Momčilo Tapavica ( sr-Cyrl, Момчило Тапавица; hu, Tapavicza Momcsilló ; 14 October 1872 – 10 January 1949) was an all-around sportsperson, competing in

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Tapavica achieved his best result in tennis by winning the singles bronze medal at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

, making him the first ethnic

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

and Hungarian citizen to win an Olympic medal. After his sporting career Tapavica became a well-known

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Sports career

Tapavica, an ethnic

, was born in Nádalja,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

(now Nadalj,

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 ...

) in 1872. He began to practise sports in

Újvidék Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

(Novi Sad), continuing his training in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, where he studied architecture and civil engineering at the Technical College. His performances excelled and he was selected in the Hungarian team for the first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 1896, where he competed in tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. At the

, Tapavica, being the lone tennis player in Hungary's Olympic Team, won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in the singles tennis tournament. In the first round, he defeated D. Frangopoulos of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The second round gave him a bye, subsequently

Dionysios Kasdaglis Dimitrios written also as Demetrius Emmanuel ( el, Δημήτριος Εμμανουήλ) Kasdaglis written also as Casdagli(s) ( el, Κάσδαγλης), (10 October 1872 in Salford – 6 July 1931 in Bad Nauheim) was a Greek-Egyptian ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

beat Tapavica in the semifinal, and with no playoff for third place he shared bronze medal honors with Greek

Konstantinos Paspatis Konstantinos Paspatis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Πασπάτης) (5 June 1878 (registered at birth in England as Constantine George Paspatis) – 1 July 1903) was a Greek tennis player. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens ...

. Tapavica was the first ethnic Serb to win an Olympic medal, as well as the first – and to date the only – Hungarian to win a medal in tennis at the Olympic Games. He did not compete in the doubles tournament. In weightlifting, Tapavica overextended himself, which caused him a shoulder injury and eventually finished last of the six competitors in the two-handed weightlifting, now known as the

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

. Two days later, still unhealed, Tapavica was defeated in the first round of the wrestling competition by

Stephanos Christopoulos Stephanos Christopoulos ( el, Στέφανος Χρηστόπουλος; 1876 – after 1906) was a Greek wrestler. He was a member of Gymnastiki Etaireia Patron, that merged in 1923 with Panachaikos Gymnastikos syllogos to become Panachaiki Gymna ...

. The two were nearly evenly matched, but Tapavica tired first and conceded. After the Olympic Games, Tapavica never again participated in competitive events, however he continued to do recreational sports, such as athletics, gymnastics and rowing. For many years he was a member of the Újvidék-based rowing club ''Danubius''.

Architecture achievements

After his graduation, Tapavica remained in Budapest for a shorter period before returning to Újvidék. In 1908, for the invitation of

Nicholas I of Montenegro Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyr, Никола I Петровић-Његош; – 1 March 1921) was the last monarch of Montenegro from 1860 to 1918, reigning as prince from 1860 to 1910 and as the country's first and only king from 1910 to 19 ...

, Tapavica went to Montenegro, where he designed several buildings. Among his notable works from this period are the German Embassy and National Bank in

Cetinje Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...

, and the building of Boka Hotel in

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi ( cyrl, Херцег Нови, ) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 in ...

, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1979. The building of an orphanage funded by

Marija Trandafil Marija Trandafil or Marija Popović (25 December 1816 – 14 October 1883) was a Serbian philanthropist in the city of Novi Sad. She and her husband helped the city of Novi Sad to rebuild after it was bombarded in the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. ...

's will was built in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

based on the plans of Tapavica, was finished in 1912. The building would later become the

Matica srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Матица српска, Matica srpska, la, Matrix Serbica, grc, Μάτιτσα Σρπσκα) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national inst ...

. Upon the outbreak of

World War I 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 ...

, Tapavica first emigrated to

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, and later through

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

he ended up in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. While in Morocco, he joined the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

and became friends with Spain's future dictator

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

. After the war he returned to Novi Sad, where he ran his own architectural design company and actively participated in discussions about the urban planning of the city. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1948, he moved to

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, whic ...

, where he significantly contributed to the rebuilding of the war-torn city. He died in 1949 in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

Legacy

His life is the subject of a 2016 documentary ''Tapavica'' directed by

Milan Todorović Milan Todorović (born October 2, 1981) is a Serbian film director and producer, best known as the creator of the first Serbian zombie movie, Zone of the Dead."MONDO in the "dead zone": killed 200 zombies!Telecom serbia30. May 2008.] Early li ...

. A bust is bestowed in his honor in Novi Sad.

References

External links

Tapavica - documentary movie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapavica, Momcillo 1872 births 1949 deaths People from Srbobran Serbs of Vojvodina Tennis players at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century male tennis players Weightlifters at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Wrestlers at the 1896 Summer Olympics Hungarian male sport wrestlers Hungarian male tennis players Serbian male tennis players Hungarian male weightlifters Serbian male weightlifters Serbian male sport wrestlers Olympic tennis players of Hungary Olympic weightlifters of Hungary Olympic wrestlers of Hungary Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in tennis People associated with physical culture Hungarian architects Serbian architects Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion

Sports career

Architecture achievements

Legacy

See also

References

External links