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. History The name of the settlement is derived from the patron saint of the parish church, which is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Vir ...

, he received his Ph.D. in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in 1859 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

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

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

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

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

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

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 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 ...

, 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 term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...

. 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 Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

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 Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery