Franjo Bučar

Franjo Bučar (25 November 1866 – 26 December 1946[1]) was a Croatian writer and sports popularizer . He is considered to be the father of Croatian sport and olympism.[2]

Franjo Bučar's monument in Zagreb

Bučar was born in Zagreb to Slovenian father Jožef (Josip) Bučar and Croatian mother Franjica Mikšić[3] and educated in Zagreb, Vienna, and Stockholm. He worked on a study of Croatian literature and also wrote about Scandinavian literature. He was a prominent sports writer and wrote manuals for many types of sports. He was the popularizer and initiator of introduction of many sports in Croatia – football, gymnastics, ice skating, alpine skiing, ice hockey, fencing and others.[1]

He participated in the establishment of numerous clubs and professional alliances and also played a prominent role in Sokol organization.[4] He left an extensive correspondence with major figures of European culture and sport and created a library of several thousand volumes. He received national and international awards. In 1914 Bučar was elected the first president of the Croatian Sports Federation, which he founded in 1909.[1]

The founder and president of the Yugoslav Olympic Committee, which initially worked in Zagreb, he was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1920 until his death in 1946.[5]

In 1991 the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport, the highest award for exceptional achievements in the development of sport, was established in Croatia.

References
  1. "Tko je bio Franjo Bučar?". public.mzos.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Ministry of Education and Sport. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  2. "Dobitnici nagrade Franjo Bučar za 2008". 16 October 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  3. ŽIVLJENJEPISI SLOVENCEV V HRVAŠKEM ŠPORTU
  4. Jajčević, Zdenko (December 2004). "STO GODINA HRVATSKOG GIMNASTIČKOG SAVEZA 1904–2004". Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  5. Salaj, Branko (6 April 2007). "Franjo Bučar (1866–1946)". Archived from the original on 29 March 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
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