Добривоје Божић : (1886–1967)

Abstract

Th is paper systematically presents the life and work of the mechanical engineer Dobrivoje (Savatije) Božić, who was born in Raška (Serbia) on 4 January 1886. According to his achievements in the fi eld of mechanical engineering, above all railroads, and also in the fi eld of automatic control (as per today’s classifi cation of the sciences), aviation and power supply, Engr. Božić was one of the greatest inventors in Serbian history (by the number of patents he was just behind Nikola Tesla and Mihajlo Pupin). At the same time the paper off ers testimonies implying that Dobrivoje Božić, in his time, was one of the leading experts in the fi eld of braking systems on railway trains, like the American scientist George Westinghouse, inventor of the air brake. In Europe there was no scientist that could match him. Th e paper is divided into four chapters, titled as follows: Biography, Analysis of his contributions to science and technology, Responses to Engr. Božić’s scientifi c achievements in Serbia and abroad, and Bibliography. Within the fi rst chapter titled Biografi ja (Biography), the author gives an analysis of the roots and the social and historical context in which lived the family of Savatije Božić, father of the inventor and in particular Dobrivoje Božić himself. It is not by chance that the role of the protopresbyter-stavrophor Savatije Božić is particularly highlighted, as a teacher, priest, builder and fi ghter for the liberation of Serbian people and the independence of Serbia. In this chapter the author also elaborates on the schooling and education of young Dobrivoje Božić from the little town of Raška, through Kraljevo and Kragujevac and fi nally up to Karlsruhe and Dresden (Germany). Th e chapter also contains the names of his professors and fellow students who made major contributions to world science, such as Professor Rudolf Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) and the then student Lavoslav Ružička (later received the Nobel Prize for chemistry). His professional career began in 1911 when he found employment in the Serbian state railroad in Niš, and ended with establishing his private company in Belgrade where he was developing a railway brake. His career and life was interrupted by four wars that were fought in the territory of Serbia (both Balkan wars and both world wars). Because of the wars, he was faced with a number of diffi culties concerning his professional and private life (he fought in the wars, was captured in Hungary, emigrated, his daughter passed away, his entire property was seized etc.). He died on 13 October 1967 and was buried in Belgrade at the age of 82. Just before World War II Božić found himself in a narrow circle of the engineering elite in Belgrade, thanks to his patents, the internationally certifi ed brake “Božić” and a licensing agreement with “Škoda”, which brought him great fi nancial profi t. Th is chapter ends with a description of Engr. Božić’s family life, which was full of extreme contradictions and tragedies, from a happy marriage in his forties, beautiful life with his wife Radmila and their two children, to the death of his daughter Vesna (in his absence because they fl ed Belgrade and went into the interior of the country during World War II), parting ways with his wife aft er the birth of their second son in Canada (while they were refugees in Canada aft er fl eeing Serbia in the aft ermath of the World War II) and his return to Serbia without his family in his seventies. Eventually he died alone in 1967. Th e second chapter gives a detailed description of all Engr. Božić’s contributions to science and technology, in particular in the fi eld of braking systems on railway trains, as follows: – he off ered an original solution for a triple valve as the main component of a break, – he was the fi rst one who defi ned and devised a brake in which the breaking force was automatically adapted to the weight/loading of freight cars on freight trains, – he was the fi rst one who defi ned a brake in which the breaking force was automatically adapted to the speed of passenger-carrying coaches on passenger trains and – he designed the simplest and most reliable brake controller, as the second most important component (aft er solutions distributor) of a pneumatic brake. On the basis of his inventions and original design solutions derived from brake prototypes, accompanied with extensive research, the International Union of Railways (IUR) approved his patent for the Božić brake in 1928. On the basis of this certifi cate a licensing agreement with “Škoda” was concluded and as of that moment his brake has been used as a basis for further development of pneumatic brake on railroad cars up to date. Th is chapter further describes Engr. Božić’s contributions to science in reference to a pioneer undertaking to develop a pulsejet engine, as well as his patent solutions referring to both the pulsejet engine and gas turbines. Th e proportion and importance of his contribution to the development of the pulsejet engine has remained hidden under the World War II veil of secrecy until the present day. In the third chapter the author deals with the analysis of responses of scientifi c, professional and cultural public in Serbia and abroad in reference to Engr. Božić’s scientific achievements, from the very beginning of his professional career in 1911, up to the present day, that is, even now, a halfcentury aft er his death. Even though these responses have scientifi c, professional and cultural aspect, they also have social and political aspect, given that the time in history when Engr. Božić lived was fraught with a number of social and economic changes that took place in the territory of Serbia. Th ese responses are particularly characterized by the presentation of facts referring to the attempts of “stealing” Engr. Božić’s ideas for the pulsejet engine, as well as the rejection of his requests for the production of his brake and jet engine in Serbia, in the prewar and postwar period alike. Nevertheless, for sure, all these responses unequivocally show that Engr. Božić was a world-renowned and recognized expert in the fi eld of railway braking systems. At the end of the paper, the extensive bibliographic data of Engr. Božić’s life and work are given, which are divided into several groups, as follows: patents (approved and unapproved), international certifi cates, sources of documentation, manuals and instructions, books, journals, proceedings and newspaper articles. Even though these data are not fi nal, they laid a sound foundation for further research into the life and work of Dobrivoje Božić.