Ambroz Haračić (born

Mali Lošinj Mali Lošinj is a town in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, on the island of Lošinj, in western Croatia. At the time of the 2021 census, there were 7,537 inhabitants, of whom 86% were Croats. The town of Mali Lošinj itself had an urban populat ...

, 5 December 1855, died Mali Lošinj, 1 October 1916), was a Croatian

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Haračić studied

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

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 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1879 he started teaching at Mali Lošinj nautical school, and in 1897 he was transferred to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. He spent 18 years in his hometown conducting

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

measurements and observations, and based on the results of the research, the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

government declared Mali Lošinj to be a health resort, which resulted in development of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

on the island. Haračić studied vegetation of

Lošinj Lošinj (; ; , earlier ''Osero''; ; ; ) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, in the Kvarner Gulf. It is almost due south of the city of Rijeka and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The settlements on Lošinj include Nerez ...

and several smaller nearby islands like

Ilovik The islands of Ilovik and Sveti Petar are located in Croatia south of the island Lošinj, separated by the Strait of Ilovik (). Geography The only village located on the island of Ilovik is also called Ilovik. The circumference of the island ...

Susak Susak is a small island on the northern Adriatic coast of Croatia. The name ''Sansego'' comes from the Greek word ''Sansegus'' meaning oregano which grows in abundance on the island. A small percentage of natives still reside on the island whi ...

Unije Unije (; Italian: ''Unie'') is an island in Croatia. It is part of the Cres-Lošinj archipelago, which is situated at the northern portion of the Adriatic Sea. Unije is the third largest island of the archipelago. It is in size, with numerous b ...

Male Srakane Male Srakane (; ) is an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea, situated between Lošinj, Unije and Susak, just south of Vele Srakane. Administratively, it is part of the town of Mali Lošinj. As of 2025, it has a population of 3. Na ...

Vele Srakane Vele Srakane is an island in the Croatian part of Adriatic Sea. It is situated between Lošinj, Unije and Susak, just north of Male Srakane. Its area is 1.15 km2, and as of 2021, it had a population of 4, down from 8 in 2001. Administrativ ...

, Murtar, Oruda, always connecting the island climate with the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the island. He also helped with forestation of the island of Lošinj. His rich collection of herbs is preserved in Botanics department of Faculty of Natural sciences and Mathematics of the University in Zagreb. He published many works based on his research. A complete bibliography of his work can be found in ''Zbornik radova o prirodoslovcu Ambrozu Haračiću'' (''Proceedings of the natural scientist Ambroz Haračić''). For his efforts, a statue was erected on the south part of the Čikat cove.

Sources

* ''"Enciklopedija Jugoslavije" (Encyclopedia of Jugoslavia) (4 E-Hrv)'', Zagreb, 1986. 1855 births 1916 deaths Botanists from Austria-Hungary Croatian botanists Croatian meteorologists 19th-century botanists People from Mali Lošinj Botanists active in Europe {{Croatia-bio-stub