In memoriam, Drazen Glasnović (1945-2003)

On 19 October 2003 our colleague and highly esteemed meteorologist Drazen Glasnović has passed away. His family, friends, colleagues and all those acquainted with meteorology experienced a great, irreversible loss.

To many, Drazen was best known as a forecaster. Most of his work life - from 1979 till his premature death - he worked in the Forecasting Division of the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (CMHS). During that period he collaborated very successfully with the media, in particular with the Croatian radio and television. By virtue of such a collaboration he became well known to the general public - his appearances in radio and TV programs were inspiring and gave appeal to meteorology in both scientific and professional respects.

Drazen was born on 21 March 1945 in Zagreb, where he completed a classical grammar school and enrolled to the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Zagreb. He got married while being a university student, and because of family priorities he interrupted his studies and was earning his living as a musician. He was a very gifted musician and the climax of his musical career was the song "Ljubavi, ljubavi" ("My love, my love") representing the then Yugoslavia at the 1972 Eurovison song contest.

At the insistence of his family, in particular his wife, Drazen continued with his university studies. In 1976, he graduated and two years later obtained the Master of Science degree. The title of his master thesis was "Objective analysis of vertical cross-sections". In the same year Drazen was elected a junior assistant, and from later on till his death he was lecturing in the subject of Weather forecasting at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. His knowledge and experience certainly contributed to the education of students, future meteorologists.

After the university graduation in 1976, Drazen got employed at the Croatian Met Service. Initially he worked at the Centre for Meteorological Research, and from 1979 in the Forecasting Division. In 2000, Drazen has become the CMHS Director's Assistant for Meteorological Applications Service. Besides being involved in operational forecasting and management, Drazen actively participated in various scientific and research projects. He attended many scientific meetings and conferences and published about thirty scientific and professional papers at home and abroad. His main work is the HRID diagnostic model, which is being routinely run in CMHS and many other central European Met Services.

Drazen pursued successfully the Croatia's international co-operation in the field of meteorology. Since 1993 he co-ordinated activities for Croatia to become a co-operating member state of ECMWF. In 1994 and 1995, Drazen took an active role in incorporating Croatia's meteorology in international projects Aladin and Aladin/LACE.

Drazen's contribution to Croatia's meteorology covered many aspects and activities. In addition, he set up high quality standards for professional work and demanded from his colleagues and subordinates to observe such standards. He loved his work and dedicated to it all his mental and physical strength till his sudden death. His diligence and dedication prompted others to work harder; he was always ready to help and was reliable as a friend and as a colleague. He lived a modest life, sharing it with his family and his work.

Though he departed suddenly, Drazen’s work and love for his family remain in our minds and in our hearts.

Milan Sijerković