 View of the Academy Palace,Zrinski Square | |
 | |
| Abbreviation | HAZU |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1866; 159 years ago (1866) |
| Type | National academy |
| Purpose | Science,arts,academics |
| Headquarters | Zagreb,Croatia |
| Location | |
| Membership | 134 full members (as of November 2020[update])[1] |
| Velimir Neidhardt | |
Main organ | Presidency of the Academy[2] |
| Budget | HRK 68.3 million (€9.1 million) (2016)[3] |
| Website | www |
TheCroatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Latin:Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica;Croatian:Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti,HAZU) is thenational academy ofCroatia.
HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishopJosip Juraj Strossmayer under the nameYugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (Serbo-Croatian:Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti,JAZU) since its founder wanted to make it the central scientific and artistic institution of allSouth Slavs. Today, its main goals are encouraging and organizing scientific work, applying the achieved results, developing of artistic and cultural activities, carrying about the Croatian cultural heritage and its affirmation in the world, publishing the results of scientific research and artistic creativity and giving suggestions and opinions for the advancement of science and art in areas of particular importance to Croatia.
The academy is divided into nine classes; social sciences, mathematical, physical and chemical sciences, natural sciences, medical sciences, philological sciences, Literature, Fine Arts, Musical Arts and Musicology, technical sciences. The academy started in 1866 with 16 full members which grew to today's 160. Besides full, members can also be honorary, corresponding or associate.
The institution was founded inZagreb on 29 April 1861 by the decision of theCroatian Parliament (Sabor) as the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts.[4] The bishop and benefactorJosip Juraj Strossmayer, a prominent advocate of highereducation during the 19th century Croatiannational romanticism, set up a trust fund for this purpose and in 1860 submitted a large donation to the then viceroy (ban) of CroatiaJosip Šokčević for the cause of being able to
bring together the best minds [...] and find a way in which books in the national languages could be produced in the Slavic South; the Academy should also take under its aegis all the areas of human science[5]
After some years of deliberations by theCroatian Parliament and the emperorFranz Joseph, it was finally sanctioned bylaw in 1866. The official sponsor was Josip Juraj Strossmayer, while the first chairman of the academy was the distinguished CroatianhistorianFranjo Rački.[5] Serbian linguistĐuro Daničić was elected secretary general of the academy, where he played a key role in preparing the academy's dictionary, theCroatian or Serbian Dictionary of JAZU.
The academy's creation was the logical extension of theUniversity of Zagreb, the institution initially created in 1669 and also renewed by bishop Strossmayer in 1874. Bishop Strossmayer also initiated the building of the Academy Palace in theZrinjevac park of Zagreb, and the Palace was completed in 1880.[5] In 1884, the palace also became a host of theStrossmayer Gallery of Old Masters that contained 256 works of art (mostly paintings).[5] The same is today one of the most prominentart galleries in Zagreb.
The academy started publishing the academic journalRad in 1867. In 1882, each of the individual scientific classes of the academy started printing their own journals. In 1887, the academy published the first "Ljetopis" as a year book, as well as several other publications inhistory andethnology.
Vatroslav Jagić,Baltazar Bogišić,Nikola Tesla,Mihailo Petrović,Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger,Andrija Mohorovičić,Ivan Meštrović,Lavoslav Ružička,Vladimir Prelog,Ivo Andrić,Miroslav Krleža,Ivan Supek andFranjo Tuđman were JAZU/HAZU members.
The academy briefly changed name from "Yugoslav" to "Croatian" between 1941 and 1945 during theAxis client regime of theIndependent State of Croatia.
It has again been renamed "Croatian" in 1991 after Croatia gained independence from Yugoslavia.
