Dimitrije "Mita" T. Leko ( sr-cyr, Димитрије Т. Леко; January 22, 1863 – September 24, 1914) was a Serbian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

urbanist Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, a profession focusing on the design and management of urban a ...

Biography

He spent most of his life outside Serbia and finished high school in

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

before studying architecture at the universities in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

(''

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

''),

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. After returning to Belgrade at the end of the 19th century, he tried to implement the model of contemporary urbanism of western Europe in Belgrade. He designed some of the most important and technically perfected buildings in Belgrade of his time, such as the Belgrade Meteorological Station in 1891, the Vučo House on

Slavija Square Slavija Square ( sr-cyr, Трг Славија, Trg Slavija) is a major commercial junction between the intersections of Kralja Milana, Beogradska, Makenzijeva, Svetosavska, Bulevar oslobođenja, Deligradska and Nemanjina streets in Belgrade. The ...

in 1893 (the first

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restaurant in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

was opened in this building on March 24, 1988), the New Military Academy on Nemanja Street (''Немањина улица'') in 1899 (today's Belgrade City Museum), the Athens Palace on Terazije Square in 1902, Đorđe Vučo's house on the Sava River on Karađorđe Street (''Карађорђева улица'') in 1908, the school buildings in Mackenzie Street (''Улица Макензијева'') and Gavrilo Princip Street (''Улица Гаврила Принципа'') and many other structures and mansions. He also designed a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

that was built to enclose what was left of the

Skull Tower Skull Tower ( sr-Cyrl, Ћеле кула, Ćele kula, ) is a stone structure embedded with human skulls located in Niš, Serbia. It was constructed by the Ottoman Empire following the Battle of Čegar of May 1809, during the First Serbian Uprisi ...

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

. Several of his works were financed by one of the wealthiest merchants in Belgrade at the end of the 19th century, Đorđe Vučo. Leko also won first prizes on the open competitions for the regulation of Terazije Square, Little Kalemegdan, and the city of

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

. However, these projects were never fully realized. Leko was also a very harsh critic of the urban development of Belgrade. He was often labelled as "too provocative" and "revolutionary" in his criticism of urbanism in Belgrade, and some of the problems he addressed, such as the problem of the regulation of the Terazije Terrace and the banks of the

Sava River The Sava, is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reaches Serbia, fee ...

, still remain unsolved.Dimitrije T. Leko and Belgrade Salon of Architecture 2006
Leko was a member of Belgrade's prestigious Leko family. His brother, Marko Leko, was a renowned

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. A street in the Belgrade suburb of

Borča Borča ( sr-cyr, Борча, ) is an urban settlement of the municipality of Palilula, Belgrade, Palilula, Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the left-bank part of the municipality, separated by the Danube from the rest of the city. , it has a popu ...

bears Dimitrije T. Leko's name.

References

External links

Dimitrije T. Leko biography

Dimitrije T. Leko and Belgrade Salon of Architecture 2006

Leko family history

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leko, Dimitrije T. 1863 births 1914 deaths Serbian architects Serbian people of Greek descent People from the Kingdom of Serbia Expatriates in Switzerland Expatriates in the German Empire