Franjo Rački (25 November 1828 – 13 February 1894) was a

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 borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n historian, politician, writer, and

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

. He compiled important collections of old Croatian diplomatic and historical documents, wrote some pioneering historical works, and was a key founder of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Biography

Historian

Rački was born in Fužine, near

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

in 1828. He completed his secondary education in

Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was completed in 1558. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were ...

and

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

. He graduated in theology in Senj, where he was ordained

in 1852. He received his PhD in theology 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 1855. His career as a historian began as soon as he started working as a teacher in Senj. He organized the research of

Glagolitic The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodi ...

documents on the islands of Kvarner. He went to the village of Baška on

Krk Krk (; ; ; ; archaic German: ''Vegl'', ; ) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. Krk is tied with Cres as the largest Adriatic island, depending o ...

, the location of the famous Baška Tablet where he analyzed them, and published ''Viek i djelovanje sv. Cirilla i Methoda slavjamkih apošlolov'' (''The Age and Activities of

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are ...

, the Apostles among the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

''). In 1857, he was moved from Senj to

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, ...

. There, he attended the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome for three years, studying the history of South Slavic heretics (

Bogomils Bogomilism (; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. I ...

and Patarens). He went around Roman archives in search of documents on Croatian history, helping to lay the foundations for Croatian medieval studies. In Rome, he found many documents on the

, collected by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

during the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

struggle against that

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

. He would publish ''Bogomili i Patareni'', a milestone in the research on the

Bosnian Church The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква босанска) was an autonomous Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina. Historians traditionally connected the church with the Bogomils, although this ...

. In the book, Rački founded the "Bogomil

hypothesis A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess o ...

", saying that the Bosnian Church was influenced by the dualist heretic teachings from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, originating in the 9th century. As it was very controversial and intriguing, that theory dominated research for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, but its general premises have been mostly refuted. Although Rački is more important as a promoter of culture than as a historian, his original historical works are important for their pioneering nature and wealth of information. In addition to his work on the Bogomils, he also wrote ''Povjesnik Ivan Lučić'' (''The Historian Joannes Lucius''), ''Nutarnje stanje Hrvatske prije XII. stoljeća'' (''The Internal Organization of Croatia Before the 12th Century''), ''Stari grb bosanski'' (''The Old Bosnian Coat of Arms''), ''Povelje bosanskog kralja Tvrtka'' (''Documents of the Bosnian king Tvrtko''). The pinnacle of his scientific work is the monumental ''Documenta historiae Croaticae periodum antiaquam illustrantia''.

Politician

In 1860, he returned to Zagreb and founded the People's Party together with his close friend

Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; ; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church, politician and benefactor (law), benefactor. Between 1849 and his death, he served as the Bishop of Đakovo, Bishop ...

. Rački was a partisan of the idea of

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 ...

and fought for Croatian autonomy against Austrian rule. Both he and Strossmayer promoted the cultural and political unity of the

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...

. During the 1860s, he was a member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

. Rački was a prolific political writer. He wrote about all the important Croatia-related topics and issues of his time. He promoted the merging of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

with Croatia ruled by the '' ban'', he wrote discussions about the Croatian nature of Srijem and

, but he spent most energy on analyzing the relationships between Croatia and Hungary, fighting against the Hungarian expansionism. Following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement in 1868 and his party's alliance with the Hungarian government in 1873, he quit politics. He re-emerged in the 1880s, forming the Independent People's Party. He died in

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 ...

on 13 February 1894.

Academy

He started '' Književnik'', the first Croatian scientific magazine for history and linguistics, and '' Obzor'' and '' Vijenac'', influential magazines for culture and politics. He was a key founder of the Yugoslavian Academy of Sciences and Arts and greatly contributed to the expansion 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 ...

. Rački founded most editions of the Academy, which are published even today: ''Rad'', ''Starine'', and the ''Codex diplomaticus Regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae'', an exceptional monument of legal history. He founded the Academy library, archive and dictionary. His activities determined the work of the Academy for several decades, especially in its cultural and social aspects.

References

External links

Franjo Rački

{{DEFAULTSORT:Racki, Franjo 1828 births 1894 deaths People from Fužine, Croatia 19th-century Croatian historians Representatives in the Croatian Parliament (1848–1918) Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery