Jovan Cvijić was born in Loznica, western Serbia. Following schooling in his native town and further education in Šabac and Belgrade, he completed his studies in Vienna, where, on January 22, 1893, he was promoted to doctor of geographical sciences. He presented his doctoral thesis on the morphological and hydrological features of lime terrains to the greatest scientists of Central Europe, most notably Albrecht Penk.
His dissertation was hailed as a landmark in the study of karst and attracted much attention from the international scientific public. Soon after, Cvijić was appointed full professor of the Great School in Belgrade, where he set up the Geographical Institute, later to become Belgrade University's Faculty of Geography.
Cvijić contributed to the development of education, culture and science in Serbia by urging the founding of a University Library in Belgrade as well as a number of Faculties. Although his primary work was the research of contours, Cvijić extensively and thoroughly addressed themes related to anthropogeography, population migration, dwellings geography, ethnology, and studied the psychological typologies of our population. His research also embraced glaciations and he mapped the biggest lakes on the Balkan Peninsula. His study entitled "Anthropogeographical Problems of the Balkan Peninsula", published in 1902, marks the foundation of the still appreciated anthropogeographical school. This work, along with the guidelines he developed for dwellings research and his series of works on the dwellings and origins of the population, enabled Cvijić to significantly expand the frontiers of the science of man, society, homesteads, dwellings, migrations, and way of life as related to the natural environment. His second major work was "The Balkan Peninsula", printed in Paris as he delivered a series of lectures in France on this geographical region.
Cvijić founded the Serbian Geographical Society and initiated the publishing of its Gazette. Twice he served as Belgrade University rector. As still a rather young scientist and professor, he became a correspondent and subsequently full member of the Serbian Royal Academy, which he headed in 1921, giving it a new, modern form, introducing to it the European and world criteria in science.
Owing to the high esteem in which he was held by international scientific circles, he was invited to join the expert group for the delineation of borders at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference at Versailles.
He enjoyed the rare fortune to be both respected in international scientific circles and loved by his own people, to whom he bequeathed a work of inestimable value totaling some 10,600 pages. Although he received a large number of awards, decorations and honors for his work and great contributions to science, he lived modestly, almost ascetically, working and conducting research ceaselessly. He was a source of inspiration to his students, colleagues and associates. His motto was: "Work cannot harm the body, but even if it did, it is well worthwhile."
Cvijić was sixty-two when he died.
Source: New Review - JAT Airways, 2003/6
Text: Mila Milosavljević