RADOSLAV GRUJIĆ’S EXPERIENCES FROM SKOPJE IN THE MIRROR OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH TIHOMIR ĐORĐEVIĆ

Abstract

The rich legacy of the famous Serbian ethnologist and academic Tihomir R. Đorđević archived in the National Library in Belgrade, contains a large number of letters and correspondence of the professor of the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, theologian, and historian Radoslav Grujić. The correspondence between the two professors was conducted in the twenties and thirties of the 20th century and was written on the occasion of establishing the first higher education institution in southern Serbia. The correspondence is dominated by two topics: the Skopje Scientific Society and its journal Glasnik of Skopje Scientific Society, and the issue of Radoslav Grujić’s promotion to the rank of full professor. Grujić regularly informed Đorđević about the activities of the Society and about activities related to the collection of works, the conception, financing, and publication of the magazine. The publication of the newly launched, ambitiously conceived Glasnik was fraught with numerous problems due to the tardiness of the staff, lack of funds, and lack of modern printers. Thanks to the documents found in Đorđević’s legacy, it is possible to reconstruct to some extent the relations between the professors of the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, i.e., Grujić’s disagreements with some of them, which led to his promotion being questioned. Based on the preserved material, it was possible to identify some details of Grujić’s biography that clearly speak of his commitment to the Serbian idea, which is why he was arrested and exiled at the beginning of the First World War. Grujić’s letters testify to the extraordinary respect he felt for Tihomir Đorđević, on whom he relied and who provided him with selfless help and support.