Ante Alfirević in His Role as Editor of the Journal Život — Ideational Assessment of Editorship

Abstract

The Croatian Jesuit Ante Alfirević (1875–1945) was an eminent champion of the Croatian Catholic Movement. His articles and debates on topics such as  philosophy, theology, literature, psychology, archeology, politics and the like, contributed richly to the publication activities of periodical journals on philosophy and theology in Croatia. He was a prominent writer and translator. Also, he authored social and economic projects, organised many gatherings and founded the journal Dan. Moreover, he was the first editor of the journal Hrvatska straža founded in 1903 by Bishop Antun Mahnić. In 1919 he entered the Jesuit Order and after his novitiate, between 1922 and 1929, held the post of editor of the Jesuit journal Život. It is the aim of this article to cast a light on his editorial strategy, created together with his co–workers, but also by himself by means of his articles. To this end, articles from the cited period will be studied, the themes of which include philosophy, religious issues in general, sociology, history, psychology and pedagogy. One would do well to keep in mind that his overall perspective on journal editorship evolved from Catholic Action principles, and on the basis of philosophia perennis.