page_title: Gymnasium Jovan Jovanović Zmaj
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Gymnasium Jovan Jovanović Zmaj / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of professor of the Serbian Orthodox Gymnasium in Novi Sad Jovan Grčić with student choir (1890), inventory number 334. Srpski (latinica)‎: Fotografija profesora Srpske velike pravoslavne gimnazije u Novom Sadu Jovana Grčića sa učeničkim horom (1890), inventarski broj 334.
context_page_description: Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Grammar School is a high school in Novi Sad, Serbia. It is named after Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, a Serb poet. It was founded in 1810 by a donation of a wealthy merchant Sava Vuković from Novi Sad.
  The school was rebuilt in the 20th century, using the donations of baron Miloš Bajić who gave 20,000 forints.
context_section_description: Jovan Jovanović Zmaj High School in Novi Sad is one of the oldest cultural and educational institutions in Serbia. Through its three-century long existence it has become a proud treasurer of memories of educational development in this country.
  At the beginning of the nineteenth century while Napoleon's cannons were changing the political map of Europe, and Karadjordje's rebels were fighting for Serbian independence, a prominent merchant from Novi Sad, Sava Vuković of Beregsova, was thinking of leaving something permanent to remind his people of himself. On St. Sava's Day 1810, blind and seriously ill, Vuković donated 20 000 forints for foundation of a Serbian grammar school in Novi Sad.
  However the story of secondary education in Novi Sad does not start with this generous gesture. Back in 1731, at the same spot where the modern building of the school stands, the bishop of Bačka Visaion Pavlović founded a school whose name was “Latino-Slavic Nativity of the Mother of God School”. Bishop Pavlović and the council of the Serbian Orthodox Church were deeply aware of the fact that only a good education in Latin can provide better future for Serbian people in Habsburg Monarchy. Among the best-known students of this school there were Joakim Vujić and Lukijan Mušicki, and the best-known teacher was Zaharije Orfelin. This school continued its work till 1789 when the Serbs from Novi Sad led by promises and reforms of the emperor Joseph II abolished this educational institution in order to make a grammar school for all religions in Novi Sad. For this noble purpose they gave the building and the whole inventory of the school. A fast crash of Joseph's reforms, showed all the haste and imprudence of this gesture, since instead of the state grammar school for all religions in the orthodox part of Novi Sad, a Roman Catholic school was founded.
  Because of that Metropolitan Bishop of Karlovci Stefan Stratimirović, Bishop of Bačka Gedeon Petrović and the council of the Orthodox Church in Novi Sad had a great wish to reopen Serbian Orthodox Grammar School beside the Roman Catholic one.
  It was not by chance that Novi Sad became the stage of this historical event. With more than 20 000 inhabitants, hundreds of small shops and well-developed wheat merchandise, Novi Sad was the economical and cultural Serbian centre in Habsburg Monarchy.
  In the inaugural letter of Sava Vuković, three basic tasks which the school should fulfill were stated: general education and upbringing in national spirit through the Eastern Orthodox religion and national language. A great number of people from Novi Sad joined this noble act encouraged by Bishop of Bačka Gedeon Petrović and Metropolitan Bishop of Karlovci Stefan Stratimirović, and in this way more than 100,000 forints were collected which was enough for the foundation of school. Lack of higher education institutions forced Serbian youth in Habsburg Monarchy to continue their education in Roman Catholic or Protestant schools which had in itself a fear of distancing them from Serbian religion and nation. Habsburg emperor Frantz I gave his consent for the foundation of the school on December 11, 1811. However, not everything was finished with this emperor's agreement, only on January 31, 1816 the foundation act was confirmed and the conditions for opening the first and second grade, and in November the third grade of the grammar school were made.
  Based on the emperor's decision and in accordance with the Foundation Act, Patronage and Board of Trustees were formed as the primary administrative bodies of the school, and they managed the school until 1920. According to the Foundation Act the school was a property of Serbian Orthodox Church in Novi Sad, and the Patronage administrated the school instead of it. At the head of the Patronage there were Metropolitan Bishop of Karlovci and Bishop of Novi Sad; two members were from Backa consistorium, and four from Orthodox Church Council in Novi Sad. The Patronage made decisions about the curriculum and the books which were used. It also chose principals and teachers, and
caption: Jovan Grčić Student Choir, Novi Sad, 1890.
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