University of Belgrade, University Library „Svetozar Marković”

They build Serbia

Djordje Stanojevic

Rector who Lit up Belgrade

February, 15th 2014.

Vesna Vuksan

It is only thirty years ago that people in Serbia started to write about electrification in Serbia at the turn of the 19th century and about Djordje Stanojevic who earned all merits regarding electrification. The aim of the cycle of exhibitions “They Built Serbia” which will be opened with a virtual exhibition about this prominent man is to introduce the public to the merits and achievements of a rector who introduced electricity in Belgrade.

Djordje Stanojevic lived at the time of turbulent development of electrical engineering, when many realised what possibilities it has to offer. As a physics professor, he followed its development with great interest, but more importantly, he gave the essential and practical contribution to the electrification of Serbia. What’s more, he turned manufacturing workshops into modern factories with electrical machines.

The exhibition “Djordje Stanojevic, Rector who Lit up Belgrade” shows the achievements of this ambitious scientist and humanist in many different fields. First and foremost, there is electrification, then astronomy, scientific and documentary photography and many other fields which hugely influenced not only the development of Serbia, but the world as well.

Chronology of Life and Works

Vesna Vuksan

Professor Djordje Stanojevic is one of those people whose life and works we at the same admire and wonder how it is possible for a person to achieve all that in a lifetime. A man with multiple talents like Djordje Stanojevic had to have numerous interests. If we look at the most important things he achieved, we have got to ask ourselves: “When did he manage to do all that?”

Electrification of Serbia

Zvezdana Stojkanovic

This text portrays the role of Djordje Stanojevic in electrification and describes his effort to introduce Tesla’s polyphase system. It depicts his contribution to the construction of the first thermal power plants, industrialisation and modernization of Serbia and also his effort to enhance living condition in the country.

University of Belgrade

Vasilije Milnovic

This text is a theoretical review of life and works of Djordje Stanojevic in the context of the WWI when Stanojevic was the rector of the University and in the context of 100th anniversary of the bombing of the University of Belgrade. At the same time, the text aims to be informative regarding the renaissance activity of this man, as a potential model for acting and work that requires full revaluation and deserves a special status.

Astronomy

Jelena Andonovski

Djordje Stanojevic and astronomy is a text about his contribution to astronomy. It is also a short overview of his book Starry Sky of Independent Serbia, which is one of the first books about astronomy in Serbian.

Photography

Divna Milosevic

Djordje Stanojevic achieved a lot in the field of photography. He introduced photography into Serbian science. He was the first person from this region to have photographed total solar eclipse. He made contributed immensely to the history of landscape photography. He was a rare artist of documentary photography and he created the first colour photograph in Serbia. He experimented with the first X-ray generator in Serbia.

Selected Bibliography

Srbislava Sahovic

In the project of digitization of Djorde Stanojevic’s works we have selected mostly publications which have the author’s dedication. We plan to digitize all of his publications in order to make them available to the general public. Digitization of works of all prominent people who built modern Serbia, especially the works of a man who achieved a lot in popularizing science, connects their and our age and acknowledges continuity.

Annotated Web Bibliography

Suzana Topalovic

The annotated web bibliography consists of digital resources about Djordje Stanojevic collected on the Internet. Web pages, scientific papers and popular texts about this prominent and versatile Serb have been organized by the topic. Short descriptions, i.e. annotations, are provided for every reference. The aim of this activity was to make an information and knowledge base about Djordje Stanojevic which will hopefully be used as an important additional resource by students and researchers who study the life and works of the rector who lit up Belgrade.