Tomislav Šola



Tomislav Sladojević Šola (born 1948) is a Croatian museologist.

Biography
Sladojević Šola was born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1948. He gained his diploma in Art History and English language (University of Zagreb, 1969-1974), he then pursued the post-graduate study of Journalism (Faculty of Political sciences, Zagreb, 1975–76) and two-semester-course of contemporary Museology (Sorbonne, Paris, 1978-1979) and made his PhD in Museology (University of Ljubljana, 1985).

Following a seven-year period of curatorships in Zagreb (1975-1981) and another seven years as Director of The Museum Documentation Centre (1981-1987), Šola joined the University of Zagreb and was appointed Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, having retired in full professor tenure (1987-2013).

His academic research is closely linked to the profession and he draws on his practical experience as a curator, director, editor, lecturer and consultant.

Professor Tomislav Šola’s main research interests are in the practice of heritage and especially in examining its theoretical underpinnings, for which he coined the terms “Heritology“ (1982) and “Mnemosophy” (1987). Both describe the convergence of museum and heritage related occupations into one mega-profession based upon common science. The latter term as certain „cybernetic philosophy of heritage, addresses public memory issues and institutions in a more accurate way. His broad lecturing and publishing activity covered many other themes. Most of his books and writings are freely accessible online.

Professor Šola is the founder of The Best in Heritage, the world’s only annual survey of award-winning museum, heritage and conservation projects in Dubrovnik, (2002).