Ivo Andric, (studied in Zagreb) for literature, 1961. He was a Croat born in Bosnia and educated by the Bosnian Jesuits. His books reflect the interference of different cultures existing in Bosnia.

His father Antun, who died during Andric's earliest childhood, was attendant of the Jesuit gymnasium in Travnik, Bosnia, and his mother was a housewife. Ivo Andrich inscribed the same Jesuit gymnasium, and then went to the Sarajevo gymnasium where he was the stipendist of the Croatian Cultural Society Napredak (which means "progress", Croatian cultural society in Bosia and Herzegovina).

Then he attended the Faculty of philosophy in Zagreb, Croatian capital. In 1919, after his studies in Zagreb, he moved to Belgrade, where he started his career as a diplomat, working in Rome, Bucharest, Trieste, Graz (where he defended his thesis), Marseille, Paris, Madrid, Bruxelles, Geneve, and finally occupied the position of ambassador of the very young Yugoslav state in Berlin (1939-1941).

During his studies at the University of Krakow, Poland, Ivo Andric filled in his matriculation form as follows:

• religion - Roman Catholic (Religia Kat.),
• nationality - Croatian (Narodowosc Chorwat).

This form has been reproduced in biographical book published in 1978 by Vjenceslav Topalovic, at that time curator of the Travnik museum, Bosnia. Almost the whole edition has been ordered by some Belgrade institutions and destroyed. Very few copies remained. (Information by dr. R.Glibo).

Lavoslav Ruzicka (1887-1976), born in Vukovar, of a Czech father and a Croat mother, attended the gymnasium of Osijek), for discoveries in organic chemistry, professor at the Technische Hochschule in Zurich, Switzerland 1939.

Vladimir Prelog, (1906-1998, a Croat born in Sarajevo, studied in Zagreb), for discoveries in organic chemistry, worked at the Technische Hochschule in Zurich, 1975. As a young boy he was a stipendist of Napredak, Croatian cultural society in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He wrote his authobiography, Vladimir Prelog: My 132 Semesters of Studies of Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Washington DC 1991 (second edition by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998). Prelog was among 112 Nobel Prize winner who signed and appeal For Peace in Croatia in 1992. He himself expressed on numerous occasions his public protest against the aggression on Croatia and BiH.

It is interesting to mention that Nikola Tesla refused to receive the Nobel prize for physics, which he had to share with T.A. Edison.

Although Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997) was not born in Croatia, her name cannot be avoided. She was born in Skopje, Macedonia. The Croatian Jesuits had a great role in the spiritual development of the Nobel Prize winner for peace (1979). The city of Zagreb, where much later she opened a house (1979), was one of the steps on her road to India. She visited the city of Zagreb and Croatia on several occasions, and always spoke Croatian. Moreover, once she even delivered a sermon in the Zagreb cathedral in Croatian. On that occasion she praised Medjugorje. The first monument honouring Mother Teresa was carved in Supetar on the island of Brac (2002). It was unveiled by Martin Sheen.

After many years she met her brother who lived in Italy, and forgot his native Albanian (and did not speak English). Surprisingly, they were able to communicate only in Croatian! Her letters written in Croatian to her colleagues in Zagreb are kept in the Zagreb Archbishopric. Also, her prayers (Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, etc.) pronounced in Croatian were recorded during one of her stays in Croatia. They can be heard from time to time broadcast on Radio Marija.

Croatian Lands Before the Croats (until 7th c.)

Main article: Croatia before the Croats

The area known as Croatia today has been inhabited throughout the prehistoric period, since the Stone Age. In the middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals lived in Krapina. In the early Neolithic period, the Starčevo, Vinča, Sopot, Vučedol and Hvar cultures were scattered around the region. The Iron Age left traces of the Hallstatt culture (proto-Illyrians) and the La Tène culture (proto-Celts).

In recorded history, the area was inhabited by the Illyrians, and since the 4th century BC also colonized by the Celts and by the Greeks. Illyria was a sovereign state until the Romans conquered it in 168 BC. The Western Empire organized the provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia, which after its downfall passed to the Huns, the Ostrogoths and then to the Byzantine Empire. Forebears of Croatia's current Slav population settled there in the 7th century.

Medieval Croatian State (until 1102)

Main article: Medieval Croatian state

The Croats arrived in what is today Croatia in the seventh century. They organized into two dukedoms; the Pannonian duchy in the north and the Dalmatian duchy in the south. The Christianization of the Croats ended in the 9th century.

