Ante Topić Mimara
Ante Topić Mimara (7 April 1898 in Korušce – 30 January 1987 in Zagreb) was a Croatian art collector and philanthropist. He donated his collection of more than 3,700 artifacts, ranging from the prehistoric to the 20th century periods, to the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade and the museum named after him - Mimara Museum in Zagreb. Most masterpieces of the Italian Collection and Dutch Collection in the National Museum of Serbia had been donated by Mimara.
Also recorded as Ante Topic Mimara
Ante Topić Mimara
- Born
- 1898 · Korušce.
- Died
- 1987 · Zagreb.
- Nationality
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- Occupation
- restorer · art historian · art collector · painter · art dealer
- Fields
- art history · restoration · collecting
- Honours
- City of Zagreb Award
- Languages
- Croatian
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Documentary summary
Ante Topić Mimara (7 April 1898 in Korušce – 30 January 1987 in Zagreb) was a Croatian art collector and philanthropist. He donated his collection of more than 3,700 artifacts, ranging from the prehistoric to the 20th century periods, to the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade and the museum named after him - Mimara Museum in Zagreb. Most masterpieces of the Italian Collection and Dutch Collection in the National Museum of Serbia had been donated by Mimara.
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Documentary evidence
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identity unresolved · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
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Authority files
wikidata · Q571630 · wikipedia · Ante Topić Mimara
In this article
Controversy
Controversy
In post-war years, Mimara was a consultant to the Yugoslav military mission in Berlin and Munich, where he worked on returning plundered works of art to Yugoslavia. In 1963, he sold the Cloisters Cross to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is vividly described by Thomas Hoving, who made the acquisition, in his book on the work.
Several highly respected art historians and contemporaries of Topić Mimara say that he appears to have stolen many of the items in his art collection while working for the Yugoslav military at a World War II art collection point. According to Thomas Hoving, "Topic Mimara's hoard of masterpieces are 95 percent fakes produced by him and his hired forgers." On its opening, a "prominent Yugoslav art historian" told AP that "it might be the greatest collection of fakes in the world." According to Konstantin Akinsha, Ante Topić Mimara built his collection by forging, but also by looting and swindling.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1898
Ante Topić Mimara born at Korušce.
1987
Ante Topić Mimara died at Zagreb.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Korušce.
Birth place
Zagreb.
Death place
Citations
References
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reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 29 August 2026.
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