99 YEARS SINCE THE DEATH OF THE FAMOUS SCIENTIST: On This Day Serbian Great Jovan Cvijić Passed Away!

In Belgrade, on this day, January 16, 1927, Jovan Cvijić died, a Serbian geographer and one of the greatest Serbian scientists, president of the Serbian Royal Academy (now the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts), professor and rector of the University of Belgrade, honorary doctor of the Sorbonne University and Charles University in Prague.

Jovan Cvijić was born on October 12, 1865, in Loznica. He completed primary school and the beginning of secondary school in his hometown of Loznica, then briefly continued his education in Šabac, and later in Belgrade. After graduating from secondary school in Belgrade (1884), he was very determined to study medicine; however, as he could not obtain a scholarship for studies abroad, he enrolled in geography studies at the then Velika škola (Great School).

During his studies, he was very active in conducting excursions, spoke several languages, and fully devoted himself to research already while studying. He published his first scientific paper, Contribution to Our Geographical Terminology, in his third year of studies in the journal Prosvetni glasnik (1887).

After graduating, in 1888 he began his career at the Second Belgrade Gymnasium, after which he enrolled in studies of physical geography and geology in Vienna, where he earned his doctorate in 1893 with the thesis Das Karstphänomen.

After defending his doctoral dissertation, he returned to Serbia and became a professor of geography and ethnography at the Velika škola in Belgrade. The following year, 1894, he founded the Geographical Institute at the Velika škola, which was dedicated to students particularly gifted in geography. During the same year, Jovan Cvijić launched the journal Pregled geografije. Already the next year, 1895, he became a member of the Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences.

During the following years, Cvijić continued to work and published a large number of significant scientific publications and books. He became a full professor of physical geography at the Czech University in Prague. He organized numerous seminars and countless excursions.

In 1905, the Velika škola grew into a University, and Jovan Cvijić became a full professor at the University of Belgrade. He was elected rector of the University twice, in 1906 and 1919.

He was the founder of the Serbian Geographical Society (1910), the first of its kind in the Balkans.

Jovan Cvijić was one of the most prominent and versatile Serbian scientists and one of the most renowned geographers in the world. He appeared as a guest lecturer in Vienna, London, Paris, Malta, Marseille, Prague, America, Switzerland… He was the holder of numerous honorary doctorates from the most famous universities in the world. His research was based on direct contact with nature, as he himself liked to say, he “learned geography with his feet.”

Over more than 30 years of intensive scientific work, he published many significant works. One of the most important works is The Balkan Peninsula.