Matica Hrvatska, Croatia's central cultural and publishing society, marked the 20th anniversary of its re-establishment at a ceremony in Zagreb on Wednesday.
The event, held at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, was attended by many political and public figures, including Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic and Zagreb University Chancellor Aleksa Bjelis.
Matica Hrvatska president Igor Zidic said that with its 168-year-long history, the institution was one of the oldest European cultural associations.
Matica Hrvatska was established in 1842 as Matica Ilirska with the aim of promoting the ideas of the Croatian national revival movement, national identity, and cultural enlightenment.
After 1967, when it initiated the adoption of the declaration on the name and status of the Croatian language, it became one of the main pillars of the Croatian Spring movement, which resulted in a ban on its activities that lasted until Croatia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia.
Since then it has been working without interruption, publishing books and organising lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions and concerts.
