Петар С. Павловић : (1864-1938)

Abstract

Petar Pavlović (born 1864 at Požarevac, died 1938 in Belgrade), high school teacher, scientist, founder and director of Natural History Museum, member of the Serbian Royal Academy, was one of the most outstanding personalities in the history of geology and zoology, and during the formation of scientific institutions in Serbia. Petar Pavlović obtained his graduate diploma in 1886 at the Natural and Mathematical Science section of the High School's Philosophical Faculty, as one of the first disciples of J. Zujović with whom he continued a close collaboration. He first taught the Zaječar high school (1887), and in 1889 he became professor at a Belgrade high school, teaching natural sciences. At that time there was nothing strange in a high school teacher conducting serious research work. Pavlović did his postgraduate studies at the Vienna university where in 1893-1894 he attended lectures in geology and paleontology by prof. E. Suess and prof. W. Waagen. At the same time he worked with Th. Fuchs at the geological-paleontological section of the Vienna Natural History Museum, studying tertiary fauna from Serbia. Then he moved to Zagreb, to the National Zoological Museum where he followed lectures by the famous Yugoslav malacologist, prof. S. Brusina, during 1894-1895, and studied tertiary molluscs. Brusina left a deep impression on his disciple Petar Pavlovid. Pavlović then returned to his Belgrade high school, but also devoted his energies to the setting up of a natural history museum. In 1901 he was appointed first director of the Serbian Land Museum in which post he remained until 1926 when he retired at the age of 62 at his own request. The Museum was the life work of Petar Pavlovid. He was quite aware of his historical role in founding such an important scientific and cultural institution. It is difficult to single out the most important among his achievements. His biggest contribution was in certain special fields of paleontology, stratigraphy and geology in general, whereas elswhere his contribution may be somewhat smaller but being a pioneering effort it was no less significant. He is most frequently referred to as our 'third geologist' (after Zujović and Radovanovid). Yet one of the fields of his work seems to deserve special merit, being a result of not only his intellectual ability for an integral scientific outlook but also of the fact that he headed the Natural History Museum for a long time. Pavlović was what could be described as the first modern 'general naturalist' (having collated in 1920 a first comprehensive historical survey of the naturalist profession in Serbia with a bibliography). Pavlović was one of ‘Zujovićs group' of pioneers of modern Serbian geology, but as an independent and authentic personality in scientific, professional and educational matters. Devoting himself to pioneering research of fossile and recent fauna, and thanks to his amazing gift of observation,Pavlović was able to describe a large number of taxa new to science. He enriched paleontological fauna in Serbia with three new marine types of foraminiferans, 57 types of molluscs from the Panonian sea and 87 freshwater lake types of molluscs, mostly of low pliocene and middle miocene age. There were also dozens of new taxa of recent snails. He gave encouragement to the early ornithological and ichthyological research in Serbia. Petar Pavlović was endowed with an outstanding amount of energy, as can be seen from the volume of his opus. At the same time he was a curious and controversial combination of an ascetic and bohemian character. His modesty and a bent for self-effacement were expressed in his preface to his earliest work in 1890, and he held to his principles even when he received the highest honours.