Spiridon Gopčević
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Spiridon Gopčević (junior),
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Leo Brenner ( sr-cyr, Спиридон Гопчевић; 9 July 1855 – 1928) was a Serbian- Austrian
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
and
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
born in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
.


Life

He was named after his father, Spiridon, who was a great shipowner in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
, then Austrian Littoral (modern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
), but had originated from the village of Podi near Herceg Novi, in Boka Kotorska (modern
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 ...
), then a part of the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
. After the death of his father, when Spiridon was a boy, he was sent to
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
to be educated. He attended the Theresianum (1861-1865) and Stiftsgymnasium Melk (1865-1869) at Melk in
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. Following the death of his mother, he became a journalist by trade. He regarded himself first and foremost as a Serb, and that drove him to participate in the 1875 uprising in Herzegovina, and the following year to witness the Montenegrin-Ottoman War (1876-78), and participate in an insurrection in 1882 against the Habsburgs in southern Dalmatia, where he was arrested with Arthur Evans, who was a reporter for the Manchester Guardian at the time. Gopčević worked in these years as a war correspondent in the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
, and also travelled to Siberia,
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,
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
and the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. He even had a chance in London to meet William Gladstone in 1879. Gopčević entered the Serbian foreign service and served as diplomatic attaché in Berlin (1886-1887) and Vienna (1887-1890). In 1891 he went back to his family estate in Trieste, where he continued to write as a journalist for several German-language newspapers. In 1893 Gopčević spent time in jail due to some of his articles against the Austro-Hungarian government, and decided to end his journalistic career.
Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
became the dominant interest in Gopčević's life and, to a most unusual extent, his work was his life and his life was his work. In 1893 he founded an observatory "Manora-Sternwarte" in the town of what is now called
Mali Lošinj Mali Lošinj is a town in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, on the island of Lošinj, in western Croatia. At the time of the 2021 census, there were 7,537 inhabitants, of whom 86% were Croats. The town of Mali Lošinj itself had an urban populat ...
in present-day
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. This observatory was named for his wife, a wealthy Austrian noblewoman. At this observatory, Spiridon used the 17.5 cm refractor telescope at the observatory to make observations of Mars, the rings of
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
, and other planets. However he would eventually close the observatory in 1909 due to financial problems, and the telescope was offered for sale.Brenner, Leo, From 1899 until 1908 he was the founder and editor of the ''Astronomische Rundschau'', a popular scientific journal. He spent several years in America before returning to Europe and editing an army journal in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
during the war. The circumstances of his death are somewhat uncertain, but he appears to have been impoverished. The crater Brenner on the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
was named after him (based on his pen name) by his friend Phillip Fauth. A new observatory was built on Mali Lošinj in 1993, and was named “Leo Brenner“.


Controversy

In 1889, Gopčević published an ethnographic study titled ''Old Serbia and Macedonia'' that was a Serbian nationalist book on Kosovo and Macedonia and contained a pro-Serbian ethnographic map of Macedonia. Gopčević's biographer argues that he did not actually go to Kosovo and the study is not based on authentic experiences. Within scholarship Gopčević's study has been noted for its plagiarisms, manipulations and misrepresentations, especially overstressing the Serbian character of Macedonia. Gopčević's views on Serbian and Albanian populations in Kosovo and also the issue of the ''Arnautaš'' theory or Albanians of alleged Serbian (descent) have only been partially examined by some authors.."In 1889 the journalist Spiridon Gopčević (1855-1936) published an allegedly scientific, but for all intents and purposes Serbian nationalist monograph on Macedonia and “Old Serbia” (i.e. Kosovo). Gopčević’s biographer nevertheless argues that the monograph is not the result of authentic experiences and that he was never in Kosovo. While his manipulations with respect the allegedly Serbian character of Macedonia have already been the topic of exhaustive research, his views on the mutual relations between the Serbian and Albanian populations of Kosovo, in particular with respect to the contested notion of so- called Arnautaš” (Albanians of alleged Serbian (descent), have been only addressed superficially by various authors. Whatever the final judgment might be, Gopčević’s monograph represents a singular attempt to combine sympathies for the cultural development of the Serbian nation with the aspirations of Austria-Hungary as a Great Power in the Balkans." Noted for being an ardent Serbian nationalist, his book ''Old Serbia and Macedonia'' is seen as a work that opened the path for unprecedented Serbian territorial claims in the region.


Works

* ''Montenegro und die Montenegriner'', 1877 * ''Oberalbanien und seine Liga'', 1881 * ''Bulgarien und Ostrumelien'', 1886 * ''Kriegsgeschichtliche Studien'', 2 Bände, 1887 * * (als Leo Brenner): ''Beobachtungs-Objekte für Amateur-Astronomen'', 1902 * ''USA. Aus dem Dollarlande; Sitten, Zustände und Einrichtungen der Vereinigten Staaten'', 1913 * ''Das Fürstentum Albanien, seine Vergangenheit, ethnographischen Verhältnisse, politische Lage und Aussichten für die Zukunft'', 1914 * ''Geschichte von Montenegro und Albanien'', 1914 * ''Aus dem Lande der unbegrenzten Heuchelei. Englische Zustände'', 1915 * ''Rußland und Serbien von 1804-1915. Nach Urkunden der Geheimarchive von St. Petersburg und Paris und des Wiener Archivs'', 1916 * ''Amerikas Rolle im Weltkriege'', 1917 * ''Die Wahrheit über Jesus nach den ausgegrabenen Aufzeichnungen seines Jugendfreundes'', 1920 * ''Kulturgeschichtliche Studien'', 1920 * ''Österreichs Untergang : die Folge von Franz Josefs Mißregierung'', 1920 * ''Serbokroatisches Gesprächsbuch verbunden mit kurzer Sprachlehre und Wörterverzeichnis'', 1920


See also

* Serbs in Italy * Triestine Serbs * Arthur Evans * Marino Gopcevich * Spiridione Gopcevich


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gopcevic, Spiridon 1855 births 1928 deaths Serbian astronomers 19th-century astronomers 20th-century Austrian astronomers Writers from Trieste Scientists from Trieste Astronomers from Austria-Hungary Historians from Austria-Hungary