Julije Kempf was a Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n historian and writer. Kempf was born in Požega

Požega, Croatia

Požega is a city in western Slavonia, eastern Croatia, with a total population of 26,403 . It is the administrative center of the Požega-Slavonia County.-Geography:...

, Slavonia

Slavonia

Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...

. After graduating from Požega gymnasium, he attended teachers school in Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

. Afterwards, he worked in Novi Vinodolski

Novi Vinodolski

Novi Vinodolski is a town on the Adriatic in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,988, with a total of 5,131 people in the municipality ....

 as a teacher, before returning to Požega in 1885 to teach in Elementary school for boys.

Soon he became well known for his efforts to make lessons more interesting for pupils, while adhering to scientific principles and didactic methods. Kempf supported founding of, and eventually presided over Požega valley teachers' association, finally becoming a member of Union of Croatian teachers' associations. Thanks to his reputation, Kempf became headmaster of the Elementary school for boys in Požega in 1902. In 1917, thanks to many of his professional achievements, Kempf was appointed Royal county school superintendent, a function he held until 1925. In 1925, Kempf became mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Požega, and he served his city in that way for four years.

Kempf travelled throughout Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, many other parts of then Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

 and Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. His literary works, "From Sava to Adria

Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 through Bosnia and Herzegovina" (1898), "Along the coast of Adria" (1902), "From Požega valley" (1914), "Around Psunj

Psunj

Psunj is a mountain in the southwestern Slavonia region in eastern Croatia. It is the highest mountain of Slavonia, with the highest peak of Brezovo polje at 984 m.a.s.l. In the north it extends to Ravna gora and Papuk, while otherwise it is surrounded by lowlands...

 mountain" (1924), "Topusko

Topusko

Topusko is a spa town in Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatia.-Demographics:The population of the town of Topusko is 798, with a total of 3,219 people in the municipality . There are 2045 Croats , 954 Serbs and 65 Bosniaks .Prior to the war, there were 1,587 people in Topusko, of which most were Serbs...

 spa" (1929), and many others, bear witness that Kempf had systematically noted his travels. Kempf wrote prefaces for two books of letters he had received from Dragutin Lerman

Dragutin Lerman

Dragutin Lerman was a Croatian explorer. Lerman was born in Požega, Slavonia, but he left his home very early. He was a member of the 1882 Henry Morton Stanley expedition to Congo and was one of Stanley's most trusted men...

 while Lerman was in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. These books were "Letters from Africa from Dragutin Lerman" (1891) and "New letters from Africa from Dragutin Lerman" (1894), and represent conscious effort to give readers, especially citizens of Požega, an insight into faraway continent.

His most important work is "Požega, geographic notes from the area and articles of history of free and royal city of Požega and Požega county", published in 1910.

In 1910 Kempf was first to be named honorary citizen of Požega. After his retirement from professional career, he became even more socially active. He was active participant of various societies and associations such as "Croatian reading room", "Požega valley teachers' association", "Volunteer Firefighter Association of Požega", Croatian Singing Association "Vijenac", "Mountaineer Association" and many others.

His particular contribution to the cultural life of Požega was founding of Educational-cultural committee in 1924, and most notably, founding of City museum. At first, the exhibits collected for City museum were stored in franciscan abbey in Požega, until there was more permanent solution. Finally, the City museum opened on October 19, 1930 in old county hall of the County palace, with Kempf as its first curator and principal.