The Establishment and Early Years of the Historical Institute JAZU in Dubrovnik

U članku su prikazane okolnosti osnivanja Historijskog instituta JAZU, današnjeg Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Dubrovniku. Počeci te institucije na prijelazu iz četrdesetih u pedesete godine 20. stoljeća prikazani su u kontekstu tadašnje politike KPJ prema znanosti i u kontekstu osnivanja znanstvenih instituta u okviru akademija po sovjetskom modelu razvoja znanosti. U slučaju dubrovačkog instituta dodatno je bio zanimljiv odnos Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti u Zagrebu i Srpske akademije nauka u Beogradu, a njegovu rasvjetljavanju pomaže izvor iz pera Miroslava Krleže, koji je integralno objavljen u prilogu. Također, na temelju dostupnih izvora prikazani su problemi s kojima se Historijski institut u Dubrovniku nosio u počecima svoga rada.The founding of the Historical Institute JAZU, present-day Institute for Historical Sciences of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) in Dubrovnik, took place in the late 1940s as result of the contemporary Yugoslavian policy in the field of science. This period was marked by the establishment of several research institutes operating within the Academies of Science in Croatia and elsewhere in Yugoslavia, after the Soviet model of science development. The case of the Historical Institute in Dubrovnik was specific, considering that according to the original concept – and because of the special interest Serbian historiography showed for the history of Dubrovnik – it was to be organised as a joint institute of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb (JAZU) and Serbian Academy of Sciences (SAN) in Belgrade. This interrelationship between JAZU and SAN proved a most complex one, and the circumstances surrounding the initiative of forming a joint institute, as well as its abandonment, represent an interesting episode in the development of post-war historiography. Casting welcome light on this controversy is the text written by Miroslav Krleža, appended to this article in full, in which in a caustic and profoundly sarcastic manner he describes the meeting held in Belgrade between the representatives of JAZU and SAN concerning the founding of the Historical Institute in Dubrovnik. In the ensuing period, too, the history of Dubrovnik continued to be an equally throny issue, as the Croatian authorities tended to show serious concern over this apparently understudied topic. This issue is of significance for the study of the relationship between Croatian and Serbian historiography in the period of the Yugoslavian state. The first years of the Historical Institute in Dubrovnik were marked by considerable organisational and primarily staff problems. On the basis of the available sources, it may be concluded that it was not until the early 1960s that the Historical Institute in Dubrovnik finally managed to overcome these pioneering problems