born Dec. 31, 1845, Zajear, Serbia died Dec. 10, 1926, Belgrade Serbian and Yugoslav statesman. The editor of a socialist newspaper in Serbia, he was elected in 1878 to the legislature, where he opposed the authoritarian monarchy and advocated a parliamentary democracy. In 1881 he helped found the Radical Party, but he was forced to flee to Bulgaria in 1883. Returning to Serbia in 1889 under a new king, he served as premier (1891-92) and as ambassador to Russia (1893-94). Forced into exile again because of his political radicalism (1899-1903), he returned to support the Karadjordjevi dynasty and King Peter I. As leader of the Radical Party, he served as premier of Serbia during most of the period (1904-18), then helped create the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). As premier (1921-26), he pushed for a unitary constitution that confirmed Serbia's dominance despite opposition from the historically separate regions
{i} (1856-1943) USA physicist and inventor of Serbian descent who is responsible for many inventions (including the electro-magnetic motor, Tesla coil, etc.)
born July 9/10, 1856, Smiljan, Lika, Austria-Hungary died Jan. 7, 1943, New York, N.Y., U.S. Serbian U.S. inventor and researcher. He studied in Austria and Bohemia and worked in Paris before coming to the U.S. in 1884. He worked for Thomas Alva Edison and George Westinghouse but preferred independent research. His inventions made possible the production and distribution of alternating-current electric power. He invented an induction coil that is still widely used in radio technology, the Tesla coil ( 1890); his system was used by Westinghouse to light the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Tesla established an electric power station at Niagara Falls in 1893. His research also included work on a carbon button lamp and on the power of electrical resonance. He discovered terrestrial stationary waves (1899-1900), proving that the Earth is a conductor. Due to lack of funds, many of his ideas remained only in his notebooks, which are still examined by engineers for inventive clues