AKADEMIK MIROSLAV ŠICEL – VODITELJ ZAVODA ZA ZNANSTVENI RAD HRVATSKE AKADEMIJE ZNANOSTI I UMJETNOSTI U VARAŽDINU. 2003. – 2011

Academician Miroslav Šicel was elected as a director of the Institute for Scientific Research Work of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Varaždin by a decision of the Presidency of the Croatian Academy in March 2003. He succeeded the founder and the first director of the Institute, academician Andre Mohorovičić, who had performed this duty from 1983 until his death in 2002. In more than eight years, during which he led the Institute (until the autumn of 2011), thirteen books and catalogues, seven issues of the Radovi annual were published, twelve gatherings were held, seven exhibitions, two lectures and one concert were organised as well. If one would wish to describe the reasons of strong and permanent life contribution of academician Šicel as the director of the Institute as best as possible, then one should use his own words from the Preface of the great Collection of Papers to commemorate 800 years of the free and royal town of Varaždin 1209 – 2009. He wrote: “As it is known and confirmed: in order to know where we are going, we need to know where we come from. Only the self-awareness of our own tradition and its values enables us to appreciate this and such history, to love our town and to strive to make it better. Only if we appreciate and respect everything we have inherited and accomplished, can we expect that others will appreciate and respect us as well. “