Ljubomir Klerić (29 June 1844 – 21 January 1910) was a
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 ...
n
mining engineer
Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...
,
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
,
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
, professor of mechanics and Minister of education and the economy.
Education
He was born in 1844 in
Subotica
Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...
. After primary school, he moved with his family to
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, the capital of Serbia. In 1862, he finished First men's Belgrade Secondary School and enrolled at the Faculty of Engineering of ''Velika Škola'' or the
Grandes écoles Grandes may refer to:
* Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician
*Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia
* Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...
, where he completed two years of study.
[Ljubomir Klerić (Julius Kleru)]
glas-javnosti.rs (2000-11-03)
His interest for technology and great success in studying it "with a pronounced tendency towards mining" were more than enough to qualify for a "state scholarship" to be sent to study mining at the
Mining Academy in
Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...
. For the winter semester in 1867/68 he moved to the
Zurich Polytechnic
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
, where he studied "mechanical engineering" intensively. The following year he returned to Freiburg, where he completed his study of geology. In 1869, upon approval of the Ministry of Education of Serbia, Klerić went to Berlin's Mining Academy, where he studied specialized courses in mining for another year. After that, he spent time on practical work and observation of German mines in
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
,
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...
, as well as the mine
Pribram (in the modern day
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
).
[
]
Mining work
After graduation in 1870, Klerić returned to Belgrade with a broad knowledge of mining, engineering, mineralogy, mechanics and mathematics. He immediately got a job in the state service, but unfortunately this was as a scribe in the mining department at the Ministry of Finance not in the mining profession. Before going abroad in 1872, Klerić constructed a new drill for deep soundings. He patented the invention in Germany and France. This invention was in widespread use for a short time. After that, he was employed as a mining engineer in the Dutch company "Albert & CO, drilling in Westphalia.[
In 1873, Klerić returned to Serbia, with a fellow engineer Hoffman. They immediately set to work examining a mine of ]magnetite
Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With the ...
on the Vencac in Arandjelovac. Unfortunately, they soon found out that there were not enough minerals for mass exploitation. Then, the company "Albert & Co" sent him to Oran
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
in Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, to investigate an iron mine
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the for ...
. He went to Africa where he conducted successful research, however, the company did not agree a price with the owner of the land. Klerić returned to Belgrade in June 1875, worked for a while on geological exploration, and the same year became a professor of the Mechanical Engineering Department of Belgrade College.[
]
Inventions and patents
In 1892, Ljubomir Klerić patented several appliances in mining (scale, deep well drill, rock breaker ...). He invented a polar pantograph (1875), a tractograph (1892), a second-line curve drawing device (1899). With the traction engine, he mechanically conceived irrational, transcendental numbers π and e. He studied "telemetry" and on that occasion he constructed, examined and created a new type of telemetry and set it "to measure the distance in the battlefield".[
Klerić studied "telemetry" after which he constructed, tested and developed a new type of telemetry "to measure distances on the battlefield," and decided to give these instruments to the government. He created the following mathematical tools:
*a new typewriter, which he named the polypantograph (1875);
*a new compass which he named tractoriograph, or logarithmograph (1892);
*a construction of measuring instruments, curvometre and logarithmometre (1899);
*a treatise on Kinematic determination of elliptical integrals.
]
Government service
He served as minister of education and ecclesiastical affairs for a few months between the autumn of 1894 and June 1895. As minister of the national economy between December 1896 and October 1897, he introduced laws designed to increase industrialization, agricultural production, quality control and the general level of technical knowledge among the people of Serbia. He also took care of technical education and protection of health of people, animals, and plants in the territory of Serbia. Ljubomir Klerić was awarded the Order of Leopold by the Belgian monarch. He died as a state counsellor in 1910 in Belgrade, Serbia.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleric, Ljubomir
Serbian inventors
1844 births
1910 deaths
Education ministers of Serbia