The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a
national academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the hu ...
and the most prominent academic institution in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, founded in 1841 as
Society of Serbian Letters ( sr, link=no, Друштво србске словесности, ДСС, Društvo srbske slovesnosti, DSS).
The Academy's membership has included
Nobel
Nobel often refers to:
*Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel
Nobel may also refer to:
Companies
*AkzoNobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994
*Branobel, or ...
laureates
Ivo Andrić,
Leopold Ružička,
Vladimir Prelog,
Glenn T. Seaborg,
Mikhail Sholokhov
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life ...
,
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repr ...
, and
Peter Handke as well as,
Josif Pančić,
Jovan Cvijić,
Branislav Petronijević,
Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac (french: Blaise Bukovac; it, Biagio Faggioni; 4 July 1855 – 23 April 1922) was a Croatian painter and academic. His life and work were eclectic, for the artist pursued his career in a variety of locales and his style changed great ...
,
Mihajlo Pupin,
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla ( ; ,["Tesla"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 1856 – 7 January 1943 ...
,
Milutin Milanković,
Mihailo Petrović-Alas,
Mehmed Meša Selimović,
Danilo Kiš,
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...
,
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
,
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
,
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of t ...
,
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example ...
,
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Mo ...
and many other scientists, scholars and artists of Serbian and foreign origin.
History
Predecessors
The Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences ( sr, Српска краљевска академија, СКА, Srpska kraljevska akademija, SKA) was the successor to the
Serbian Learned Society
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...
( sr, link=no, Српско учено друштво, СУД, Srpsko učeno društvo, SUD) with which it merged in 1892 and accepted its members as its own either regular or honorary members, its tasks and its place in scientific and cultural life. The same had occurred several decades earlier when the Serbian Learned Society on 29 July 1864 took over the place and functions of the Society of Serbian Scholarship ( sr, link=no, Друштво српске словесности, ДСС, Društvo srpske slovesnosti, DSS), the first learned society in the
Principality of Serbia, founded on 7 November 1841. The Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences was led by members, such as
Jovan Cvijić.
In 1864, the Society elected to its membership international revolutionary figures as
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pa ...
,
Nikolay Chernyshevsky, and
Alexander Herzen, and was immediately abolished for this action by the conservative government of Prince
Mihailo Obrenović.
Founding of Serbian Royal Academy
Since the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts was founded by law (as the Serbian Royal Academy) of 1 November 1886, it has been the highest academic institution in Serbia.
According to the Royal Academy Founding Act,
King Milan was to appoint the first academic, who would then choose other members of the academy. The names of the first academics were announced by King Milan on 5 April 1887. At that time, there existed four sections in the academy, which were then called "specialised academies". Four academics were appointed to each section:
Academy of Natural Sciences
*
Josif Pančić
*
Dimitrije Nešić
*
Jovan Žujović
*
Ljubomir Klerić
Ljubomir Klerić (29 June 1844 – 21 January 1910) was a Serbian mining engineer, mathematician, inventor, professor of mechanics and Minister of education and the economy.
Education
He was born in 1844 in Subotica. After primary school, he mo ...
Academy of Philosophy
*
Stojan Novaković
*
Milan Kujundžić Aberdar
Milan Kujundžić Aberdar ( sr-cyr, Милан Кујунџић Абердар; 1842 - 1893) was a Serbian poet, philosopher and politician.
Biography
He was born in Belgrade and given the name Janićije but later he changed it to Milan.His pse ...
*
Svetislav Vulović
*
Svetomir Nikolajević
Academy of Social Sciences
*
Čedomilj Mijatović
Čedomilj Mijatović ( sr-Cyrl, Чедомиљ Мијатовић; 17 October 1842 – May 14, 1932) was a Serbian statesman, economist, historian, writer and diplomat.
Mijatović served as the Minister of Finance six times between 1873 and 1894 ...
*
Milan Đ. Milićević
*
Ljubomir Kovačević
Ljubomir Kovačević (4 January 1848 – 19 November 1918) was a Serbian writer, historian, academic, and politician. He is one of the early creators of the Serbian critical historiographical school and fighters for the separation of historical ...
*
Panta Srećković
Pantelija Srećković ( sr-Cyrl, Пантелија Срећковић; 3 November 1834 – 8 July 1903), also known as Panta Srećković (Панта Срећковић) was a Serbian historian and academician, the dean of the Grandes écoles (''Ve ...
