Korado Korlević

Korado Korlević is one of Croatia’s leading astronomers, the founder of the Višnjan Observatory, and the initiator of many educational projects in the country in the field of astronomy. He was born in Poreč in 1958. He completed high school in Pula and studied at the Faculty of Education at the University of Rijeka. He was one of the leaders of the First International Expedition to the site of the Tunguska explosion in Siberia in 1990. Motivated by the issue of potential collisions between the Earth and asteroids or comets, he promotes activities related to the study of small bodies in the Solar System, which led to the first discoveries of asteroids and comets from the Republic of Croatia. He has discovered more than 1,400 small planets (asteroids) and participated in the discovery of two comets. Since 1993, he has worked as the head of educational and scientific activities at the Višnjan Observatory. In addition to his pedagogical work, he has published numerous scientific and popular-science papers both in Croatia and abroad. He is currently engaged in astronomy education, promoting astronomy and science through public lectures and media appearances, developing astronomical instruments, studying meteors and meteorites, developing methods of creative thinking and applying them in education, and leading projects for the protection of nature and heritage. He has received several awards and recognitions, is a member of numerous international professional organizations, an honorary member of four associations, and for his contributions to astronomy and education, the Naming Committee of the International Astronomical Union named one of the celestial bodies between Mars and Jupiter Korado.