THE UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY: 218 years ago Dositej Obradović laid the foundations of higher education in Serbia!

On this day, September 13, 1808, the Great School began operating in Belgrade, opened with a ceremonial speech by Dositej Obradović. It was the first higher education institution in insurgent Serbia and one of the foundations on which the University of Belgrade would be established almost a century later.

The Great School was founded during the First Serbian Uprising, at a time when Serbia, in addition to fighting for liberation from the Ottoman Empire, was also facing the need to create its own state institutions and educated people to manage them.

Dositej Obradović, one of the most significant Serbian enlightenments, was particularly responsible for its creation. The school began operating in Belgrade, and among its first students were the sons of prominent insurgent leaders.

At the opening of the school, Dositej told the students that not only their future depended on their education, but also the future of Serbia.

The Great School of 1808 is not the same as the Great School that later directly preceded today’s University, but the University of Belgrade counts the beginning of its higher education tradition precisely from it. Because of this, September 13 is celebrated as the Day of the University of Belgrade.

The journey from Dositej’s school to today’s University lasted almost an entire century. Following the development of higher education during the 19th century, with the Law on the University from 1905, the Great School grew into the University of Belgrade.

One of its most recognizable symbols today is the Captain Miša’s Mansion in the center of Belgrade, the seat of the Rectorate. The building was erected by one of the wealthiest Serbs of his time, the merchant and benefactor Miša Anastasijević, and then donated to his homeland for educational purposes.

On the facade of the building, there is still an inscription today reading “Miša Anastasijević to his fatherland,” as a reminder of the time in which education was becoming one of the foundations of the modern Serbian state.

218 years have passed from a small school opened in insurgent Belgrade to the largest and oldest university in Serbia. Today, the University of Belgrade links its tradition precisely to September 13, 1808, and Dositej’s idea that the future of the state is built through education.