Vjekoslav Klaić (21 June 1849 – 1 July 1928) 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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, most famous for his monumental work ''History of the

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

''. Klaić was born in Garčin near

Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (, ), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod is the 7th lar ...

as the son of a teacher. He was raised in

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spirit and language, since his mother was German. Klaić went to school in

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, ...

and

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. Literature and music were more to his liking in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

than history; some of his musical works were performed. He studied history and geography 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. ...

. After completing his studies, he taught for more than fifty years, first as a high school teacher, and after 1893 as a professor of general history at 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 ...

, where he stayed with short breaks until 1922, when he retired. He died in

. In 1896 he became a regular member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, and was an honourable doctor of the University of Prague and an external member of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Klaić wrote for the weekly ''Hrvatska lipa'' of the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights (, HSP) is an Extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary Croatian nationalism, nationalist and Neo-fascism, neo-fascist List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" i ...

and was the editor of '' Vienac'' for several years (1882–1889), founded an orchestra and conducted it, promoting Croatian music. In 1892 he started and edited the musical magazine ''

Gusle The gusle () or lahuta (; related to English ''lute'') is a bowed single- stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanie ...

''. He wrote short stories and political articles in the Croatian spirit. Among his historical works, the special place belongs to the monumental history ''Povijest Hrvata'' (History of the

), published by Kugli in five books (1899–1911). Klaić did not finish it. In a text about this book, another famous Croatian historian, Ferdo Šišić, pointed out (1914): "Materials, scientific method and details of Klaić's work surpass all the existing works of this kind in our

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

", while Jaroslav Šidak said that "Klaić's book, despite all of its shortcomings, has still not been surpassed regarding the wealth of information in its presentation of the 15th and 16th centuries". His granddaughter Nada Klaić was also a prominent historian.

Selected works

*''Prirodni zemljopis Hrvatske'' (''Natural Geography of Croatia'', 1878) *''Poviest Bosne do propasti kraljevstva'' (''History of

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

'', 1882) *''Pripoviesti iz hrvatske poviesti'' (''Tales from Croatian History'', 1886–1891) *''Bribirski knezovi od plemena Šubić do god. 1347.'' (''Dukes of Bribir'', 1897) *''Povijest Hrvata od najstarijih vremena do svršetka XIX. stoljeća'' (''History of the

'', 1899–1922) *''Krčki knezovi Frankapani'' (''The

Frankopan The House of Frankopan (, , , ) was a Croatian noble family, whose members were among the great landowner magnates and high officers of the Kingdom of Croatia in union with Hungary. The Frankopans, along with the Zrinskis, are among the mos ...

Dukes of

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 ...

'', 1901) *''Život i djela Pavla Rittera Vitezovića'' (''The Life and Work of Pavao Ritter Vitezović'', 1914)

References

External links

Vjekoslav Klaić
at the

website
Vjekoslav Klaić biography
at ''Hrvatski biografski leksikon'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Klaic, Vjekoslav 1849 births 1928 deaths Historians from Austria-Hungary 20th-century Croatian historians 19th-century Croatian historians Croatian people of German descent Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Rectors of the University of Zagreb Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Yugoslav historians Croatian medievalists