Background
He was born on November 2, 1946 in Strizivojna near Đakovo.
He was born on November 2, 1946 in Strizivojna near Đakovo.
He graduated Yugoslav languages and literatures and Russian at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, where he has been working ever since.
He works as a regular professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, at the University of Zagreb. In 1971 he served as an assistant to the professor Eduard Hercigonja at the Department for Old Church Slavonic (today called Department for Old Church Slavonic language and Croatian Glagolitic), since 1982 serving as a docent and since 1986 as a regular professor In the period 1992–2008 he served as a head of the department.
At the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences he received his Master of Arts (1977) and Doctor of Philosophy (1982) in theses on languages of medieval Croatian texts.
He also taught curses at the universities of Osijek, Rijeka, Mostar, Bochum, Graz and Prague. He served as a president of the Committee of Croatian Slavists and organized the First Croatian Congress of Slavists in Pula.
He founded and edited Matica"s publishing series Inozemni kroatisti ("Foreign Croatists").
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts]
In 1998 he became an associate member, and in 2004 a regular member of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1996–2000 he was a member of the Administrative Council of the University of Zagreb, and in the period 1999-2002 he was the main secretary of Matica hrvatska.
