Biographical Research and Presentation in the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography: Achievements and Challenges

Founded in 1950, the Institute of Lexicography in Zagreb, later named after erudite Croatian writer Miroslav Krleža, its initiator and the first director, is one of the key places for biographical research in Croatia. Central project and also central edition in the field is Hrvatski biografski leksikon (Croatian Biographical Lexicon; HBL), started in mid-1970s, and from 1983 to 2021 resulting in nine printed volumes (letters A–Marj) with 12 547 articles, and also in the on-line edition since 2015, containing most of the printed articles and also more than 200 supplemental articles in the Lo–Ž range. The speaker will strive to present the general starting idea and base infrastructure, the conception and the (somewhat) varying realisation of the HBL, its practical achievements and challenges and also its position in the changing broader context, including similar projects of the Institute, especially Bibliografski katalog (The Bibliographical Catalogue) and Hrvatski osobnik (The Croatian Personal Database). Finally, comparison could be made to Slovenski biografski leksikon (Slovenian Biographical Lexicon) respective Novi Slovenski biografski leksikon (New Slovenian Biographical Lexicon) and other national biographical lexicons.