The

Dušan Vasiljev Dušan Vasiljev ( sr-cyr, Душан Васиљев; 19 July 1900 – 27 March 1924) was a Serbian-Yugoslavian poet, novelist and playwright. He was one of the most significant expressionists in Serbian literature. Life Vasiljev was born on 19 ...

Gymnasium ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Гимназија Душан Васиљев, Gimnazija Dušan Vasiljev), colloquially known as the Kikinda Gymnasium, is a public coeducational

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

( gymnasium, similar to preparatory school), located in

Kikinda Kikinda ( sr-Cyrl, Кикинда, ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Banat District in Serbia. The city's urban area has 32,084 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 49,326 inhabit ...

, city in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

History

Kikinda Gymnasium, initially known as ''Nagykikinda/Velika Kikinda Gymnasium'', was founded in 1858 as the first secondary school in Kikinda. By 1900, a new eight-year gymnasium started operating in a purpose-built building with classes conducted in

Hungarian language Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...

. Between its founding and World War I, the school graduated 421 students of whom only 49 were from the local Serb community. After the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the establishment of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

the Gymnasium adopted the curriculum of the pre-war

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

. Post-World War II, the school reopened on September 10, 1945, with classes offered in both Serbian and Hungarian. In 1959, the school was named after Dušan Vasiljev, a poet from Kikinda. From 1977 to 1993 the school lost its name and building but returned to its historic premises in 1994. The Gymnasium marked its 164th anniversary in 2022. The event included a wreath-laying ceremony at the bust of Dušan Vasiljev, workshops on Expressionism, and an award ceremony held at the National Museum Hall.

References

{{Authority control Gymnasiums in Serbia Kikinda Educational institutions established in 1858