Departure of a Great: Croatia Says Goodbye to Josip Pečarić

Croatian mathematician, academic, and publicist Josip Pečarić has passed away at the age of 79, the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) reported. One of the world's leading experts in the theory of inequalities, author of more than 1,200 scientific papers and 150 books, he left a deep mark on Croatian science and public life. He was particularly dedicated to preserving the Croatian heritage of his native Boka Kotorska.

From Boka Kotorska to the World's Scientific Peak

Josip Pečarić was born on September 2, 1947, in Kotor, where he completed primary and secondary school. He graduated in 1972 from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade, earned his master's degree in 1975, and obtained his doctorate in mathematical sciences in 1982.

After his studies, he worked at the Geomagnetic Institute in Grocka and taught at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade. In 1987, he moved to Zagreb, where he became a professor at the Faculty of Textile Technology at the University of Zagreb.

He was the head of the "Inequalities and Applications" seminar at the Faculty of Science and the lead researcher of the scientific project of the same name.

More than 1,200 Scientific Papers

Pečarić was an internationally recognized mathematician and one of the world's leading experts in the theory of inequalities. He published more than 1,200 scientific papers and was ranked among the top ten mathematicians worldwide with more than 500 papers recorded in the MathSciNet database.

He served as the editor-in-chief of the international journal Mathematical Inequalities and Applications. He was elected a full member of HAZU in 1997, after serving as an associate member since 1992.

A Special Connection to Boka Kotorska

Alongside his scientific career, Pečarić was extremely active in Croatian public life. He published more than 150 books, brochures, and open letters, dealing with contemporary Croatian history, social and political topics, and the preservation of the Croatian identity and cultural heritage of Boka Kotorska.

For his scientific contribution, he received the State Award for Science in 1996, and the first Croatian president, Franjo Tuđman, decorated him in 1999 with the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the face of Ruđer Bošković.

With his passing, the Croatian scientific community has lost an outstanding mathematician, and the Croatian public has lost a prolific author and publicist.