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Dr. Safvet-beg Bašagić (6 May 1870 – 9 April 1934), also known as Mirza Safvet, was a Bosnian writer considered the father of Bosnian Renaissance, and one of most cherished poets of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the turn of the 20th century. Bašagić co-founded the political journal Behar and was a founder of the cultural society and magazine Gajret, and was elected President of the Bosnian council in 1910. He is also well known for his lexicon that exceeded seven hundred biographies that he compiled over decades.
Life
He was born to a Bosniak family in Nevesinje and finished his primary schooling in Konjic, Mostar, and Sarajevo. He received his doctorate at the University of Vienna, where he studied Arabic and Persian languages. After the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908, Bašagić was installed as the first parliamentary president of the Muslim National organization. He taught Oriental languages at the University of Zagreb and was an associate of Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević. As president of the Diet of Bosnia, Bašagić advocated unification of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia. Bašagić was curator of the Archeological Museum in Sarajevo from 1919 to 1927.
Bašagić died in 1934 in Sarajevo and is buried in the harem of Gazi Husrev-beg's Mosque.
Works
The Bašagić collection of Islamic manuscripts and old books, which can be found in the holdings of the University Library in Bratislava, was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 1997. Part of this collection is available on-line from the World Digital Library.