Croatian theatre director, theatre scholar, theatre critic, translator and educator Branko Gavella (1885–1962) began his scholarly work in the field of philosophy. In 1908, at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Vienna, under the supervision of German philosopher and psychologist Friedrich Jodl (1849–1914), he defended his doctoral dissertation Erkenntnis-theoretische Bedeutung des Urteils. It was written in German in the handwriting of Emma Maria Fülepp and is preserved in Gavella’s Personal Archival Collection within the Department for the History of Croatian Literature, Theatre and Music of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb (shelf mark 54, fasc. VI). It was translated into Croatian by theatre director, theatre scholar and dramaturge Vladan Švacov (1930–2004). The translation is available as a typescript and is entitled Spoznajnoteorijsko značenje suda. Both documents met the same fate: they were never published and, consequently, escaped the attention of both theatre scholars and philosophers. Despite the fact that Gavella earned a doctorate in philosophy and that his body of work contains substantial philosophical content, he has not yet been recognised as a philosopher.

Based on these findings, five project objectives were formulated: 1) to prepare a complete transcription of the unpublished manuscript of Gavella’s doctoral dissertation; 2) to carry out a philosophical and philological revision of Švacov’s unpublished typescript translation; 3) to prepare a modern edition of the dissertation manuscript and its translation; 4) to produce a historical-philosophical and philological study of Gavella’s doctoral dissertation; and 5) to contribute to the inclusion of Branko Gavella in the Croatian philosophical heritage.