Croatian duke Trpimir I (845–864), founder of Trpimirović dynasty, fought successfully against Bulgarians, and against Byzantine strategos in Zadar. He expanded his state in east to the Drava River. The first native Croatian ruler recognized by a pope was duke Branimir, whom Pope John VIII called dux Chroatorum in 879.

The inscription of duke Branimir, around 888.

The first King of Croatia, Tomislav (910–928) of the Trpimirović dynasty, was crowned in 925. Tomislav, rex Chroatorum, united the Pannonian and Dalmatian duchies and created a sizeable state. He defeated Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I in battle of the Bosnian Highlands. The mediæval Croatian kingdom reached its peak during the reign of King Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074).Peace

Following the disappearance of the major native dynasty by the end of the 11th century in the Battle of Gvozd Mountain, the Croats eventually recognized the Hungarian ruler Coloman as the common king for Croatia and Hungary in a treaty of 1102 (often referred to as the Pacta Conventa).

Croatia during king Tomislav's reign The size of Croatia was disputed by two eminent Croatian historians Nada Klaic and Ivo Goldstein

Personal Union with Hungary (1102 - 1526)

Main article: Croatia in the union with Hungary

The consequences of the change to the Hungarian king included the introduction of feudalism and the rise of the native noble families such as Frankopan and Šubić. The later kings sought to restore some of their previously lost influence by giving certain privileges to the towns. The primary governor of Croatian provinces was the ban.

The princes of Bribir from the Šubić family became particularly influential, asserting control over large parts of Dalmatia, Slavonia and Bosnia. Later, however, the Angevines intervened and restored royal power. They also sold the whole of Dalmatia to Venice in 1409.

As the Turkish incursion into Europe started, Croatia once again became a border area. The Croats fought an increasing amount of battles and gradually lost increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Empire (Battle of Krbava field).

Hapsburg Empire, Venice and the Ottomans (1527 - 1918)

Main article: Croatia in the Habsburg Empire

Ban Josip Jelačić.

The 1526 Battle of Mohács was a crucial event in which the rule of the Jagiellon dynasty was shattered by the death of King Louis II. The Ottoman Empire further expanded in the 16th century to include most of Slavonia, western Bosnia and Lika.

Later in the same century, large areas of Croatia and Slavonia adjacent to the Ottoman Empire were carved out into the Military Frontier (Vojna Krajina, German Militaergrenze) and ruled directly from Vienna military headquarters. The area became rather deserted and was subsequently settled by Serbs, Vlachs, Croats and Germans and others. As a result of their compulsory military service to the Habsburg Empire during conflict with the Ottoman Empire, the population in the Military Frontier was free of serfdom and enjoyed much political autonomy unlike the population living in the parts ruled by Hungary.

After the Bihać fort finally fell in 1592, only small parts of Croatia remained unconquered. The remaining 16,800 km² were referred to as the remnants of the remnants of the once great Croatian kingdom. The Ottoman army was successfully repelled for the first time on the territory of Croatia following the battle of Sisak in 1593. The lost territory was mostly restored, except for large parts of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By the 1700s, the Ottoman Empire was driven out of Hungary and Croatia, and Austria brought the empire under central control. Empress Maria Theresia was supported by the Croatians in the War of Austrian Succession of 1741–1748 and subsequently made significant contributions to Croatian matters.

With the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, its possessions in eastern Adriatic became subject to a dispute between France and Austria. The Habsburgs eventually secured them (by 1815) and Dalmatia and Istria became part of the empire, though they were in Cisleithania while Croatia and Slavonia were under Hungary.

Croatian romantic nationalism emerged in mid-19th century to counteract the apparent Germanization and Magyarization of Croatia. The Illyrian movement attracted a number of influential figures from 1830s on, and produced some important advances in the Croatian language and culture.

Following the Revolutions of 1848 in Habsburg areas and the creation of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, Croatia lost its domestic autonomy, despite the contributions of its ban Jelačić in quenching the Hungarian rebellion. Croatian autonomy was restored in 1868 with the Hungarian–Croatian Settlement which wasn't particularly favorable for the Croatians.

Modern Croatia

In 1990 the first free elections were held Croatia and the the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by Franjo Tuđman won. Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991.

In February 2000, Stjepan Mesić was elected president, ending the HDZ's rule. The country underwent many liberal reforms beginning in 2000. An economic recovery as well as healing of many war wounds occurred and the country proceeded to become a member of several important regional and international organizations. The country has started the process of joining the European Union, and in December 2005 started negotiations with the aim of  joining the EU expected no sooner than 2009.

You can read the complete article in Wikipedia. Here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Croatia