FAMOUS CROATS, Fran Žaver Kesterčanek

Fran Žaver Kesterčanek (Zagreb, 1856 – Zagreb, 1915) is one of the most important figures in forestry and hunting. During his dynamic career, he launched numerous activities in education, forestry administration and legislation, and wrote scientific and professional literature as well. He completed primary school and secondary education in Zagreb, graduating in 1874. Then he studied at the Forestry Academy in Mariabrunn and later at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, graduating in 1877. He was appointed a forestry trainee in Zagreb and later worked as a cadastral assessor. In 1878, he became an assistant at the Agricultural and Forestry College in Križevci, and in 1880 a lecturer in forestry. Kesterčanek advocated for reform of the institution and the transfer of forestry education to the University of Zagreb. As this idea was not accepted, in 1883, he left his teaching position in Križevci and took up the post of county chief forester in the Zagreb County administration. He returned in 1893 as a professor at the Agricultural and Forestry College in Križevci, continuing to advocate for the establishment of higher education in forestry in Croatia until the Forestry Academy was finally opened in 1898. He taught in Križevci until 1899, and in July 1900 he was appointed professor at the Forestry Academy. As a member of the Croatian Forestry Society, Kesterčanek served as secretary, editor-in-chief of Šumarski list and director of the Forestry Museum. In 1891, he founded the Croatian Society for Game and Fisheries Management and also initiated the publication of its journal Viestnik, serving as its editor-in-chief for a full 18 years. He also authored the first Croatian manual on hunting, Lovstvo, published in 1896. Alongside the analysis of F. Ž. Kesterčanek’s versatile contributions and the 170th anniversary of his birth, the following anniversaries are also particularly relevant: the 180th anniversary of the founding of the Croatian Forestry Society, of which he was a member and secretary; the 150th anniversary of Šumarski list, where he served as editor-in-chief; and the 130th anniversary of the aforementioned hunting manual Lovstvo, which he authored. prof. dr. sc. Marijan Grubešić University of Zagreb Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology