Josif Pančić ( sr-cyr, Јосиф Панчић; April 17, 1814 – February 25, 1888) was a

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 ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, a doctor of medicine, a lecturer at the Great School (the future

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

), and the first president of the Serbian Royal Academy. He extensively documented the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of Serbia, and is credited with having classified many species of plants which were unknown to the botanical community at that time. Pančić is credited with discovering the Serbian spruce. He is regarded as the father of Serbian botany.

Life

Early life and studies

Josip Pančić was born in Ugrini, near Crikvenica, on the

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...

, a territory in the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. At the time of his birth, the region was part of the French Empire. Pančić was the fourth son of Pavel Pančić and his wife Margarita. His paternal grandfather, who came from the area around

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

, had served in a volunteer battalion of the Austrian Imperial Army during the Austro-Turkish War. According to tradition, the Pančić family hailed from

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

and settled in Ugrini in olden times. After finishing elementary school in Gospić, he went on to the

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, and then continued classes in the ''Regia Academica Scientiarum'' in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

(1830). He graduated in 1842 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

. In addition to other courses, Pančić attended

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

courses, taught by the then renowned botany professor, Joseph Sadler (Sadler József). Later, recalling those early lectures, he wrote:

Work

While studying about botany at the Natural History Museum in Vienna, Pančić became acquainted with the Serbian linguist Vuk Stefanović Karadžić who wrote him a letter of recommendation to the Serbian authorities, in order to fulfill his wish to settle in the

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

to study Nature. In May 1846, he arrived in Serbia where for the first seven years he worked as a physician in rural area. In 1847, he asked to be released from his Austrian citizenship and applied for Serbian citizenship, the same year he met his future wife Lyudmila Mileva. In 1853, he moved from

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

when he was first appointed

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

at Belgrade Lyceum's Department of Natural History and Agronomy by decree of Prince Alexander Karadjordjević, before becoming a full-time professor of Natural History and Agriculture in 1854, as decreed by the Ministry of Education of the

. As Professor of Natural Sciences, he as one of the six original professors (along with

Konstantin Branković Konstantin (Kosta) Branković (Novi Sad, 25 May 1814 — Belgrade, 22 November 1865) was a Serbian pedagogue and publicist from the Kingdom of Hungary. He was one of the first six-member tutorial staff at the Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia i ...

, Jovan Sterija Popović, Đura Daničić, Matija Ban, and Dimitrije Nešić), of the Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia. He later became rector of the Great School (the future University of Belgrade) and the founder of the Institutes of

Mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and

Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

, Zoologial and

Botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Departments and of the experimental botanical gardens in Belgrade. Pančić extensively documented the

of Serbia and is credited with having classified many species of plants that were unknown to the botanical community at the time. He discovered a total of 47 valid species new to science. The crowning achievement of Pančić floristic studies was the "Flora of the Principality of Serbia" () published in 1874, while a supplement was added ten years later. His explorations marked the golden age of Serbia's botany. His most significant discovery was the Serbian Spruce (''Picea omorika''), which he discovered near Zaovine on the Tara Mountain in 1875. He firmly established Serbian botany among European sciences. He ascertained that Serbia's flora was rich and worthy of further studies. During the Serbian–Ottoman War (1876–1878), he was the Chief Physician of the Belgrade Hospital. He is said to have "fallen in love" with Kopaonik, which he visited 16 times between 1851 and 1886. Pančić was named the first president of the Serbian Royal Academy formed on April 5, 1887. He requested the opening of the

Botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

" Jevremovac" in

. Pančić died on 25 February 1888, his last wish was to be buried in the Kopaonik Mountain.

Legacy

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

of Josif Pančić was erected at the highest peak of Kopaonik in 1951 by the Academy of Science, the

and the Hiking club, with the inscription: A research society has been named after him, Josif Pančić Biological Research Society (Biološko istraživačko društvo "Josif Pančić"). He was depicted on the 10 Dinars note printed in 1994. He is included in The 100 most prominent Serbs. In 1951, the highest point in the Kopaonik mountain range was changed from Milan Peak to Pančić's Peak. On April 17, 2010,

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

celebrated his birthday with a Google Doodle.

Awards

* Order of St. Sava * Order of the Cross of Takovo * Order of the Red Cross

Selected works

* ''Die Flora der Serpentinberge in Mittel-Serbien'' (1859) * ''Pisces Serbiae'' (1860) * ''Zur Moosflora des nordöstlichen Banates'' (1861) * ''Arena mobilis in Serbia eiusque flora'' (1863) * ''Flora agri Belgradensis methodo analytica digesta'' – "Flora u okolini Beogradskoj po analitičnom metodu" (1865) * ''Šumsko drveće i šiblje u Srbiji'' (1871) * ''Flora Principatus Serbiae'' – "Flora knez̆evine Srbije ili vaskularne biljke, koje y Srbije divlie rastu" (1874) * ''Eine neue conifere in den östlichen Alpen'' (1876) * ''Flora u okolini Beogradskoj po analitičnoj sistemi'' (1878) * ''Elementa ad floram principatus, Bulgariae'' (1883) * ''Nova graca za flora knez︠h︡evine Bugarske'' (1886) * ''Collected works'' in 11 volumes

Gallery

Notes

* His name is mostly written as Serbian Josif Pančić (Јосиф Панчић).

References

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancic, Josif 1814 births 1888 deaths Serbian people of Croatian descent 19th-century Serbian people Serbian botanists Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Academic staff of Belgrade Higher School Botanists with author abbreviations People from Primorje-Gorski Kotar County People from the Principality of Serbia People from the Kingdom of Serbia Immigrants to the Principality of Serbia Serbian paleontologists Serbian Roman Catholics Habsburg Serbs Serbian Austro-Hungarians Academic staff of the Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia