President Milanović Commemorates 170th Anniversary of Zagreb’s First Gymnasium
“That school gave me a framework and I have only realized that in the last ten years. I didn’t before because you rush through the world and life just passes by. Take care of that school, build it because I see that you are building the identity of the school, the meaning and the sense of belonging, that is important,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović told students of the First Gymnasium in Zagreb, which is marking its 170th anniversary.
“Of course, I am here tonight because many years ago, I was one of you,” said President Milanović, who himself attended the First Gymnasium, although it wasn’t called that back then and, he says, it was quite different.
“My generation and I were assigned to go to ‘Šuvarica’. That wasn’t right. They turned a good, old Zagreb gymnasium into some kind of mishmash, where they combined the Bureau-technical School and the Administrative School, as well as the First and Fourth Gymnasiums,” said President Milanović, adding that today, with the benefit of hindsight, he views that period of schooling “as something so deeply a part of me that I couldn’t have distanced myself from it, and in many ways, I’m still there.”
He recalled his professors with particular emotion and said, “I cannot forget all those professors whose stories and the intellectual world I experienced for four years. I remember them all as if it were today. It’s not a lesson learned; it’s simply something you carry with you and can’t get rid of. That’s why this is such an emotional moment for me.”
“Those four years fly by, and those gymnasium years are irreplaceable, unrepeatable, and gave us a wonderful education. Anyone who wanted to learn, anyone who wanted to be competitive without making a show of it, could have learned miracles from those people, and that’s why I am infinitely grateful to them. Yes, they did their job, and generations passed through their hands, but to me, they are unique. So, once again – thank you to them,” said President Milanović, recalling the names of all his professors.
“Dear First Gymnasium students, a student of ‘the First One’, the class of ‘81, formerly the Center for Administration and Justice, humbly submits this report to you. I humbly say that it was beautiful, and it is up to you to make it even more beautiful and to enjoy this time. You are not even aware of how beautiful and unique it is,” concluded President Milanović in his words addressed to the students of the First Gymnasium in Zagreb.
In addition to President Milanović, Principal Dunja Marušić, Head of the Education, Sports, and Youth Office of the City of Zagreb Luka Juroš, and State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth Zrinka Mužinić Bikić spoke about the 170 years of operation and existence of the First Gymnasium in Zagreb. Awards for loyalty were also presented to the professors who have worked at the First Gymnasium the longest without interruption.
President Milanović was accompanied by Jadranka Žarković, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan