The origin of Nikola Tesla

Unfortunately, when it comes to the famous Nikola Tesla, born in Lika, Croatia, discussions about the origin of the famous inventor often come to the fore recently. With this text, we want to give a clear and objective insight into the factual situation and what can be proven with such a time lag, without any pretensions. Therefore, let’s start in order.

Nikola Tesla’s family tree says the following:

Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Lika, Croatia (then part of Austria-Hungary). According to international sources [1] , his father Milutin Tesla was born in the village of Raduč, in Lika, Croatia, as was his mother Georgina (Đuka) Mandić, who was born in the village of Tomingaj in Lika. Nikola Tesla’s grandfather on his mother’s side, according to the same source, was born in Gračac near Zadar, and he got married in the town of Tomingaj in Lika, where his wife, the grandmother of the famous scientist, Soka Budisavljević, is from.

It is unquestionable, according to various sources, that several generations of Tesla’s ancestors were born and lived in Croatia. Numerous internet sources describe Tesla as a “Serbian-American” or “Croatian-American” inventor. [2] [3] So, due to the fact that someone lived in the USA for about half a century and then created, most world sources add the adjective “American” to Nikola Tesla. Guided by this logic, the fact that Nikola Tesla was born, grew up and was educated in Croatia, but not only him, but also several generations of his ancestors throughout the centuries, and not just a few decades, must certainly contribute to the addition of the adjective “Croatian” before the name of this great inventor, which is most often unfairly omitted.

As the main proof of Tesla’s Serbian origin, it is stated that his father Milutin was an Orthodox prota (priest) and that is correct. It is also true that his grandfather was of the Orthodox faith. However, the fact is that religious affiliation does not affect the genes and nationality of anyone. The fact that someone is Catholic in Serbia does not automatically make him a Croat, just as the fact that someone is Orthodox in Croatia does not automatically make him a Serb.

The majority of Orthodox Christians in Croatia declare themselves Serbs, but there is a significant number of Croats of the Orthodox faith. Let us cite just one well-known example from recent history. Retired Croatian football player Miladin (Dado) Pršo, a former member of the Croatian national team, was often called a Serb by the Serbian media due to his name and Orthodox faith, which he simply denied with the words: “I am a Croat, I am overjoyed to receive a shirt with the Croatian coat of arms and that I could contribute a little to Croatia.”

The tabloids did a similar thing to Danijel Subašić, the hero of Croatia from the world championship in Russia, who was also declared a Serb due to the religious affiliation of his ancestors, but he proudly pointed out that Croatia is his homeland and that he is proud to be able to represent Croatia, and because which even jeopardized his football career.[4]

We have several examples in which living people explicitly call themselves Croats, regardless of Orthodox religion or origin, and considering that Nikola Tesla himself did not, according to reliable and objective sources, speak about it, where does anyone have the right to dispute this great man’s connection with Croatia.

Also, it would be understandable, from today’s perspective, given the fact of the recent Serbian aggression against Croatia, that Tesla’s Serbian origin would be consciously and deliberately glossed over in the media today, but at the end of the 19th century, before all the great world wars, before the oppression at the time Yugoslavia, which fell apart in a bloody war, does not make any sense to cover up Tesla’s Serbia. The only reason why this alleged Serbianness is being kept quiet is the fact that there is no evidence for it, we only have evidence for religion and it is not disputed in any way.

In the scientific article “The Life and Works of Nikola Tesla”, Professor Vladimir Muljević states the following about Tesla’s origin: “To date, the origin of the Tesla family has not been sufficiently researched, nor is it reliably known. It is known that some ancestors had the surname Draganić. This surname was found in central Dalmatia, so in the 16th century it was also borne by parts of the Vrančić family that lived in Šibenik. According to family tradition, one of the ancestors had prominent front teeth similar to a tesla, a woodworking tool. (…) According to this tool, the relevant branch of Draganić was nicknamed, which later changed to the surname Tesla. (…) The Draganićs came to Lika, to the area of Divosel, probably in the 17th century from the village of Ledenice near Novo Vinodolski, where they moved from central Dalmatia.” [5] – from which it follows that practically the entire family tree of Nikola Tesla is connected exclusively along with Croatia.

