First English Book: Engleska početnica za I. razred gimnazije

First English Book – An English primer for the first grade of high school (first year of study) by Rudolf Filipović was published in 1946 in Zagreb. It is one of the first English textbooks in post-war Yugoslavia, when English began to be introduced as an important foreign language alongside Russian.

Filipović, then a young English scholar, compiled the primer using a methodologically clear and practical approach. The book contains basic grammar, vocabulary, simple reading texts, exercises and conversational dialogues adapted to high school students. Special attention is paid to pronunciation, basic grammatical structures and everyday vocabulary.

The work went through several editions (until 1954), which testifies to its popularity and the need for the English language at that time. Filipović later became a leading Croatian English scholar and the author of numerous textbooks, grammars and professional works on English.

This primer has great historical value because it represents the beginning of organized English language teaching in Croatian schools after World War II. Today it is considered an antiquarian rarity and an interesting testimony to language policy and education in the early socialist period.