Mirko Breyer

Mirko Breyer (23 October 1863 – 29 December 1946) was a known Croatian writer, bibliographer and antiquarian.

Early life and education Breyer was born in Varaždin, Croatia on 23 October 1863. He was raised in a Jewish family. His father, Marko Breyer was banker and manager of the "Križevačka dionička štedionica" (Križevci equity savings), longtime representative of the Križevci City Assembly and municipal prefect deputy. Breyer spent his early childhood in Varaždin. He finished elementary school in Križevci and attended high school in Varaždin, Zagreb and Trieste.

Career After high school, Breyer worked in Trieste as an apprentice in a renowned trading company, Binenfeld. The company sent him to Aden, Yemen, which at the time was the important trading center of the East India Company in Arabia. There he started to learn foreign languages, including Arabic.

Upon his return from Aden, Breyer pursued higher education in Trieste, Vienna, Leipzig, Munich and Hamburg. He studied commerce. In 1890, he returned to Križevci. From 1890 to 1893 he wrote poems for "Narodni list" Zadar (Peoples daily).

Breyer moved to Zagreb in 1903. He spent his free time reading and collecting antiquities. In 1903, Breyer founded the educational publishing and antique bookstore "Slavenski znanstveni antikvarijat" (Slavic research antique store) in Zagreb. He sold the educational publishing bookstore in 1920, which was then renamed to "Jugoslavenska znastvena knjižara d.d." (Yugoslav research bookstore). Breyer kept his antique bookstore until 1928, when it is liquidated. From 1929 to 1940 he was the general manager of a publishing company "Obnova" (Renewal). Under Breyer's leadership "Obnova" published works of a prominent Croatian writers such as Vladimir Nazor and Antun Gustav Matoš. This false information was also accepted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum during a massive unchecked import of data.

Antiquities and donations From an early age Breyer collected antiquities. While in Aden he directed several shipments of ethnographic antiquities to Zagreb museums. Breyer donated to Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts around 80 autographs of notable Croats from 18th and 19th century. He also donated Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb and Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. After Breyer's death, his heirs donated to National and University Library in Zagreb 353 books and a large number of vintage magazines.