It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The decree was accepted at the Council of the Croatian Kingdom on November 3, Emperor Franz Joseph signed the decree on the establishment of the University of Zagreb in The Act of Founding was passed by the Parliament in , and was ratified by the Emperor on January 5, The University is composed of 29 faculties, 3 art academies and 1 university center with more than 70, students.
Under a new leadership in the academy enrolled a total of students. The former political- cameral studies became part of the newly established faculty of law, and thus were integrated into the academy. Each of the faculties of the Royal Academy of Sciences had several chairs teaching one or several courses. During the Austro-Turkish War of β and following the Austrian occupation of Belgrade on 8 October the Royal Academy requested to be granted the university status with the following argumentation:.
If we consider the current circumstances in which serious consideration is given not only to the removal of obstacles to science, but also to the appointment of our local citizens to all services in these kingdoms , and if we also consider for a moment future opportunities, not only that the part of Croatia that is still sobbing under the Turkish yoke but also the kingdoms of Bosnia and Serbia β [ We believe that it is not only proud and useful, but also absolutely necessary to have in our environment such a university in which β when all obstacles to scientific work are removed and when funds for its development are obtained β number of local youth will be educated in all the sciences and noble skills for performing various services in their homeland.
The academy in Zagreb remained until , despite numerous organizational changes, the focal institution of higher education in Croatia, educating most of the members of the Croatian intelligentsia. During his visit in , the Emperor Franz Joseph signed the decree on the establishment of the University of Zagreb.
Five years later, the Parliament passed the Act of Founding, which was ratified by the Emperor on 5 January On 19 October , a ceremony was held in the name of the founding of the Royal University of Franz Joseph I in Zagreb , [ 8 ] making it the third university in the Hungarian realm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Faculty of Medicine was not put into function in ; it had to wait until The Faculty of Philosophy served as the general scientific faculty.
