Tadija Smičiklas

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Tadija Smičiklas (born in Reštovo in Žumberak, October 1, 1843 - died in Zagreb, June 8, 1914) was a Croatian historian and politician.

Smičiklas finished gymnasium in Zagreb at the Greek Catholic seminary, and went on to study history and geography in the then imperial capital Vienna. He began his professorial career at the gymnasium in Rijeka in 1870 and several years later was appointed at the Zagreb gymnasium. In 1882 he became a full-time professor at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb. In 1883 he became a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

He was a member of the National Sovereign Party, and was a follower of Franjo Rački and bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer. As a member of the Croatian Parliament Smičiklas had several memorable speeches. In 1891 he stated, "We seek that independent Croatia has the status in the monarchy which Hungary already has". He publicly defied ban Dragutin Karoly Khuen-Héderváry.

In the 1886/87 academic year he became the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and soon after was selected as the rector of the entire university. From 1875 he was an alderman in Matica hrvatska, and from 1889 to 1891 he was its president. In 1900 he was selected as president of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and he remained in this post until his death.

In 1905 he retired from public life. He was an honoured citizen of Zagreb, Varaždin and Karlovac.

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