Josip Šiklić

Josip Šiklić (Drniš, 1953) is a historian, art historian, and cultural worker. He completed elementary school in Siverić, high school in Drniš, and studied history and art history at the Faculty of Humanities in Zadar. Since 1977, he has lived in Pazin, where he worked as a teacher and assistant principal at the Juraj Dobrila High School and Vocational School, and from 2000 until his retirement in 2019, he served as the school’s principal. He has been the president of the Chair of the Čakavian Parliament in Pazin since 2005, president of UHBDR of Pazin Region since 2001, and secretary-general of the Čakavian Parliament since 2011. He is a member of Matica hrvatska (Croatian cultural and literary institution that promotes Croatian language, literature, and culture) the Istrian branch of the Croatian Writers’ Association, and the Croatian Art Historians’ Society. He has been a member of the editorial board of the journal Nova Istra, the Association of High School Principals, and the working group for the National Curriculum for high schools. He is a co-founder and long-time president of KUD Roženice (1984–1994). He has authored numerous articles on cultural-historical monuments and the demography of Istria and has organized and participated in around forty scientific conferences. He has published books, including Pazinski Novaki (Novaki of Pazin), Pazinski grbovi (Coats of Arms of Pazin), Crkva sv. Nikole u Pazinu (The Church of St. Nicholas in Pazin), and others, and has been co-author and editor of several monographs and lexicons, including Istarski biografski leksikon (Istrian Biographical Lexicon, 2024) and Biografski leksikon središnje Istre (Biographical Lexicon of Central Istria, 2024). He has edited about twenty collections and books in the fields of history, pedagogy, and linguistics, and has contributed continuously to the preservation of Istrian identity and cultural heritage. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the City of Pazin Award (1999), the City of Pazin Plaque, and the Istriana Award for Science and Education (2019).