Academy of Arts
*
Ljubomir Nenadović
Ljubomir Nenadović (14 September 1826 — 21 January 1895) was Serbian writer, poet, translator, diplomat, minister of education and member of the Serbian Royal Academy.
Family
Ljubomir was born in Brankovina, Valjevo, Principality of Serbia ...
*
Matija Ban
*
Mihailo Valtrović
*
Davorin Jenko
Departments
*Department of Mathematics, Physics and Geo Sciences
*Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences
*Department of Technical Sciences
*Department of Medical Sciences
*Department of Languages and Literature
*Department of Social Sciences
*Department of Historical Sciences
*Department of Arts
Institutes
*Institute for
Serb Studies
*Institute for Byzantine Studies
*Geographical Institute "Jovan Cvijić"
*Ethnographical Institute
*Institute for the Serbian Language
*Institute of Technical Sciences
*Mathematical Institute
*Institute of Musicology
Building
From 1909 till 1952 Serbian Academy of Science and Arts Building was located at 15
Brankova Street. Unfortunately, this building was demolished in 1963. After that the
Academy was moved to 35
Knez Mihailova Street, in a magnificent building in the city centre, where it has remained up to now.
Serbian Academy of Science and Arts (SASA), the highest scientific institution in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, has been decorating
Knez Mihailova Street for almost one century, bringing the spirit of French decorations and
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
in the architecture of
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...
.
The sketches, proposals and designs for the construction of this magnificent building were created from the first day of its founding in 1886; however, the
Academy did not move in the building until 1886. Right after the founding of the
Academy, the erection of the building was considered at the representative location in
Knez Мihailova Street, which ''Prince
Mihailo Obrenović III
Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) or Mihajlo () is a Serbian masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name '' Michael''. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname. It may refer to:
* Mihailo Vojislavljević (fl. 1050–d. ...
donated for educational cause''.
Considering the fact that apart from the plot
Serbian Royal Academy (SRA) had no other financial resources, the erection of the temporary ground-floor building was considered until the conditions are fulfilled for the construction of the representative object in which two important national institutions were supposed to be located: The Serbian Country Museum and
The National Library
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. In the following years
SRA considered various ways of forming funds and acquiring financial resources for the construction of its building. The mutual fund of
SRA,
National Library and The Serbian Country Museum was formed in 1896 by the King's Decree, so that with the initial capital and its own plot, the
Academy was able to begin solving the construction problem.
Affirmed architect of domestic architecture Кonstantin Jovanović was hired to make the design in 1900. It was the first project in a row which remained unrealized: starting from the plea to eminent architectures Аndra Stevanović, Nikola Nestorović, Milan Kapetanović and Dragutin Đorđević, to make the preliminary designs, through the unsuccessful announcement of the public competition, until the attempt to form the project resembling the building of
Yugoslav Academy of Science and Arts from
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
and new designs of an architect Konstantin Jovanović. At the same time, with the attempts to obtain the adequate design, the interest of the three institutions for the construction of the common building was not constant. Dealing with the problem of permanent location, in 1908
SRA got to use the space in the building of Sima Igumanović endowment at 15
Brankova Street. After more than two decades of attempting to obtain its own building, the Presidency of
SRA, by the end of 1910 decided to entrust the design to Dragutin Đorđević and Andra Stevanović. The cornerstone was laid on 27 March 1914, by the
Crown Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević in the presence of the academics and the Ministers of Construction and Education. The construction works were assigned to the Matija Bleh's company, whereas the facade plastics and sculptural program were done by Jungmann and Sunko. However, the construction was interrupted by the beginning of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
The object was finished in 1924, but due to high construction expenses,
SRA failed to move into its new building; instead of that, the entire object was rented. Believing that the design of the
SRA building was supposed to transfer the advanced ideas, architects Stevanović and Đorđević created the design which did not rely on the previous designs in terms of its spatial and functional composition. Large sized building, which takes over the entire plot, was designed with the apartments and stores for rent and with richly оrnamented
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
decorated passages. In dealing with the facades, the authors did not completely abandoned the academic models of designing; they modernized one symmetrical, three-part division of facade
canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbag ...
