The event was organised by the Croatian Academy of Technical Sciences and held under the auspices of parliament, which proclaimed 2006 Tesla year.
The opening was attended by Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, ministers, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, ambassadors accredited to Croatia, more than 1,200 scientists from Croatia and abroad, and other figures.
Mesic said Tesla's inventions left a mark on the 20th century. He was a scientist whose genius was and remains for the wellbeing of humanity. He was proud of his Serbian birth and Croatian homeland, he said.
PM Sanader said that although Tesla was not recognised in his lifetime, this did not stop him from burning with love for science for the rest of his life. He wondered what the world of today would be like without Tesla.
We shall continue to research Tesla's work and the government will work on making Croatian society a society of knowledge on which our future will be founded, Sanader said.
Parliament Speaker Seks said Tesla was also a great humanist and peace fighter. Although he was disputed in his lifetime, he understood that his work belonged to the future, he said.
An address was also made by Science and Education Minister Dragan Primorac.
The anniversary of Tesla's birth will be marked in his home town Smiljan in Lika region on July 10, when a memorial museum in his honour will be opened.
UNESCO too proclaimed 2006 Nikola Tesla Year.