The house of Jevrem Grujić is located in 17 Svetogorska Street, – the first designated heritage building since the founding of the Cultural Heritage Protection Institute of the City of Belgrade, in 1961. It is located in the immediate distance from the theatre "
Atelje 212". The descendants of Jevrem Grujić, a prominent figure of the Serbian 19th century diplomacy, still live in this house. The life and work of members and descendants of the Grujić family is associated with the important political and social events in Serbia.
Јevrem Grujić
For more information, see:
Jevrem Grujić.
The history
Jevrem Grujić built this two-storey house in 17 Svetogorska Street for his daughter Mirka, honorary lady-in waiting to Queen Marija Karađorđević and the chair of the
"Kolo srpskih sestara". The house was built in 1896., according to the design of Milan Kapetanović, a Serbian architect educated in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, subsequently serving as a minister of construction.
The look of the house
The mansion
The Mansion or The Mansions may refer to:
Books
* ''The Interior Castle'', also known as ''The Mansions'' (1577), a spiritual guide written by Teresa of Ávila
* ''The Mansion'' (novel), a 1959 book written by novelist William Faulkner
Buildings ...
has three historicist facades harmoniously combining
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
and
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
elements. In its own times it represented a typical town house designed according to the representation programme. The painted decoration in imitation of sgraffito makes it unique in the architecture of Belgrade. The painted decoration was the work of Domenico D'Andrea, an Italian master. In terms of the internal conception, the basis of the ground floor and the first floor are the same. The salon, the dining room and the kitchen were on the ground floor, and the bedrooms, the study, the library and the balcony overlooking the former garden were on the upper floor. The impressive entrance hall features white marble stairs with wrought-iron railings and a wall decorated with a composition in relief. The rich and diverse collection of movables, dating from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, comprises art works and utility objects, as well as the archival material. The arms collection from the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
Second Serbian Insurrections was awarded a golden diploma and a medal at the Balkan States Exhibition in London in 1907. The collection spans generations of the Grujić family – from Teodor Herbez, finance minister under Prince Miloš, Jevrem Grujić, Slavko Grujić, General Kosta Protić, Stevan Ćurčić and many other family members, prominent figures of the political and cultural life in Serbia. The interior is adorned with the works of the most important painters of the national art:
Stevan Todorović,
Uroš Predić,
Paja Jovanović
Pavle "Paja" Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Павле "Паја" Јовановић; ; 16 June 1859 – 30 November 1957) was a Serbian painter who painted more than 1,100 works including: '' The Wounded Montenegrin'' (1882), '' Decorating of the Bride'' ...
,
Đorđe Krstić
Đorđe Krstić also Djordje Krstić (, ; 19 April 1851 – 30 October 1907) was a Serbian realist painter and academic. He is often ranked alongside his contemporaries, Paja Jovanović and Uroš Predić.
Biography
Krstić finished his educatio ...
,
Uroš Knežević,
Arsenije Petrović,
Miloš Tenković,
Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac (french: Blaise Bukovac; it, Biagio Faggioni; 4 July 1855 – 23 April 1922) was a Croatian painter and academic. His life and work were eclectic, for the artist pursued his career in a variety of locales and his style changed gre ...
as well as with the original pieces of furniture of different epochs. Along with the material values, the house also has intangible values. One of the important objects kept in this house is the wedding dress of Jelena Grujić from 1856.
The House as the Witness of Time
The meeting on which the secret agreement was signed between
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
for the liberation of all South Slavs from the Turkish slavery was held in the house, in 1912. That agreement was later on the basis for the creation of the
Balkan League
The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the ...
. After
The First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
ended, the house was Belgian embassy, where the first city balls and diplomatic receptions were organized, and after that, it was the French social society for providing help for children "A Drop of Milk". Right before the beginning of
The Second World War the house was the meeting place of the female associations for the fight against the fascism, and since October 1944., in the days of the battles for the liberation of Belgrade, the partisan hospital was placed in the house. The house was visited by many important figures of Serbian politics and diplomacy, science and art, such as
Jovan Cvijić,
Simo Matavulj
Simo Matavulj ( sr, Симо Матавуљ, 14 September 1852 – 20 February 1908) was a Serbian writer.
He was a representative of lyric realism, especially in short prose. As a writer, he is best known for employing his skill in holding up ...
,
Jovan Skerlić,
Čeda Mijatović,
Bogdan Popović
Bogdan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Богдан Поповић; 20 December 1863 – 7 November 1944) was one of the most important literary critics and university professors in Serbia and later Yugoslavia and an academic. He was the brother of ...
,
Milan Rakić
Milan Rakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Ракић; 18 September 1876 – 30 June 1938) was a Serbian poet-diplomat and academic.
He focused on dodecasyllable and hendecasyllable verse, which allowed him to achieve beautiful rhythm and rhyme ...
,
Đorđe Krstić
Đorđe Krstić also Djordje Krstić (, ; 19 April 1851 – 30 October 1907) was a Serbian realist painter and academic. He is often ranked alongside his contemporaries, Paja Jovanović and Uroš Predić.
Biography
Krstić finished his educatio ...
, Stevan Todorović,
Uroš Predić,
Ivan Tabaković
Ivan Tabaković (10 December 1898, Arad – 27 June 1977, Belgrade) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Serbian painter.
Biography
Tabaković was born in Arad, then part of the Habsburg Empire, in 1898, to a Serbian family. He studied at the Bud ...
, dr Vukić Mićović as well as the members of the European noble families and other reputable persons.
Milovan Milovanović, a minister of foreign affairs and the Prime Minister of the Serbian government (1911. – 1912.) used to live in the house. Jevrem Grujić's house is now a memorial place, the witness of many important political and cultural events, where, thanks to the descendants, the cultural heritage, tradition, national identity and avant-garde thoughts of Serbian society are continuously kept and preserved.
The Recent History of the House
In the basement of the house in 1967. the first Belgrade's disco club "At Laza Šećer's" was opened, named after its owner and Jevrem's descendant, a translator Lazar Šećerović.
[Blic online, retrieved on 10 October 2013. http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Beograd/17592/Prva-diskoteka-otvorena-u-kuci-srpskog-ministra ; NIN, when Belgrade was the world, retrieved on 10 October 2013 http://www.nin.co.rs/2001-09/06/19635.html ; Јеlena Kaličanin, retrieved on10 October 2013. Jevrem Grujić`s house http://www.jelenakalicanin.com/kucastil_lazasecer.htm ]
References
Literature
* The catalogue of immovable cultural assets of the
Houses in Serbia
Buildings and structures in Belgrade
Cultural Monuments of Great Importance (Serbia)