The academy is divided into nine departments (classes):[6]
One of the research units of the academy is the Institute for Historical Sciences. It is located in aRenaissance villa inDubrovnik, and holds a rich manuscript and library collection. Two peer-reviewed journals are published by the institute, which are fully available online:Anali in Croatian andDubrovnik Annals in English.[7]
The Institute for Ornithology houses the Croatianbird ringing scheme, and is a member of theEuropean Union for Bird Ringing (EURING).[8]
There are four classes of members:[9]
The number of full members and corresponding members is limited to 160 each, while the maximum number of associate members is 100.[9] Number of full members per department is limited to 24. Only the full members may carry the title of "academician" (English:F.C.A.,Croatian:akademik (male members) orakademkinja (female members)).
| Image | Chairman | Term |
|---|---|---|
 | Franjo Rački | 1866–1886 |
| Pavao Muhić | 1886–1890 | |
 | Josip Torbar | 1890–1900 |
 | Tadija Smičiklas | 1900–1914 |
 | Tomislav Maretić | 1914–1918 |
| Vladimir Mažuranić | 1918–1921 | |
| Gustav Janeček | 1921–1924 | |
| Gavro Manojlović | 1924–1933 | |
| Albert Bazala | 1933–1941 | |
| Tomo Matić | 1941–1946 | |
 | Andrija Štampar | 1946–1958 |
 | Grga Novak | 1958–1978 |
| Jakov Sirotković | 1978–1991 | |
| Ivan Supek | 1991–1997 | |
| Ivo Padovan | 1997–2004 | |
 | Milan Moguš | 2004–2010 |
 | Zvonko Kusić | 2010–2018 |
| Velimir Neidhardt | 2019–present |
The academy has been criticized to the effect that membership and activities are based on academiccronyism and political favor rather than on scientific and artistic merit.[10][11][12][13][14][15] In 2006 matters came to a head with the academy's refusal to induct Dr.Miroslav Radman, an accomplishedbiologist, a member of theFrench Academy of Sciences, and an advocate of a higher degree ofmeritocracy and accountability in Croatianacademia. His supporters within the academy and the media decried the decision as reinforcing a politically motivated, unproductivestatus quo.
Dr.Ivo Banac, aYale University professor and then a deputy in theCroatian parliament, addressed the chamber in a speech decrying a "dictatorship of mediocrity" in the academy, whileGlobus columnistBoris Dežulović satirized the institution as an "academy of stupidity and obedience". Dr.Vladimir Paar and others defended the academy's decision, averring that it did take pains to include accomplished scientists but that, since Dr. Radman's work has mostly taken place outside Croatia, it was appropriate that he remain a corresponding rather than a full member of the academy.[16]
Nenad Ban, a distinguished molecular biologist fromETH Zurich and a member of theGerman Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is only a corresponding member of HAZU.[17]Ivan Đikić, a molecular biologist working at theGoethe University Frankfurt, and also a member of Leopoldina since 2010, has not been able to join HAZU even as a corresponding member, despite being the most cited Croatian scientist, with more citations than the academy's 18-member Department of Medical Sciences combined.[18][19][20]
From 2005 to 2007, the Department of Philological Sciences at the academy released several declarations on the linguistic situation in Croatia, which were criticised for being nationalistically motivated rather than linguistically based.[21][22][23] Despite pressure from members of the Department of Philological Sciences, one journal refused to stop publishing criticism.[24]
In May 2022, the academy published a document outlining conditions for Bosnia and Herzegovina's entry into theEuropean Union, calling for a third Croat entity to be implemented in the country due to the rising challenges faced by Croats from "Serbian secessionist and Bosniak unitarist" policies. It also proposed conditions to be fulfilled by Serbia and Montenegro before they joined the EU. It has been criticized by analysts for its ethno-nationalist and political nature and has drawn comparisons to the controversialSANU memorandum.[25]
In 2023 the museum restituted to the heirs ofDane Reichsmann artworks that had been looted, includingAndré Derain's “Still Life With a Bottle” andMaurice de Vlaminck's “Landscape by the Water”, as well aslithographs byPablo Picasso,Pierre-Auguste Renoir,Paul Cézanne andPierre Bonnard.[26]
Dodao je i da je još jedan Hrvat, inače jedan od vodećih strukturalnih biologa u svijetu, Nenad Ban, takoder član Leopoldine u Razredu za biokemiju i biofiziku.[He also added that another Croatian, Nenad Ban — one of the world’s leading structural biologists — is also a member of the Leopoldina in the Class for Biochemistry and Biophysics.]
