Source: slobodnadalmacija.hr
Branko Kirigin is a retired museum adviser of the Archaeological Museum in Split. He was the head curator of the Greek and Hellenistic collection of this museum. He was a director of the Archaeological Museum in Split from 1982 to 1987. His main field of interest are Greek colonization of Dalmatia, Greek and Hellenistic pottery and protection of monuments and landscapes.
He conducted research on islands Hvar, Brač, Šolta, Vis, Biševo, Svetac and Palagruža, on the Pelješac peninsula and in Salona. He is the creator and coordinator of the international archaeological project “Hvar – Archaeology of Mediterranean Landscape” (1982) and the “Adriatic Islands” project (1993). He was also the initiator and participant of the “Pharos-Paros-Pharos” project (2003) that re-established the ancient connections between the islands Hvar and Paros in Greece.
He has authored or co-authored several books many of which are related to Stari Grad and island Hvar, such as: The Adriatic Islands Project: The archaeological heritage of Hvar, Croatia (Oxford, 1997); Pharos, Archaeological Guide (Stari Grad, 2003); Faros, Parska neseobina – Prilog proučavanju grčke civilizacije u Dalmaciji (Split, 2004); Pharos, The Parian Settlement in Dalmatia (Oxford, 2006). He is the author of over 70 scientific papers, many of which were published in international journals and publications. He participated at over 30 conferences and congresses, mostly abroad. He authored several exhibitions and permanent exhibitions.
In his professional work, dr.sc. Branko Kirigin focused much of his energy on the research of his native island, and especially of Pharos and Stari Grad Plain. He has published four books which introduced the importance of this area to national and international scientific community. Here it should be noted that the results of the perennial international scientific project “Adriatic Islands” led to the entry of the Stari Grad Plain and the historic centre of Stari Grad on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008.
He is especially credited in restoring ancient connections between island Hvar and Greek island Paros, which intensified with the expedition “Pharos-Paros-Pharos” in 2003. The expedition significantly promoted Stari Grad, and it led to this year’s signing of the Cooperation Agreement between Stari Grad and Paros. Branko Kirigin is the main organiser of last year’s participation of Croatian scientists at an international conference on Paros, where the achievements of Croatian science in the study of Pharos were presented. He initiated erecting of a monument in 2015 on Paros, commemorating the millennial connections between Stari Grad and Paros, the same one that will be placed this year in Stari Grad.
Branko Kirigin, born in Hvar town, in his personal and professional life succeeded in overcoming the centuries of campanilistic conflicts between the two largest towns on the island, which burdened both the scientific and the social progress of the island since the times of Šime Ljubić i Grga Novak.
Congratulations to dr.sc. Branko Kirigin on the award!