Sava Petrović (1839–1889) was a

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 ...

and

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

. He is considered to be one of the most important Serbian botanists of the 19th century. Petrović was active in phyto-

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

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 ...

and

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, ...

simultaneously, writing and publishing numerous scientific works. He is also remembered as a co-founder, like many of his peers, of the ''Srpsko lekarsko društvo'' (Serbian Medical Society) in 1872. Also the same year his book "Medicinal Herbs"was published.

Biography

Petrović was born in

Šabac Šabac ( sr-Cyrl, Шабац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river ...

, then part of 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 ...

, on 14 January 1839. There he completed grade school and started high school. After moving to

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 ...

he finished gymnasium and received a

bachelor degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years (d ...

at the science–mathematics faculty of the

Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia The Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia was the first higher education school in Serbia in which education was taught in Serbian. History The Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia () was founded in 1838 on the initiative of Prince Miloš Obren ...

, an equivalent to

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

. Professor

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 ...

noticed him and tried to encourage him in every way possible. With Dr. Pančić's help, Petrović was awarded a state scholarship to study

and

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 23 November 1866, Petrović successfully defended his doctoral thesis—''De la Nostomanie''—at the prestigious Faculty of Medicine in Paris. Upon his return home in 1867, he went on to become a district physician in

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-Cyrl, Крушевац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina (river), Rasina river. According to the 202 ...

. Under the aegis of Dr.

, Petrović started to collect and systematize the wild herbs from the vicinity of Kruševac. In the winter of 1867, he was transferred to Belgrade to a military hospital where he soon reached the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, the highest post that a Serbian military physician could aspire to achieve at the time. On 27 May 1872, Petrović and fifteen other prominent Belgrade physicians established the Serbian Medical Society. In 1873 Milan Obrenović invited Dr. Petrović to his court and made him his personal physician. It was Milan who urged Dr. Petrović to start floristic investigation in the area of

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 ...

. Based on the result of these studies, Petrović wrote two comprehensive books—“Flora of the Neighbourhood of Niš” in 1882, and in 1885 the Supplement—''Addimenia ad floram agri nyssani'' (Supplement to the Flora of the Neighbourhood of Niš). In the first work, Dr. Petrović cited more than 100 families, 502

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and around 1,500 plant species, including 60 new for the flora of Serbia and five completely new for

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. The most prominent among them is Ramonda nathaliae, named after Queen Natalija, wife of his good friend King Milan Obrenović. In the “Supplement", Dr. Petrović cited 160 plants as new for 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 the vicinity of Niš, though many of them were also new for science. In addition, he made corrections to some of the evident errors in the first book. Sava Petrović was the first scientist in Serbia to collect and study

medicinal plants Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

. His “Medicinal Plants of Serbia” (1883) shows fully his dedication to pharmacognosis and his contribution. He was instrumental in establishing the present-day Botanical Garden Jevremovacin Belgrade while supporting other botanical gardens with saplings grown in Belgrade. On 27 May 1872, Petrović and 15 other prominent Belgrade physicians established the Serbian Medical Society. He died on 20 January 1889, and was buried at

Belgrade New Cemetery The New Cemetery ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ново гробље, Novo groblje) is a cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, ...

Legacy

Petrović’s legacy in botanical work is enormous. While collecting and studying

in the vicinity of Niš, he scientifically described many plants

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

new for science which are still considered valid, while there are taxa that have kept their original names without any change:

Genista ''Genista'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, native to open habitats such as moorland and pasture in Europe and western Asia. They include species commonly called broom, though the term may also refer to other gener ...

, Nonea,

Hypericum ''Hypericum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Hypericaceae (formerly considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae). The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar re ...

Cyanus :''The plant genus Cyanus is nowadays included in Centaurea''. ''Cyanus'' is a genus of flies in the family Calliphoridae The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blowflies, blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, or greenbottles) a ...

, Edraianthus,

Orobanche ''Orobanche'', commonly known as broomrape, is a genus of almost 200 species of small Parasitic plant, parasitic herbaceous plants, mostly native to the temperate climate, temperate Northern Hemisphere. It is the type genus of the Orobanchaceae ...

Psilocybe serbica ''Psilocybe serbica'' is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. The mushroom contains the psychotropic compounds psilocybin and psilocin, and also related tryptamine alkaloids baeocystin, norbaeocystin, and aeruginascin. It is c ...

, Tandonia serbica, Tulipa serbica,

Ramonda serbica ''Ramonda serbica'', also known as Serbian ramonda and Serbian phoenix flower, is a species in the family Gesneriaceae and are one of the four plants in the Ramonda genus. It was first discovered in 1874 near Niš, Serbia, by the Serbian botanis ...

, Ramonda nathaliae,

Primula ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Primulaceae. They include the primrose (''Primula vulgaris, P. vulgaris''), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common specie ...

Hypochaeris radicata ''Hypochaeris radicata'' (sometimes spelled ''Hypochoeris radicata'') – also known as catsear, flatweed, cat's-ear, hairy cat's ear, or false Taraxacum, dandelion – is a perennial plant, perennial, low-lying edible herb often found in lawns. ...

. His contributions to the

List of Balkan endemic plants A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

are many. In 1996, professors and students from University of Niš Faculty of Science and Mathematics at Department for Biology and Ecology founde
Biological Society “Dr Sava Petrović”
in honor of Sava Petrović.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrović, Sava Serbian botanists 1839 births 1889 deaths University of Paris alumni People from the Principality of Serbia

Biography

Legacy

See also

References