Petar J. Popović (25 May 1873 – 4 February 1945) was a prominent 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 ...

. In addition to notable architectural achievements, Petar Popović made a great contribution to Serbian

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

and

vexillology Vexillology ( ) is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.Smith, Whitney. ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. A person who studi ...

. He was also a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Early life and schooling

Popović was born into an old and distinguishable family of priests in the town of

Prilep Prilep ( ) is the List of cities in North Macedonia, fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. Name The name of Prilep appeared first as ''Πρίλαπος'' in Greek (''Prilapos'') in 1 ...

, at the time in

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. His family left Prilep when he was a child and came to the north in

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

, where Petar received his primary education. He continued schooling in

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 ...

wherein 7th grade he switched from classical to technical high school which he finished with excellent grades. Popović proceeded to study architecture at the Technical Faculty of Velika škola (1892-1896). This is where he got interested in monuments of Serbian medieval art, which he considered of utmost importance for Serbian architecture.

Career

In 1897 Popović started working in the Ministry of Construction, where he stayed for the next three decades. In 1901 he passed state exams for an architect and subsequently began his designs. In 1919 Popović became head of the Ministry of Construction and Public Works as well as a professor of Medieval Serbian and

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...

at his ''alma mater'',

Belgrade University The University of Belgrade () is a public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Krag ...

. He became a member of the Serbian Royal Academy (today

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel Prize, Nobel la ...

) in 1925 while the next year he became a corresponding member of

Jan Masaryk Jan Garrigue Masaryk (14 September 1886 – 10 March 1948) was a Czech diplomat and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948. American journalist John Gunther described Masaryk as "a brave, honest, turbule ...

Academy of Labour in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. He was also highly decorated. Except for architecture, Popović was also engaged in church interior decoration, restoration of buildings,

urbanism 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 ...

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

, heraldry and vexillology. Although he retired from state service in 1927, Popović remained active in research, publishing as well as in building.

Style and Works

Although some of his projects (mostly private buildings as well as some public ones) were executed in an academic manner, Popović preferred the Morava style of Serbian medieval architecture for most of his works. He promoted the creative reconstruction of Serbian medieval building styles as opposed to new,

modernist architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural architectural movement, movement and architectural style, style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco Architectu ...

. Some of his achievements in this style are regarded as the best of their kind (Vranje County building, Kostolac Church, Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade). His works include: * Belimarković Chapel,

Vrnjačka Banja Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,252 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 25,065 inhabitants (2022 ce ...

(1903) * reconstruction of

Lazarica Church Church of the Holy First Martyr Stephen (), better known as the Lazarica Church (Serbian: Црква Лазарица/Crkva Lazarica), is a Serbian Orthodox church in Kruševac, Serbia. It was built in 1375-1378 as an Financial endowment, endowmen ...

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-Cyrl, Крушевац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina (river), Rasina river. According to the 202 ...

(1904) * County building,

Zaječar Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city administrative area had a population of 48,621 inhabitants. Zaječar is widely ...

(1907) * County building,

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 55,214 while the city administrative area has 74,381 inhabitan ...

(1908) * Petrograd Hotel,

(1912) * Ruski Car building,

(1922–25) * Memorial church with

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

Štip Štip ( ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2021 census, the city of Štip had ...

(1926) * Church in

Kostolac Kostolac ( sr-Cyrl, Костолац) is a town in Serbia and one of two city municipalities which constitute the City of Požarevac. It is situated on the Danube river. The remains of Viminacium, the capital of the Roman province of Moesia Superi ...

(1926) * Dimitrijević House,

(1928) * Samodreža Church, Kosovo Polje (1928, with

Aleksandar Deroko Aleksandar Deroko ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Дероко; 4 September 1894 – 30 November 1988) was a Serbian architect, artist, and author. He was a professor of the Belgrade University and a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and ...

) * Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, Belgrade (1930, with

Vasiliy Androsov Vasili, Vasily, Vasilii or Vasiliy (Russian: Василий) is a Russian masculine given name of Greek origin and corresponds to ''Basil''. It may refer to: *Vasily I of Moscow Grand Prince from 1389–1425 *Vasily II of Moscow Grand Prince fro ...

) * Ministry of Education building,

(1933) * Vavedenje Monastery,

(1936)''Лексикон српских архитеката 19. и 20. века'', Београд 1999, pp. 151-152

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Petar 1873 births 1945 deaths Serbian architects People from Prilep People from Smederevo Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Early life and schooling

Career

Style and Works

See also

References