Anton Kržan (June 8, 1835 – November 6, 1888) was a Croatian philosopher, university professor and a rector. Born in

Marija Gorica Marija Gorica () is a municipality in western Zagreb County of Croatia on the border with Slovenia. According to the 2001 census, there are 2,089 inhabitants, the absolute majority are Croats. The name of the settlement is derived from the patr ...

, he received his Ph.D. in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

in 1859 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He was ordained in 1862, and a year later receiving a Ph.D. in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

in Rome. After the return to

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 ...

, he worked as a professor at the Archiepiscopal Seminary where he taught

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and special dogmatics. He served as a full professor at the Faculty of Theology since 1874. Professor Kržan was the third ''rector magnificus'' of the University of Zagreb, in the academic year 1876/1877. Since that year, the choice of rector is ''per turnum'' (every year the rector is chosen from another faculty). Kržan wrote papers on the creation and the development of the organic world, being an ardent opponent of

Darwinism Darwinism is a scientific theory, theory of Biology, biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of smal ...

. That was also a topic of his inaugural rectorial speech on October 19, 1876, when he was 41 years of age. After the expiry of his 1-year mandate, he served as a prorector. He was appointed as a canon in 1879. In two mandates, he served as a dean of the Faculty of Theology. He died in Zagreb.

References

Kržan's biography
at the University of Zagreb website {{DEFAULTSORT:Krzan, Anton 1835 births 1888 deaths People from Marija Gorica Croatian philosophers Rectors of the University of Zagreb