Modern Slavic studies were founded by Vatroslav Jagic (born in Varazdin, 1838-1923), professor of philology at the Universities of Zagreb, Berlin, Vienna, Sankt Petersburg, Odessa. He was a full member of the Petersburg’s and Austrian Academies of Sciences. A great importance for the development of Slavic philology had the journal Archiv fur slavishe Philologie that he founded in Berlin, and whose editor in chief he was during 45 years. He also initiated and organized the Seminar for Slavic studies in Vienna in 1887, which later grew out to the Institute of Slavic Studies. His scientific opus is enormous: if collected, it would occupy about 100 books.

Among numerous scientific collaborations, we mention a distinguished French scientist Louis Leger (a pioneer in Slavic studies), who wrote a nice dedication on a separate page of his book La mythologie slave, published in Paris in 1901: “A mon vieil ami et confrère V. Jagic ce livre est cordialement dédié”. Louis Leger is known for his study of the famous Reims Evangel, kept in the Municipal Library in Reims, France, the second part of which was written in Croatian Glagolitic Script in Prague in 1395.

Many thanks to dr. Antonija Zaradija Kiš, Zagreb,
for showing me her copy of this book.