Gymnasium "Uroš Predić" (Pančevo)

The Gymnasium "Uroš Predić" (Serbian: Гимназија ,,Урош Предић", romanized: Gimnazija ,,Uroš Predić") is a four-year public high school located in Pančevo, Serbia. It was founded in 1863 and because of that, it is one of the oldest educational institutions in Serbia. It is named after Uroš Predić a realist painter.

Gymnasium "Uroš Predić"
Гимназија "Урош Предић"
Gimnazija "Uroš Predić"
Gymnasium Building
Location
Ignjata Barajevca 5, Pančevo
Vojvodina, Serbia
Coordinates44°52′14″N 20°38′16″E
Information
Other nameCenter for education of professional workers in social activities (1977-1990)
School typePublic gymnasium
Founded1863
PrincipalZorica Pomar[1]
Websitegimnazijaurospredic.edu.rs

History

19th century
Gymnasium on a postcard

The idea of founding a Serbian gymnasium in Pančevo was initiated by Serbian citizens in the 1830s. Two citizens from Pančevo bequeathed a part of their property for cultural purposes. With the generous gesture of the barber and grain merchant Tomo Sandulović in 1835, the creation of a fund for the establishment of a gymnasium began. A year later, the grain trader Ignjat Barajevac bequeathed a property that consisted of a large building, the inn "Kod zvezde", for the establishment of a boarding school. But, despite these legacies, the funds weren't enough and the authorities were not willing to help financially, so the establishment of the gymnasium was postponed.

By the order of the Court War Council in Vienna in 1851, the Imperial-Royal Lower realschule was opened and in 1863 it was transformed into the Imperial-Royal Higher realschule. At that time, Laza Kostić, the greatest poet of Serbian romanticism, was a student of this German high school during two school years. The location of the school has changed multiple times. It was first located in the house of Karl Weifert (on the corner of Đura Jakšić and Nikola Đurković streets), then in today's Njegoševa Street no. 8 and then at the site of a military warehouse. Construction of today's building was completed in 1888. The building is one-story in the classicist style, it has the main facade and two protruding side wings. It has a gym in the backyard. The opening ceremony began in the neighboring Roman Catholic church.

On the left side of the staircase, a granite slab with the inscription "Final cornerstone on November 19, 1888" was walled up, behind which a monument was placed in the cavity. At that time, it was one of the best-equipped schools in Vojvodina and the most prestigious in Austria-Hungary, because Viennese professors taught there. At the Paris Exhibition in 1867, students of the gymnasium received praise and an award for their work. The main task of the gymnasium was to provide general education and a good knowledge of classical languages and the history of literature, in order to prepare students for university activities. Until the collapse of Austria-Hungary, it was a school for the wealthier strata of society. Mihailo Pupin a well-known Serbian physicist and one of the founding members of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) which later became NASA, was a student of this gymnasium between 1870 and 1872. He had to leave the school in order not to be expelled because of his participation in the torchlight procession as part of Svetozar Miletić's arrival in Pančevo. The great painter Uroš Predić finished all seven grades of the gymnasium, from where he went to Vienna to the Academy of Arts in 1876.[2]

20th century

During the World War I the gymnasium was briefly interrupted and turned into a military hospital. After the end of the war, high school students faced many difficulties such as lack of teachers, textbooks, and heating. The school further developed and modernized. Great attention was paid to education and discipline: a ban on children going to the cinema with three poor grades; aprons at least 10 cm below the knee; imprisonment as punishment for certain offenses. The gymnasium has always had a special cultural role in Pančevo. Numerous lectures were held for students and citizens from various scientific fields. The school had a choir that won awards, during the term of conductor Jovan Bandur (1927-1931). The string orchestra was also successful, as well as the folklore group. Sports successes were not absent either. Famous writer Miloš Crnjanski was a high school teacher in 1921 and 1922. He taught gymnastics, and Serbian language, history, and geography classes.

During World War II the occupation authorities moved the gymnasium from this building. Classes took place in various rooms in the city, teachers even worked in four shifts. The school property was looted, schools were destroyed and the library was partially destroyed. Some professors retired, were fired, and some professors and students lost their lives. After the end of the war and after the installment of the communist government, plans and programs changed, new subjects were introduced, classes were improved by opening laboratories, enriching the book fund, organizing excursions, professional training of professors, founding sectors, and scientific groups. Since 1958, the school has been called Gymnasium "Uroš Predić" but it was changed to the "Center for the education of professional workers in social activities" in 1977, but it was renamed back to its former name in 1990. In the gymnasium, there are currently three educational profiles: socio-linguistic, natural-mathematic and informational technologies, computer science and informatics.[3]

Many former students were, or are today, respectable and well-known academic citizens, artists, doctors, professors or athletes. Some of the students were, besides Mihailo Pupin, Uroš Predić and Miloš Crnjanski, Vasa Živković, Dimitrije Topalović, Stojan Trumić, Dimitrije Stevanović, Dušan Vukajlović, Nebojša Marojević, Stevo Todorčević, Zoran Gajić, Žikica Milosavljević, Nebojša Glogovac, Nađa Higl and etc.

Gymnasium today
Entrance to the gymnasium

Even today, the gymnasium is recognizable for its spirit. High school students regularly win prizes at all levels of the competition. The drama section has grown into a drama club. Students are members of the linguistic, literary, art section, and numerous sports sections. A high school band of students and professors, as well as a great choir and masquerades, are a guarantee of a good mood. Students have their own magazines called "Chaos" (Serbian: Хаос, romanized: Haos) and "Decadent" (Serbian: Декадент, romanized: Dekadent). The school has excellent cooperation with the Regional Center for Talents "Mihajlo Pupin" and the Research Station in Petnica.

In late 2019 they participated in the Second Youth Peace Conference in Nuremberg.[4][5][6] In December, the gymnasium hosted a competition called "Gymnasium's idol" (Serbian: Гимназијски идол, romanized: Gimnazijski idol) in which 17 people participated and there were over 400 viewers. [7]

References
  1. "Gimnazija "Uroš Predić"". gimnazijaurospredic.edu.rs (in Serbian).
  2. "O školi". gimnazijaurospredic.edu.rs (in Serbian).
  3. "Smerovi u Gimnaziji "Uroš Predić" 2019/2020". srednjeskole.edukacija.rs (in Serbian). 2019.
  4. "I pančevački gimnazijalci pravili "Skulpturu mira" na omladinskoj mirovnoj konferenciji u Nirnbergu". 013info.rs (in Serbian). November 8, 2019.
  5. "Gimnazijalci pravili skulpturu mira u Nirnbergu". pancevo.city (in Serbian). November 8, 2019.
  6. "Gimnazijalci na Drugoj omladinskoj mirovnoj konferenciji u Nirnbergu". pancevo.mojkraj.rs (in Serbian). November 8, 2019.
  7. "Gimnazijski idol". 013info.rs (in Serbian). December 11, 2019.
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