Dr. Luka Boršić co-authors a book on Dr. Elza Kučera

March 18, 2022

Dr. Luka Boršić has a new book published "Dr. Elza Kučera" which he has co-authored with Dr. Ivana Skuhala Karasman. The book is a part of their project scientific "Croatian Women Philosophers in the European Context" (cizuf.ifzg.hr) to discover and popularize women philosophers.


Dr. Skuhala Karasman (who was also teaching at RIT Zagreb Campus in 2019) and Dr. Boršić decided to write a book on this exceptional woman for several reasons: Elza Kučera was the first woman from Croatia to obtain a doctorate in philosophy (in Zurich in 1909). Elza Kučera was born in Vinkovci in 1883. Her father was the famous Croatian astronomer, mathematician, and popularizer of science Oton Kučera, and her mother was the well-educated Vilma Stenczel, of German-Hungarian origin. After graduation, she first studied in Vienna, and then, briefly, in Zagreb. She went to Zurich, where she received her doctorate in philosophy.


She was the first woman to get a permit to work as a civil servant in Croatia and, in consequence, became the first librarian in our country (in 1912). Finally, she was the first experimental psychologist, probably in SE Europe. We congratulate Dr. Boršić on this achievement and his donation of one book to our library!