Isidor Kršnjavi, a great founder and fighter for the cultural uplift of former Croatia, was a doctor of philosophy and law, a university professor of art history, archeology and cultural history. He was born on April 22, 1845 in Našice, where he resided until the beginning of his schooling, which he continued all the way to Vienna, Munich and Rome. He got his first job as a dedicated teacher in Osijek, where he left a trace of his love for art for the first time and continued on that path. In 1877 he finally settled in Zagreb and by the king's decision was appointed associate professor of art history and classical art archeology at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Francis Joseph I. Through his activities in the Society of Arts, he founded the Museum of Arts and Crafts and the School of Crafts and Civil Engineering. In 1891, Kršnjavi was appointed head of the Department of Worship and Teaching of the Provincial Government, when he began to implement a series of school reforms in teaching and the typological structure of schools. He is also responsible for the establishment of a women's vocational school and a women's lyceum, which were the basis for progress in the education of girls of that time. He was a transformer of civic schools or high schools into real high schools, he renewed preparatory schools all over Croatia, and with his wholehearted commitment to building the Royal Gymnasium in Sušak, reforming the teaching departments of the Royal Nautical School in Bakar and buying the school ship "Margite", he deserved a special chapter in educational history in the Rijeka region. He took special care of hygienic conditions in schools, introduced exercise as a compulsory subject, handicrafts in vocational schools, walks in nature and equipped the University Library in Zagreb and museums with many valuable collections.