Konstantin "Kosta" Magazinović (9 April 1819,

Ruma Ruma (; ) is a town and municipality in the Srem District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has a population of 27,747, while the municipality has a population of 48,621. History Traces of organized human life ...

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 ...

– 16 September 1891,

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 ...

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) was a Serbian politician and diplomat, known for establishing Romania-Serbia relations and being one of the founders of a gun foundry in

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 ...

that became ''Zastava Arms''. He was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Bucharest on 20 January 1886. Kosta Magazinović was also the first diplomatic agent of the first Serbian diplomatic agency in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, which was officially established in February 1863. Magazinović and the U.S. consul at

, Ludwig J. Czapkay, tried to initiate U.S.-Serbian official contacts in 1867 when Ottoman troops withdrew from Serbia, but it was done to no avail. In 1839, the first generation of learned Serbs born in Serbian lands (previously divided between 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 ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

) were sent abroad for education on the state

bursaries A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awar ...

. This was done in order to train a 'local' bureaucratic and intellectual elite who had to substitute for the Serbs from Habsburg

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 ...

. Kosta Magazinović was among many chosen to study at the military academy in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, but he arbitrarily went first to

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, then to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

to study philosophy, and finally to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he enrolled into law school. There, he met other Serbian Parisians such as Milan Simić, Konstantin Cukić, Dimitrije Crnobarac, and Ljubomir Nenadović. Upon graduation, he returned to Serbia and joined the civil service. He wrote ''Memoari'' (Memoirs) where he tells the many experiences he had in his political and diplomatic career in Serbia and abroad during the 19th century. He was elected as the regular member of ''Društvo srbske slovesnosti'' (Society Of Serbian Letters: the forerunner of the Serbian Royal Academy) on 1 August 1848.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magazinovic, Kosta 1819 births 1891 deaths People from the Austrian Empire Serbian diplomats Construction ministers of Serbia