The Oriental Institute in Sarajevo ( bs, Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu / Оријентални институт у Сарајеву) is an academic institute in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. It was founded in 1950 by the

Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

and is part of the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest ...

. but it suffered significant destruction in 1992 during the

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then be ...

1992 shelling

Its premises, research library and complete manuscript collection (more than 2,000 codices and 15,000 other archival material) were deliberately destroyed in shelling on May 18, 1992 by

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...

forces around the besieged city of Sarajevo. According to interviews with eyewitnesses, the building had been hit with a barrage of incendiary munitions, fired from positions on the hills overlooking the town center. No other buildings in the densely built neighborhood were hit. The Institute, which occupied the top floors of a large, four-storey office block on the corner of Veljka Cubrilovica Street and Marshal Tito Boulevard ( Sarajevo Centar municipality), was completely burned out, its collections destroyed. The manuscript collection of the Oriental institute was one of the richest collections of Oriental manuscripts worldwide. These manuscripts over centuries were written in the wide areas of the East to serve worldwide as life manuals for the people. Losses also included 5,263 bound manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew and local ''

arebica Arebica () is a variant of the Arabic script used to write the Serbo-Croatian language. It was used mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries and is frequently categorized as part of Aljamiado literature. Before World War I there were unsuccess ...

'' - ''(Bosnian in Arabic script)'', as well as tens of thousands of Ottoman-era documents. Only about 1% of Institute materials was saved.

References

External links

The Oriental Institute in Sarajevo
- Official Web Site {{authority control Research institutes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Social science institutes Buildings and structures in Sarajevo Siege of Sarajevo Buildings and structures demolished in 1992 Culture in Sarajevo Book burnings University of Sarajevo

1992 shelling

See also

References

Further reading

External links