The Mediterranean Institute Grga Novak on Hvar is named after Grga Novak, who was for many years the president of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (founded in 1866, Zagreb; now the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts). The Mediterranean Institute was established in 1998 by a group of writers and scholars intending to encourage scholarship, art and public activity in Dalmatia. It will stress the uniquely Mediterranean view of the world, a culture of peace, which is the sum of individual, national and regional identities. The Institute intends to set up branches in many Mediterranean cities, creating a network of artistic and scholarly workshops.