In the same scientific article, Serbia is not mentioned anywhere, but the Serbian Orthodox Church is mentioned in the following context: “The inhabitants of Lika called the “people of Greek law”, that is, the Orthodox, Vlachs, and the Serbian Orthodox Church assigned them Serbian nationality .” – which speaks in support of the thesis that religion and nation should not and should not be equated.

Many use this very fact to dispute Tesla’s connection with Croatia, and the connection with Croatia and Croatia’s influence on Tesla’s inventive work and development are best described by a few facts:

Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia and educated in Croatia. He attended high school in Gospić, and graduated in the town of Rakovac (now part of Karlovac). Prof. Ph.D. Darko Žubrinić wrote a book about Tesla’s education and the role of his professor Martin Sekulić, professor of electrical engineering and mathematics, on his development. [6] The author states that it was Sekulić, a Croat, a professor in a Croatian high school, who had a decisive influence on Tesla continuing to study science, rather than becoming a priest at the request of his parents. So, he received his formative education in Croatia, so it is impossible to take away from Croatia, regardless of further training, an important role in Tesla’s scientific work.
One of Tesla’s most famous statements on this issue is from his communication with Vladko Maček, the Croatian political champion of the time when he said that he was “proud of his Serbian ancestry and Croatian homeland”. Some claim that Tesla never actually stated this, but that these are the words of Maček, but even if he stated this himself, the fact that he is proud of his Serbian lineage (origin) and Croatian homeland speaks in favor of the thesis that Croatia is his homeland.
Nikola Tesla explicitly said that Croatia was his homeland. In the archive of the National and University Library in Zagreb, there is an original copy of Narodne novina, number 120 from May 25, 1892, which conveys Tesla’s words during his visit to Zagreb. [7] He came to Zagreb at the invitation of the Zagreb mayor to give a lecture on the electrification of Zagreb. Among other things, he said that he considers it his duty , as a native son of his country, to help the City of Zagreb in every way with advice and actions, and that in the event of any technical difficulties, he will help as best he knows how, without any compensation.

The same number states at the end that Tesla plans to go to Varaždin the next day, from where he will go to Budapest, and if time permits, he will also visit Biograd. Not a single word is written about his visit to Serbia, and it can be assumed that he considered himself a Serb, so that, when he is already so close to Serbia, he would find time to visit that country. However, he explicitly called himself the son of Croatia on that occasion, and the sons of Croatia are – Croats.
The mayor of Belgrade, Zoran Radojčić, said the following on the subject: “Our great scientist visited Belgrade only once. It was in June 1892. Tesla stayed in our city for only 31 hours. In the building of the Old Palace, today the City Assembly, he spent an hour talking with the king.” [8] Tesla’s biographical book by the Serbian author Dejan Stojiljković “Nikola Tesla: Poet of Science” also states that this visit to Belgrade was Tesla’s only visit to Serbia his whole life. [9]

All of the above gives us the full right, but not only the right, but also the obligation to name Nikola Tesla as a Croatian inventor, even though his works cannot be linked only to the territory of one country. In this way, we want to finally conclude the pointless discussions of malicious and tendentious people who want to put the enormous successes of this great man in the background so that the image and work of this great man can continue to shine in full glory!

[1] https://ancestors.familysearch.org/

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2017/03/25/the-crazy-amazing-life-of-immigrant-nikola-tesla/

[3] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikola-Tesla

[4] https://www.tportal.hr/sport/clanak/zivotna-drama-srebrnog-hrvatskog-reprezentativca-danijel-subasic-prvi-put-progovorio-o-ovoj-temi-foto-20190328

[5] https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/6016

[6] https://www.croris.hr/crosbi/publikacija/prilog-knjiga/58582

[7] http://dnc.nsk.hr/DataServices/ImageView.aspx?id=0b02d84b-a2c2-40c0-a565-c015ef1efc22

[8] https://www.b92.net/o/lokal/kultura?yyyy=2021&mm=07&dd=10&nav_id=1888752

[9] https://dejanstojiljkovic.rs/nikola-tesla-samo-jedan-dan-proveo-u-srbiji-dejan-stojiljkovic-o-naucniku-iz-druge-perspektive-otkrio-zasto-nije-primljen-sanu /