Prominent petrologist and geologist, academician Luka Marić, was born on February 24, 1899, in Papići near Sunja. He completed his studies in natural sciences and chemistry at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb in 1922. Several years after graduation, he worked as a professor at a high school and later specialized in geochemistry and mineralogy in France. From 1925 to 1931, he worked as a curator at the then Mineralogical-Petrological Museum in Zagreb. He defended his doctoral dissertation titled "The Gabro Massif near Jablanica" in Belgrade in 1928.

Luka Marić spent most of his working life, from 1931 to 1969, as a professor of petrology, mineralogy, and ore deposits science at the Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, passing on his vast knowledge and experience to new generations of geologists. Over 55 years of scientific work, Luka Marić focused mostly on the study of magmatic rocks, but also researched metamorphic rocks, ore minerals, sedimentary rocks, processes of rock weathering, and the origin of mineral waters. He published valuable results from his comprehensive research in 113 scientific and professional papers. Academic Luka Marić passed away in Tijesno on June 17, 1979.