Kišpatić collection
The Kišpatić collection was created in the early 20th century through the purchase of the finest mineral specimens from the world’s most renowned localities. It is associated with the name of an exceptional Croatian museum curator and naturalist who, through his work at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, left a lasting mark on the culture and science of the Croatian people. As director of the then Mineralogical and Petrographic Department of the National Museum and as a professor of mineralogy and petrography at the University of Zagreb, Mijo Kišpatić, through his highly professional approach, laid the foundations for valuing mineralogical material as cultural heritage of modern society.
It contains 504 museum specimens which, in addition to their physical diversity shaped by natural formation processes, originate from various parts of the world, including Japan, Brazil, the USA, Switzerland, Romania, the United Kingdom, Russia, and many other countries. The value of this collection is very high because it contains particularly beautiful mineral specimens discovered at the beginning of the 20th century at the world’s most famous localities, many of which are type localities, and today it is no longer possible to collect mineral material from these sites, as they have long been closed.
Collection Curator: Biserka Radanović-Gužvica
