Vjekoslav Perica (born 11 July 1955) is a 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 species; as well as the ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

who specializes in the modern

history of religions The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the st ...

in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Biography

In his youth, Perica was a basketball player who was a member of KK Jugoplastika's first team, but ultimately found academic pursuit more important than his sports career. He graduated from the

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 ...

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

in 1980. From 1985 to 1990 Perica was employed as the secretary of the government's Committee for Relations with Religious Communities. From 1988 to 1991 he wrote a column in ''

Nedjeljna Dalmacija ''Nedjeljna Dalmacija'' was a Yugoslavian regional weekly newspaper based in Split, 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 bo ...

'' called "Religion and Politics", and interviewed virtually all religious leaders in the former

. After being fired from his job in 1990, Perica went to the United States where he obtained a MSc in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

(1994) and history (1995), as well as a PhD in history (1998), all from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. His PhD thesis, "Religious revival and ethnic mobilization in Yugoslavia, 1965–1991: A history of the Yugoslav religious question from the reform era to the civil war", won him awards from both the

United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...

and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. From 1999 to 2007 he worked as a visiting lecturer on a number of American universities. Perica is the author of the book '' Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States'' (New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2002). He is a former Research Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the United States Institute of Peace. In 2007 Perica was a U.S. Fulbright scholar in Belgrade, Serbia. A two-volume Serbian translation of ''Balkan Idols'', revised and expanded with a new introduction, was published by ''Biblioteka XX vek'' from

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 ...

in 2006. In 2011/2012 he held fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Science in Wassenaar, The Netherlands. His most recent book is coauthored with Mitja Velikonja niversity of Ljubljanaentitled "Nebeska Jugoslavija. Interakcije političkih mitologija i pop-kulture" published by Biblioteka XX vek, Belgrade 2012 Perica is Professor of history at the

University of Rijeka The University of Rijeka () is in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, with faculties in cities throughout the regions of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Primorje, Istria and Lika. The University of Rijeka is composed of eleven faculties, one art academy ...

, Croatia. He lives in USA and Croatia.

Published works

* ''Balkan Idols. Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States'', New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002. * ''Balkanski idoli. Religija i nacionalizam u jugoslovenskim državama''. 1–2. Revised and expanded edition with a new foreword by the author. Translated to Serbian by Slobodanka Glišić and Slavica Miletić; Belgrade, Serbia; Biblioteka xx. vek, 2006. * ''Mitovi nacionalizma i demokratija'' (with Darko Gavrilovic, Ljubiša Despotovic and Srdan Šljukic); Novi Sad, Serbia; Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation, Faculty for European Political and Legal Studies, Grafomarketing; 2009. * ''Sveti Petar i Sveti Sava: Sakralni simboli kao metafore povijesnih promjena''; Belgrade, Serbia; Biblioteka XX vek, 2009. * ''Nebeska Jugoslavija: interakcija političkih mitologija i pop-kulture''; Belgrade, Serbia; Biblioteka XX vek, 2012.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perica, Vjekoslav 1955 births 21st-century Croatian historians Writers from Split, Croatia Croatian columnists KK Split players University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Living people University of Split alumni Academic staff of the University of Rijeka Croatian expatriates in the United States