Origins & Early Life

Andrija Mohorovičić (23 January 1857 – 18 December 1936) was a Croatian geophysicist and academic. He is best known for the eponymous Mohorovičić discontinuity and is considered one of the founders of modern seismology. He is also considered among the greatest Croatian natural scientists. Mohorovičić was born in Volosko, Opatija, where his father (also named Andrija) was a blacksmith, specializing in making anchors.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

The younger Andrija also loved the sea and married a captain's daughter, Silvija Vernić, with whom he had four sons. Mohorovičić obtained his elementary education in his home town, then continued at the gymnasium of neighbouring Rijeka. He received his higher education in mathematics and physics at the Faculty of Philosophy in Prague in 1875, where one of his professors was Ernst Mach. At 15, Mohorovičić knew Italian, English and French. Later he learned German, Latin, and Ancient Greek.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He taught first at high school in Zagreb (1879–1880), then at the gymnasium (secondary school) in Osijek. From 1882, he taught for nine years at the Royal Nautical School in Bakar, near Rijeka. Work started or completed there was important to...

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