by introducing rounded corners, additionally emphasized with semi-circular bay windows. By introducing
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
elements in the form of three-part windows, of the аrabesque secondary plastic, modern designed details on the shop windows on the ground floor and the
mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
, with the elements of French decorations, the authors achieved the luxurious facade program. The architectural plastic in the shape of floral arabesques, garlands and
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
masks, got a new dimension in the attic in the form of full sculpture of the symbolic meaning. The central motif of the main facade is the sculpture composition ''
The Goddess Nika joining the trade and industry'', whereas almost identical sculptural compositions ''The woman with the children'' were placed on the corners of the central protruding bay. One of those female sculptures is holding a torch in her hand, and the other one a pigeon. The identical compositions of children sculptures were placed in the attics above the corners of the building and along the side facades, creating one of the richest sculptural programs of
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...
architecture before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
SRA was in the rented building in
Brankova Street when the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
ended.
Right after the end of the
war, in 1947 The Law on Serbian Academy of Science brought certain changes in its structure, when instead of the expert academies, six departments were formed as well as the certain number of the institutes. With the enlarged spectre of activities, the need for the necessary spatial capacities increased significantly, so the primary goal was the conversion of the entire building in
Knez Mihailova Street into the office space, which included an extensive adaptation. The design was assigned to an architect Grigorij Samojlov, who, along with an architect Đorđe Smiljanić completed the transformation of the inner part of the building, at the same time completing one of the most important interior designs. Samojlov showed extraordinary skill by reshaping the existing object into the almost compact academic combination with central atrium, he formed a two-tract office system, completely eliminated the passages, except for the central one, which was partially redesigned into the main entrance hall, whereas the ground floor kept its commercial character. The creation of the entrance from
Knez Mihailova Street and designing of the access to the conference hall contributed to the realization of the representative space. According to the new concept, Samojlov designed the exterior in the modernized academic style with purified geometrized decorative repertoire. At the same time, the Congress hall was adapted, gaining the gallery and in the arched niches two paintings "The Science", painted by
Petar Lubarda and "The Art", painted by Мilo Milunović. Along with the adaptation certain changes were made on the very facade: the glass marquise was removed from the
mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
, the
mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
windows were changed, as well as the shop windows on the ground floor, a decorative dome was reconstructed and a cornice and all decorative elements were removed.
The building was officially and solemnly opened on 24 February 1952, when the
Academy finally and permanently moved in into the building. In 1967, Samojlov did the design for the adaptation of the gallery on the corner of
Knez Mihailova and Vuka Karadžića Street. Perfectly composed interior left room for additional improvement during the next couple of years, so that until today it has been enriched by our eminent artists. The glass gaps of the final collimation line in the entrance hall were replaced by the stained glass done in 2000, after the drawings by Branko Miljuš , whereas the stained glass windows in the Congress Hall and in the foyer in front of the hall were made after the design of the academic Mladen Srbinović in 2005.
Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, as the most significant scientific institution in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, gave the biggest contribution to the improvement of the scientific thought, gathering many prominent names of Serbian, Yugoslav and world science and artistic creation. Its building, built at one of the most representative locations of Belgrade urban space, with its architecture makes the inevitable part of the evaluation of, not only local, but also national construction heritage for almost one century. Taking into consideration the undeniable values and the importance, it was designated as a
cultural monument
A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...
in 1992.
A complete reconstruction of the exterior and interior was announced in 2020, with the goal being to complete the works in 2024 and make space for a new concert hall.
Electoral assemblies
New members of the
Academy are elected on the electoral assemblies, which have been held every third year since 1985.
In order to make room for academics from a wider field of arts, "Department of Fine Arts and Music" was renamed to "Department of Arts" in 2021, which was the first major organisational change in the Academy after a number of years.
List of presidents
List of Nobel laureates
There have been 20 members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts who were honoured with the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
.
Full members
Foreign members
List of Pulitzer laureates
Full members
See also
*
List of SANU members
*
Vojvodina Academy of Sciences and Arts
*
Institute for Balkan Studies
*
Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
*
Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska
References
Sources
*Sofija Škorić and George Vid Tomashevich, ''The Serbian Academy After A Century: An Institution at Risk?'', published by ''The Serbian Heritage Academy of Canada'', Toronto, 1987.
External links
*
{{Authority control
Serbian culture
Historiography of Serbia
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Organizations established in 1841
1841 establishments in Serbia
Scientific organizations established in 1841
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Educational institutions established in 1841
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Members of the International Council for Science
Members of the International Science Council
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