1911–12) # Josip Pazman (1912–13) # Edo Lovrić (1913–14) # Đuro Korbler (1914–15) # Fran Barac (1915–16) # Ernest Miler (1916–17) # Julije Golik (1917–18) # Ivan Angelo Ruspini (1918–19) # Ladislav Polić (1919–20) # Karlo Radoničić (1920–21) # Vladimir Varićak (1921–22) # Đuro Nenadić (1922–23) # Stjepan Zimmerman (1923–24) # Ladislav Polić (1924–25) # Drago Perović (1925–26) # Ernest Miler (1926–28) # Josip Belobrk (1928–32) # Albert Bazala (1932–33) # Đuro Stipetić (1933–35) # Stanko Hondl (1935–37) # Edo Lovrić (1937–38) #

Andrija Živković Andrija Živković ( sr-Cyrl, Андрија Живковић, ; born 11 July 1996) is a Serbian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for Super League Greece, Greek Super League club P ...

(1938–40) #

Stjepan Ivšić Stjepan Ivšić (; 13 August 1884 – 14 January 1962) was a Croatian linguist, Slavicist, and accentologist. Biography Ivšić was born on 13 August 1884 in Orahovica. After finishing primary school in Orahovica, he attended secondary schoo ...

(1940–43) # Božidar Špišić (1943–44) #

Stjepan Horvat Stjepan Horvat (November 29, 1895 – March 12, 1985) was a Croatian geodesist and professor, dean of the Technical Faculty in Zagreb, head of the University of Zagreb, editor of the journals ''Geodetski list'' and ''Hrvatska državna izmje ...

(1944–45) # Andrija Štampar (1945–46) # Grga Novak (1946–47) # Andro Mohorovičić (1947–49) # Marko Kostrenčić (1949–50) # Antun Barac (1950–51) # Fran Bošnjaković (1951–52) # Teodor Varićak (1952–53) # Željko Marković (1953–54) # Hrvoje Iveković (1954–56) # Zoran Bujas (1956–58) # Marijan Horvat (1958–60) # Vladimir Serdar (1960–63) # Slavko Macarol (1963–66) # Jakov Sirotković (1966–68) # Ivan Supek (1968–72) # Predrag Vranicki (1972–76) # Drago Grdenić (1976–78) # Ivan Jurković (1978–82) # Zvonimir Krajina (1982–86) # Vladimir Stipetić (1986–88) # Zvonimir Šeparović (1988–90) # Marijan Šunjić (1990–98) # Branko Jeren (1998–2002) # Tomislav Ivančić (2001)^* # Helena Jasna Mencer (2002–06) # Aleksa Bjeliš (2006–14) # Damir Boras (2014–22) # Stjepan Lakušić (2022–) ^* Ivančić was elected rector in 2001, but resigned for health reasons before his term started. Source
List of rectors
at the University of Zagreb website

Rankings

As of 2020, the university ranked 801–1000 by QS, ranking 575 by USN, ranking 512 by CWUR, ranked 401–500 by ARWU, and 1001+ by

THE ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

Legacy

Since 1874, more than 200,000 students have received a bachelor's degree, more than 18,000 a master's, and more than 8,000 a doctorate from the University of Zagreb.

Sports

The University of Zagreb was a co-organiser (with the University of Rijeka) of the 2016 European Universities Games. The university was also awarded by EUSA as the best (2016, 2019, 2023) and the most active European university in sport activities (2019 and 2023).

Notable alumni

* Ivana Živković, who served as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS of

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

and Director-General for Economic Affairs and Development Cooperation of Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (Croatia). * Nives Botica Redmayne, professor of accounting. * Ivanka Madunić Kuzmanović, poet *

Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatia, Croatian politician and the incumbent president of Croatia. First elected in 2020, he was re-elected in 2025 with 74% voter support. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was the prime min ...

, President of Croatia. * Zoran Vondraček, professor of mathematics and recipient of the , obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Zagreb.

Gallery

Arhitektonski fakultet u Zagrebu.jpg, Faculty of Architecture Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu.jpg, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Fakultet strojarstva i brodogradnje (Zagreb).jpg, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture FER Zagreb.jpg, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing Medicinski fakultet Zagreb - glavni.jpg, School of Medicine PMF Matematika Zagreb.jpg, Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics Tekstilno-tehnološki fakultet u Zagrebu.jpg, Faculty of Textile Technology Veterinarski fakultet u Zagrebu.jpg, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Fakultet politickih znanosti Zagreb.JPG, Faculty of Political Science Šumarski fakultet 0807.jpg, Faculty of Forestry Fakultet prometnih znanosti, Zagreb - sjever.jpg, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet, Zagreb - ulaz.jpg, Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation Glazbena akademija, Zagreb - jug.jpg, Academy of Music Akademija dramskih umjetnosti.jpg, Academy of Dramatic Arts Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Zagreb.jpg, Catholic Faculty of Theology

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 17th-century establishments in Croatia 1669 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy Zagreb, University of 1669 establishments in Croatia Forestry in Croatia