Josif Pančić

Information board to Pancic and his spruce tree at the site it was discovered.

Pančić was born in Ugrini, near Crikvenica, at the time part of the Austrian Empire (now Croatia), the fourth son of Pavel Pančić and Margarita. The Pančić family was of Serb and Bunjevac origin.[3][4]He was Born as Croat in a distinctly Croatian region.[5] According to tradition, the Pančić family hailed from Herzegovina and settled in Ugrini in olden times.[6] After finishing elementary school in Gospić, he went on to the lyceum in Rijeka, and then continued classes in the Regia Academica Scientiarum in Zagreb (1830). He graduated in 1842 in Budapest in medicine. In addition to other courses, Pančić attended botany courses, taught by the then renowned botany professor, Joseph Sadler (Sadler József).[7] Later, recalling those early lectures, he wrote:[2]

“And since the first course in botany I started to love botany and decided to become a botanist..."

Josif Pancic, a monument in the Academy Park on the Student Square in Belgrade

He was acquainted with the Serbian linguist Vuk Stefanović Karadžić in Vienna who wrote him a letter of recommendation to the Serbian authorities in order to fulfill his wish to settle in the Principality of Serbia and to study its nature.[8] In May 1846 he arrived in Serbia and worked as a physician in rural Serbia. In 1853, he moved from Kragujevac to Belgrade when he was appointed as one of six professors (Konstantin Branković, Jovan Sterija Popović, Đura Daničić, Matija Ban, and Dimitrije Nešić) at the Belgrade Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia. In 1853, he introduced Mineralogy with geology at the Lyceum.[9]

Mausoleum of Josif Pančić on Pančić's Peak

He extensively documented the flora of Serbia and is credited with having classified many species of plants that were unknown to the botanical community at that time. Pančić discovered a total of 47 valid species new to science.[10] The crowning achievement of Pančić floristic studies is the Flora of the Principality of Serbia (Flora Kneževine Srbije) published in 1874, while its Supplement appeared ten years later. His explorations marked the golden age of Serbia's botany.[10]

His most significant discovery was the Serbian Spruce,[11] which he had discovered near Zaovine on the Tara Mountain in 1875. He firmly established Serbian botany among European sciences. He ascertained that Serbia's flora was rich, and worthy of further studies.[10] During the Serbian–Ottoman War (1876–78), he was the Chief Physician of the Belgrade Hospital.

He is said to have "fallen in love" with Kopaonik, which he visited 16 times between 1851 and 1886.[12] Pančić was named the first president of the Serbian Royal Academy formed on April 5, 1887. He requested the opening of the Botanical garden "Jevremovac" in Belgrade.[13]

Pančić died on February 25, 1888, in Belgrade while at work. A mausoleum of Josif Pančić was erected on Kopaonik in 1951 by the Academy, the University of Belgrade and the Hikers union[14], with the inscription:

Honoring Pančić's request, we moved him here to rest forever. We also announce his message for the Serbian youth: "Only with a thorough understanding and analysis of the nature of our country will they show how much they love and honor their homeland".