Nikola Musulin ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Мусулин; ca. 1830–fl. 1897) was a Serbian teacher, activist, and poet. He was one of few trained teachers in

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

from 1856–1859. In 1859 he brought the Code of Dušan, the constitution of the

Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српско царство, Srpsko carstvo, separator=" / ", ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expande ...

(1346–1371), to a village in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. It is currently in the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. Nikola Musulin, son of a Serbian merchant, was born at

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

in 1830, and educated there and afterwards at the

Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Богословија Свети Арсеније Сремац, Bogoslovija Sveti Arsenije Sremac) is the oldest Serbian seminary, a clerical Grande école. It is a college following the Fren ...

. Musulin was brought up in a neighbourhood bordering on the open country that was the Military Frontier between the Ottoman and

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

empires, and from his earliest years he found a companion in nature; he was also early initiated into the reading of poetry, hearing Njegoš and

Branko Radičević Aleksije "Branko" Radičević ( sr-Cyrl, Алексије Бранко Радичевић, ; 28 March 1824 – 1 July 1853) was a Serbian poet who wrote in the period of Romanticism. Biography Branko Radičević was born in Slavonski Brod on 1 ...

in his youth. Musulin had trained to be a teacher at St. Arsenius instead of becoming a priest. While studying for the profession, however, he contributed poems and prose articles to various magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Upon graduation in 1856 Musulin arrived in Prizren, where he opened the first modern secular school. Prizren had an elementary school for girls, founded by Anastasija Ajnadžina in 1836. The work of Ajnadžina and Musulin inspired other fellow teachers to follow their footsteps:

Milan Kovačević Milan Kovačević, nicknamed Mićo ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Ковачевић; 1941 – 1998), was the president of the executive committee of the Municipal Assembly of Prijedor from January 1991 to March 1993. He also served as the vice president o ...

went on to open a secular school in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

in 1859 while Sava Dečanac founded a school in

Peja Peja or Peć, ), is the fifth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the Peja's Lumbar ...

. Musulin left

Old Serbia Old Serbia () is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the Serbian Empire in 1346–71. The term does ...

to teach in

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, in 1862. ''The Song about Grahovo'' and other fragments of his verse and prose had been known to a few people long before the publication of ''Until Dawn'' (Do zore) of 1863, in a facsimile of his clear and elegant handwriting, and of ''Justice and Freedom or the Testament of Bishop Njegoš'' (Pravda I Sloboda Ili Testamenat Vladike Njeguša) of 1897. As a writer Musulin published two more books: ''Moze li se pomoći našem narodu u Staroj Srbiji'' (Can Our People be Helped in Old Serbia), in which he once again showed his great attachment for his homeland, and ''Za kralja i otadžbinu'' (For King and Country).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musulin, Nikola Serbian male poets 19th-century Serbian people Serbs from the Ottoman Empire People from Shkodër Serbian educators Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain