Matija Mesić was a Croatian

Croats

Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

 historian, university professor, the first rector of the University of Zagreb

University of Zagreb

The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...

.

He graduated philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Royal Academy of Science in 1844, and theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at the Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 Pázmáneum

Pázmáneum

The Pázmáneum is a university in Vienna, founded in 1623 by Péter Pázmány as a seminary for theological candidates. It was created at a cost of 200,000 florins.-References:* -Further reading:...

 in 1848. After being ordained and a short chapel service, he worked as a probationary professor of history and geography at the gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 in Zagreb. In the period 1851-1853 he studied history and geography in Vienna and Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

. He received a professorship at the Law Academy in Zagreb in 1854, working as a director of the same institution since 1871.

He participated in the work of Croatian parliament

Parliament of Croatia

The Parliament of Croatia or the Sabor is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia and legislature of the country. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, represents the people and is vested with the legislative power...

 and served as the president of Matica ilirska. He was a full member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts since 1867. In 1874 he was selected as a full professor of Croatian history

History of Croatia

Croatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...

 at the Faculty of Philosophy.

In the academic year 1874/75 he had the honor to be the first rector of the Royal University of Franz Joseph I

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

 in Zagreb. In the opening ceremony, on the October 19th 1874, he held his famous speech in which he warned on the importance of modern university.

In his works he systematically and critically dealt with the period of Croatian history of late Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 in the period of Jagiellon dynasty

Jagiellon dynasty

The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...

. A street on Šalata

Šalata

Šalata is an upper-class residential neighborhood in Zagreb, Croatia. It is administratively part of the Gornji Grad - Medveščak city district in the northern part of Zagreb and it has a population of 1,929....

in Zagreb bears his name since 1928.