In Memoriam Muhamed Filipović

It is with deep sadness that we are inform you of passing away of Academician Muhamed Filipović, one of Bosnia's foremost leading intellectuals. Academician Filipović was professor at the University of Sarajevo, member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and chairman of the Bosniak Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Academician Muhamed Filipović was born in Banja Luka where he completed his elementary and secondary education. He studied philosophy, natural sciences and history in Belgrade and Zagreb and graduated in 1952. He received his PhD in Philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo in 1961. Soon after he was promoted into title of associate professor, in 1967 part time professor, and in 1972 to full professor for Logic with Methodology and Scientific work methodology at the Department of Philosophy and Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, where he spent his entire career until his retirement in 1999.

During his long academic and teaching career, he was a mentor/committee member for 34 doctoral theses in the country and abroad. He was a guest lecturer in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and universities in other countries.

Academician Muhamed Filipović was a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina – he was elected as Academy of Sciences and Arts of BiH corresponding member in 1976, and full member in 1982.

Academician Filipović was also the chairman of the Bosniak Academy of Sciences.

He authored a large number of monographs on logic, history of philosophy, history of cultural life of Bosnia and Herzegovina, aesthetics and politics. He was also engaged in literary criticism and essay writing, as well as lexicography. He is the author of the essay: The Bosnian Spirit in Literature - What Is That, first published in 1967 in the journal Život on the occasion of the publication of the Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar’s poem collection The Stone Sleeper.

He was the Encyclopedia’s editorial board president for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1975 to the end of 1982 that prepared and published the Encyclopedia of Bosnia and Herzegovina section.

Academician Muhamed Filipović is the initiator of a large number of public debates that have initiated significant processes in the political, educational and cultural life of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His enthusiasm and fruitful scholarly opus has left and still leaves an impact on generations of students who have had the privilege of attending his lectures.

Academician Filipović is the author and co-author of more than 50 monographs, 160 articles in scientific journals, as well as many other forms of work in various publications. He is also the author of hundreds of articles in daily and weekly newspapers that have contributed to the understanding and creation of social everyday life in Bosnia and Herzegovina.