Josif Pančić (; born Josip Pančić; April 17, 1814 – February 25, 1888) was a Serbian botanist, physician, professor and academic. Born in the First French Empire, in present-day Croatia, he earned his medical degree in Hungary before moving to Serbia. He extensively documented the flora 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

Josif Pančić was born in Ugrine, near Bribir, in the Vinodol region, then part of the Illyrian Provinces of the First French Empire. Pančić was the fourth son of Pavel Pančić and his wife Margarita. His paternal grandfather, who came from the area around Niš, 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 and settled in Ugrini in olden times. Some sources claim that Pančić was of Bunjevci origin, some describe him as of Croat origin, while some sources describe him as of Serb origin.

After finishing elementary school in Gospić, he went on to the lyceum in Rijeka, and then continued classes in the Regia Academica Scientiarum in Zagreb (1830). He graduated in 1842 in Budapest in medicine. In addition to other courses, Pančić attended botany courses, taught by the then renowned botany professor, Joseph Sadler (Sadler József). Later, recalling those early lectures, he wrote: 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 to Belgrade when he was first appointed adjunct professor 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 Principality of Serbia.

Pančić was a lecturer at the Great School (the future University of Belgrade), and the first president of the Serbian Royal Academy. As Professor of Natural Sciences, he was one of the six original professors (along with Konstantin Branković, 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 and Geology, Zoological and Botanical Departments and of the experimental botanical gardens in Belgrade. 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. 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.

Pančić was named the first president of the Serbian Royal Academy formed on April 5, 1887. He requested the opening of the Botanical garden "Jevremovac" in Belgrade.

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

Legacy

thumb|Pančić portrait on a 10 [[Yugoslav dinars note, 1994|260x260px]]

A mausoleum of Josif Pančić was erected at the highest peak of Kopaonik in 1951 by the Academy of Science, the University of Belgrade 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 celebrated his birthday with a Google Doodle.

Awards

  • Order of St. Sava
  • Order of the Cross of Takovo

Notes

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

See also

  • Lujo Adamović
  • Nedeljko Košanin
  • Sava Petrović

References

Sources