Tadija "Tade" Smičiklas (1 October 1843 – 8 June 1914) was a
Croatia
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n historian and politician. He was a professor at the Zagreb university and a member of the Croatian Academy. A member of the Illyrianist
People's Party, he supported the independence of Croatia from the Austrian Empire. He authored the first history book on Croatia and laid the foundation of Croatian historiography.
Early life
Smičiklas was born in
Reštovo in
Žumberak (german: Sichelburg),
into a
Greek-Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
family. Greek-Catholics in Žumberak, including Smičiklas,
are descendants of
Uskoks
The Uskoks ( hr, Uskoci, , singular: ; notes on naming) were irregular soldiers in Habsburg Croatia that inhabited areas on the eastern Adriatic coast and surrounding territories during the Ottoman wars in Europe. Bands of Uskoks fought a g ...
.
His father Ilija sent a request on 13 August 1853 to the Greek-Catholic bishop of Križevci,
Gabrijel Smičiklas (his relative), to accept Tadija free of charge into the
Greek Catholic Seminary in Zagreb and stressed Tadija's talent and wish to learn more.
His uncle
Đuro Smičiklas had him accepted.
[
]
Education
In September 1843 Tadija enrolled at the Greek Catholic Seminary in Zagreb, where he would stay for nine years.[ After finishing his studies there, he went on to study history and geography in the Imperial capital ]Vienna
en, Viennese
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in 1864–69.[
]
Career
He began his professorial career at the gymnasium in Rijeka in 1870 and several years later was appointed at the Zagreb gymnasium. He became rector of the Greek Catholic Seminary in Zagreb (1877–1882), a position which is normally held by priests. In 1882 he became a full-time professor at the Faculty of Philosophy
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 American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...
at 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 ...
. In 1883 he became a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts
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 of Croatia.
HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...
.
He was a member of the Independent People's Party, and was a follower of 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 ...
and 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 ...
. As a member 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 Sab ...
Smičiklas had several memorable speeches. In 1891 he stated, "''We seek that independent Croatia has the status in the monarchy which Hungary already has''". He publicly defied ban Dragutin Karoly Khuen-Héderváry
Dragutin (Cyrillic: Драгутин) is a masculine given name.
Those bearing it include:
* Stephen Dragutin of Serbia
* Dragutin Topić
* Dragutin Dimitrijević
* Dragutin Mitić
* Dragutin Tadijanović
* Dragutin Šurbek
* Dragutin Lerman
...
.
In the 1886/87 academic year he became the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and soon after was selected as the rector of the entire university. From 1875 he was an alderman in Matica hrvatska, and from 1889 to 1891 he was its president. In 1900 he was selected as president of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts and he remained in this post until his death.
In 1905 he retired from public life. He was an honoured citizen of Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, Varaždin
)
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and Karlovac.
Smičiklas published the first history of Croatia (2 volumes, 1879–1882) which was scholarly, critical, comprehensive and founded on reliable authenticated evidence that, together with his other work, laid the foundation for Croatian scholarly historiography and contributed to the strengthening of the idea of continuity of Croatian statehood and independence.[ Miroslav Kurelac (2001) ''"Tadija Smičiklas as Historian and his Scholarly Conceptions"'' in Papers and Proceedings of the Department of Historical Research of the Institute of Historical and Social Research of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Vol. 18]
__NOTOC__
Works
* ''Život i djela Vjekoslava Babukića'' (1876)
* ''Spomen knjiga Matice Hrvatske''
* ''Obrana i razvitak hrvatske narodne ideje od 1790. do 1835.''
* ''Život i djela Ivana Kukuljevića Sakcinskog''
* ''Život i djela dra. Franje Račkoga'' (1855)
References
Smičiklas' biography
at the University of Zagreb website
External links
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiciklas, Tadija
1843 births
1914 deaths
19th-century Croatian historians
Croatian politicians
Croatian Eastern Catholics
Rectors of the University of Zagreb
Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery