Jasna Durakovic

University of Sarajevo

Sarajevo was first placed on the map of academic centres in this part of Europe in 1573, with the signing of the Waqfname (Book of Endowment) by Gazi Husrev-bey. Today, Gazi Husrev-bey's Library is, as an associate member, the oldest institution within the University of Sarajevo. Following the departure of the Ottoman administration and the arrival of Austria-Hungary, the Sharia Judicial Academy was founded in 1887, the National Museum in 1888, the Catholic Seminary of the Vrhbosna Archbishopric in 1890. The Eastern Orthodox Seminary of Sarajevo was upgraded to an institution of higher learning in 1892. Today, the National Museum is an associate member of the University of Sarajevo, and the Faculty of Catholic Theology is a full member. The Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry was founded in 1940, and the Faculty of Medicine in 1944. The Teacher Training College and the Institute of Biology were established in Sarajevo after the end of World War II, in the then Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Following the Faculties of Medicine, Law and Agriculture and Forestry and the subsequent establishment of the Technical Faculty, in 1949 the Assembly of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Law on the University, which formally established the University of Sarajevo. The Faculty of Philosophy (with a science department) and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine became its members in 1950. Decades that followed saw a period of intense growth.