Franjo Racki

Born Nov. 25, 1828, in Fužine; died Feb. 13, 1894, in Zagreb. Croatian historian and political figure.

Rački graduated from the University of Vienna. He studied theology in Vienna and became a priest in 1852. Beginning in 1861 he was one of the leaders of the liberal Narodna Stranka (National Party), and beginning in 1880 of the Neodvisna Narodna Stranka (Independent Popular Party). Rački laid the foundations of Croatian archaeography and published many documents dealing with the history of the South Slavs. He was the organizer and president (1867–86) of the South Slavic Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb. His works are devoted primarily to the history of the Croatian state from the ninth through 11th centuries, the struggle of the South Slavs for independence from the eleventh through 15th centuries, the history of Bogomilism, Croatian state law, and Russian literature and historiography.