Ivan Vučetić: The Croat Who Revolutionized Fingerprint Identification

Every time you unlock your phone with your fingerprint, you use technology rooted in a method developed by Ivan Vučetić, a Croat from the island of Hvar who emigrated to Argentina. 

His pioneering work transformed criminal investigations and modern identification, but despite his groundbreaking discovery, he faced bitter disappointment in the country where he made his name.

From Hvar to Argentina: A Croat whose idea changed the world

In 1882, Argentina set out to build a city of the future. La Plata, with its orderly avenues, monumental buildings and ambitious plans, began to rise from a vast plain.

Five years later, a young man from Hvar, Ivan Vučetić, known in Argentina as Juan Vucetich, arrived in the city. He could hardly have imagined that he would develop a system there that would change how people are identified around the world.

His remarkable life story, the legacy of Croatian emigrants and Argentina's changing fortunes feature in a new episode of the series Our People, Their Places: La Plata.

 Journalist Matija Jerković takes viewers through the streets where Vučetić lived and worked, uncovering lesser-known details of his life and legacy.

It all started with a scientific journal

Vučetić began working for the La Plata police department on November 15, 1888. Three years later, the Office for the Identification of Persons was established.

Historian and police officer Juan Pablo Caparra, who has spent years researching Vučetić's life, explains how the idea took shape.

"The police chief at the time gave him a scientific journal in French that discussed anthropometry and fingerprints. Vučetić began researching the subject and became so interested that he developed the Argentine fingerprint identification system," Caparra explains.

Vučetić also designed practical tools for collecting fingerprints and devised a system for classifying them.

His method soon proved its value. In the notorious case of Francisca Rojas, fingerprints found at the crime scene helped identify the perpetrator of a double murder. The case is widely regarded as the first murder investigation solved using fingerprint evidence.

His invention spread worldwide, but he faced resistance at home

By the early 20th century, Vučetić's method was gaining international recognition. He presented it at scientific congresses, and Brazil, Chile and Uruguay were among the first countries to adopt it.

In 1904, he published his most important work, Dactiloscopia Comparada (Comparative Dactyloscopy). In 1913, he embarked on a world tour, presenting his system in the Americas, India and China.

During that journey, he returned to his native Hvar for the only time, where he was welcomed with honors.

A major milestone came on July 20, 1915, Vučetić's 58th birthday, when a law introducing a general identification register was passed. But the triumph was short-lived.

Just a year later, the law was repealed and Vučetić was removed from his position. Some members of the public opposed fingerprint identification over concerns about privacy.

For a man who had devoted decades to his discovery, the setback was devastating. He later described it as "the saddest day of his life".

Disillusioned, he left La Plata, the city where he had achieved his greatest successes.

Argentine journalist: "I have always felt Croatian"

Vučetić's legacy is just one example of the enduring ties between Croatia and Argentina. The episode also tells the story of prominent Argentine journalist Horacio Riggi, whose mother gave him the Croatian surname Josipović.

Riggi is the business editor of one of Argentina's most widely read newspapers and a familiar face on television. Despite his success, he has never forgotten his Croatian heritage.

"Because of my cultural heritage, I have always felt Croatian. I have always been attached to my roots and hoped to find relatives in Croatia," Riggi says.

His search for family connections eventually led him to Baška Voda on Croatia's Adriatic coast.

With help from his cousin Gabriel Josipović, who placed an advertisement in a Croatian newspaper, Riggi found the name Žarko Josipović.

"I thought that, if necessary, I would ring the doorbell of every house until I found him," he recalls.

Then came an extraordinary coincidence. Riggi walked into a store and asked the cashier whether she knew Žarko. It turned out that Žarko's daughter — Riggi's cousin — worked there.

"She called her father, and he came. From that moment on, we have been in touch again. It was a real adventure that ended very well!" Riggi says.

Argentina: From a land of opportunity to economic crises

Vučetić's story also opens a window onto Argentina's dramatic economic and political history. Once a magnet for immigrants from across Europe, the country offered the promise of prosperity and a fresh start.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Argentina enjoyed considerable economic opportunities, attracting numerous Europeans, including Croatians.

Riggi discusses how education, agriculture and the state's role contributed to the country's development, as well as how subsequent economic and political decisions weakened its position.

"Argentina was once a rich country. I think that is precisely why many people hope it can return to the way things were. If you were successful once, there is hope that you can become successful again," he says.

A Croatian legacy that time has not erased

Although Vučetić did not receive the recognition he believed his work deserved during his lifetime, his fingerprint identification system continued to spread around the world.

Today, fingerprints are an essential part of identification, from official documents and criminal investigations to biometric security features on mobile phones.

In Argentina, streets, schools and institutions bear his name, and his legacy continues to connect Croatia and Argentina.

"We call him Ivan Vučetić. Juan Vucetich was here — the man who created a system that changed the world and who experienced both success and decline, just like the country in which he lived," Jerković concludes.

From a small Dalmatian island to a place in world history, Vučetić left a mark that neither time nor borders have erased. His story reflects the experiences of generations of Croatian emigrants who, far from home, built new lives, faced setbacks and helped change the world.