Baltazar Bogišić
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Baltazar Bogišić (Cyrillic: Валтазар Богишић; also known as Baldo Bogišić or Valtazar Bogišić; Cavtat, 7 December 1834 - Rijeka, 24 April 1908) was a famous Serbian-Croatian writer, jurist, bibliophile, historian, and scientist famous across Europe. His work in law can be seen in his numerous publications and enumerations, including the first constitution of Montenegro. His scientific works include many ethnologic and historiographic researches; he is known as one of the pioneers of zadruga research. He was a Roman Catholic Christian.
[edit] Life
Bogišić was born in Cavtat on December 7, 1834 to Serbian parentage. Baltazzar's grew up his birth town and for the first years of his adolescent life worked at his father's employment. In 1856, his father died and Bogišić turned his studies abroad. He finished secondary school in Venice in 1859 and then attended law school in Vienna. Bogišić received his PhD in 1862, and was hired as an administrator of the Viennese court library.
In 1869 he was appointed a law professor at the University of Odessa. In 1872 Nicholas I of Montenegro of Montenegro invited him to produce write the new Civil Code which would replace the General Law of the Land of Danilo II Petrović Njegoš used since 1855. Baltazar went to Paris to begin his work, but was cut short due to war in the Balkans, and was sent to Bulgaria to participate in organizing the court system there. Baltazar returned to Paris at the end of 1887, where he conducted and published many of his works.
In 1888 the Civil Code was instituted and Nicholas I of Montenegro then made him the Minister of Justice of Montenegro. The Code was almost fully based on the customs of Serb brotherhoods in Montenegro and Herzegovina.
A bibliophile, during his life Bogišić had collected over 18,000 rare volumes which, together with his private correspondence of 10,092 letters, he left to his native Cavtat.
