The head of the Yugoslav capital from January 10, 1935 to September 13, 1939 was the famous Vlada Ili\u0107. During that time, Belgrade for the first time became a true European metropolis, a city that kept pace with all global trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The significance of the period in which he led the capital for Belgrade\u2019s development is best illustrated by the words of Predrag La\u017eeti\u0107 published in the text \u201cHow a town became a metropolis\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwenty years, the period between the First and Second World Wars, were crucial for shaping today\u2019s face of Belgrade. Construction was in full swing, everything that could be started was started, and after the Second World War it remained to conquer the left bank of the Sava and connect the urban units of Belgrade and Zemun\u201d \u2013 begins Sa\u0161a Stankovi\u0107, author of the monograph about Vlada Ili\u0107 titled \u201cThe First Modern Mayor of Belgrade,\u201d writes Istorijski zabavnik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is difficult to list everything that was built, completed, or initiated in Belgrade during Vlada Ili\u0107\u2019s tenure. On this long list are today\u2019s most recognizable capital symbols \u2013 the Vuk Monument, the old Fairgrounds, the zoo\u2026 The foundation stone for the construction of the Temple of Saint Sava was laid. The National Assembly building was completed, and the Prince Pavle Museum (today\u2019s residence of the President of Serbia) was opened to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning of Vlada Ili\u0107\u2019s mandate, the bridge over the Danube connecting Belgrade and Pan\u010devo was opened. The first tram line connecting Belgrade with Zemun was launched, enabling residents of the capital to cross to the other side of the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why it is saddening that most Belgraders today know almost nothing about this exceptional man!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the initiative of Vuk Bojovi\u0107, then director of the Zoo, on St. Peter\u2019s Day in 2009, a bust of Vlada Ili\u0107 was placed in the zoo as its founder. That news prompted Vlasotince Gymnasium professor Sa\u0161a Stankovi\u0107 to begin researching the life and work of his former fellow townsman Vlada Ili\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result of his seven-year effort is the first complete and remarkably comprehensive monograph on Vlada Ili\u0107, titled \u201cThe First Modern Mayor of Belgrade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vladimir (Vlada) Ili\u0107, the youngest son of Kosta Mumd\u017eija, was born, according to the new calendar, on September 19, 1882. He completed primary education in his hometown Vlasotince and continued his studies in Vienna and Aachen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was the first textile industrialist from then Serbia with an academic education. It is reliably known that he spoke French and German, and according to some testimonies, also English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the most educated member of the family, Vlada soon found himself at the head of a large textile empire \u2013 after a short stay in Leskovac, his father sent him to manage the business operations in the capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 That this was a good move will be shown in the years that followed, because Vlada demonstrated all the abilities of a European-scale industrialist. By the beginning of the First World War, he modernized factories in Belgrade. They were heavily damaged and looted during the occupation, but after the war Ili\u0107 restored them and expanded production beyond the borders of the former Kingdom of Serbia \u2013 says Sa\u0161a Stankovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July 1922, at a conference of industrialists in Bled, Vlada Ili\u0107 was one of the founders and later president of the Central Association of Industrialists of the Kingdom of SHS. The following year in Bled, he was declared industrialist of the year 1923.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The global crisis of 1929, caused by the collapse of the US stock market, affected Yugoslavia in 1930 and partially Ili\u0107\u2019s business as well, but on the eve of the war in 1939 he began supplying the army, strengthening his industrial empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Military procurement was a lucrative business because quantities were huge and sales guaranteed. Only trusted people, close to power, could deal with it. Large capital and politics have always gone hand in hand. That is another detail explaining why Vlada Ili\u0107 was considered the richest Serb between the two world wars \u2013 explains Stankovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n