Milan G. Nedeljković (

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 ...

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 ...

, 9 September 1857 - Belgrade,

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, 21 February 1950) was the first modern professor of

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

at 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 ...

'', and the founder and first director of the Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory in Belgrade.

Biography

He was born in ''Kraljice Natalije'', then ''Abadžijska Street'' in Belgrade, as the first of eight children (Milan, Đorđe, Nikola, Emilian, Vojislav, Ljubomir, Kosara and Spasenija) of the wealthy ''abadžija'' (tailor) Gligorije Nedeljković and mother Aleksandra. He finished the first men's high school as a student of the generation. At the '' Velika škola'', at the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, he graduated with great success and an award for his work in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. At the college, he was immediately accepted as a trainee lecturer in physics and mathematics. However, at the suggestion of

Josif Pančić Josif Pančić ( sr-cyr, Јосиф Панчић; April 17, 1814 – February 25, 1888) was a Serbian botanist, a doctor of medicine, a lecturer at the Great School (the future University of Belgrade), and the first president of the Serbian Roya ...

, he received a scholarship to continue his education in

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 ...

. He enrolled in mathematics at the Sorbonne and studied physics part-time at the ''

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

''. After five years of study in Paris, he returned to Belgrade with degrees in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, precision mechanics and

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

. At the ''Velika škola'', he then opened the Department of Astronomy and Meteorology and immediately asked the Government of the

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 ...

to enable him to build an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

that would be the central meteorological station. In 1887, he founded the Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory in Belgrade, where he performed the first seismological and geomagnetic measurements in Serbia at the beginning of the 20th century. He was the manager of the observatory until his retirement in 1924. A significant work of Milan Nedeljković after the

First World War 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 ...

, in which the Serbian people suffered severely, is the purchase of astronomical, meteorological and other geophysical instruments and accessories from which the Astronomical Observatory in Veliki

Vračar Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a popul ...

was made, which began operating in 1932. The telescopes were procured in 1922 and delivered from

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

to Belgrade as war (World War I) reparations from Germany.Помрачење најстаријег српског телескопа („Политика“, 30. август 2012)
Приступљено 12 April 2013. The wealthy and educated wife of Tomanija (1866-1959) was of great help to Milan Nedeljković in astronomical and meteorological work all the time. All their lives, they set aside personal funds for these sciences.

References

*Eclipse of the oldest Serbian telescope ("Politika", August 30, 2012), Accessed April 12, 2013.

Literature

*http://www.planeta.rs/24/12jubileji.htm - 150 years since the birth of Milan Nedeljković., Retrieved April 9, 2009. *http://astro.matf.bg.ac.rs/sem001.htm - History of procurement of instruments for the astronomical observatory., Accessed on February 14, 2009. *(language: English) V. Trajkovska, M. S. Dimitrijević. (2000). "Life and works of Milan Nedeljković (1857-1950)" (PDF). Serbian Astronomical Journal. 162: 135—150. Retrieved April 9, 2009. Check parameter value (s) for date: , access-date = (help)

External links

*Seismological work of the Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory in Belgrade, Milan Jeličić, 2010. *"Milan Nedeljković's Reparation Agreements", Milan Radovanac. 2011. *"Milan Nedeljković and his care for commissioned astronomical instruments", Milan Radovanac, 2011. *Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory in Belgrade and its work until the end of the First World War, Milan Jeličić, 2012 *Meteorologists "under the rule" of the king (''Večernje novosti'', 13 February 2014) *History of Science: Milan Nedeljković, RTS Educational-Scientific Channel, Official Channel on YouTube

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nedeljković, Milan 1857 births 1950 deaths Serbian astronomers Serbian meteorologists People from the Principality of Serbia People from the Kingdom of Serbia Yugoslav astronomers

Biography

See also

References

Literature

External links

References