Frane Bulić

Frane Bulić
Member of the Imperial Council for the XI. Electoral District in the Kingdom of Dalmatia - Split
In office 1907–1910
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Josip Smodlaka
Personal details
Born	Vranjic
Political party	Independent
Profession	Priest, archaeologist, and historian
Religion	Roman Catholic

Frane Bulić (October 4, 1846 - July 29, 1934) was a Croatian priest, archaeologist, and historian.

Bulić was born in Vranjic, near Split, and studied theology in Zadar and then classical philology and archeology in Vienna. He became the curator of the archaeological museum in Split, and was entrusted with the conservation of cultural and historical antiquities over all of Dalmatia.

He was also active politically. He was elected the representative of the county of Split in the Dalmatian parliament and as representative of Dalmatia in the Imperial Council in Vienna. He withdrew from politics during the time of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, after the Sixth of January dictatorship proclaimed by Aleksandar Karađorđević in 1929.

His archeological discoveries provided great contributions to the understanding of early Christian and Croatian history in Dalmatia. Bulić led archaeological expeditions in many locations, but especially in Solin. He discovered a basilica within the local monastery which contained the buried martyrs Dujam and Venancije from the time of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

In 1891, he discovered a piece of stone which contained an inscription of the early Croatian ruler, knez Trpimir. In 1898 he found the sarcophagus of queen Jelena dating back to 976. Together with his associates, he succeeded in putting the writing on the damaged piece together to figure out the complete inscription. Historians consider this one of the most important documents of Croatian history in the Middle Ages because it provided information about the genealogy of Croatian kings.

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