KONSTANTIN PEIČIĆ - PHYSICIAN AND WRITER

BIJELJINA, JUNE 6 /SRNA/ - Konstantin Peičić /1802–1882/, a Serb physician and writer, head of the Tekelijanum in Budapest and personal doctor to Metropolitan Stratimirović, passed away on June 7, 1882.

Since 1844, Peičić had been a corresponding member of the Society of Serbian Letters, and in 1864, he was appointed a corresponding member of the Serbian Learned Society.

In 1830, he became the physician of Vuk Karadžić, who invited him to come to Serbia and serve as the personal physician of Prince Miloš. However, that proposal was abandoned after all of Peičić’s terms were not accepted.

Peičić served for a year and a half as a doctor in Sremska Mitrovica, then in Sombor, before returning in 1835 to Sremski Karlovci, where he became the personal physician to Serb metropolitans Stefan Stratimirović and Stefan Stanković.

At one point, he served as the director of Serb elementary schools and was a member of the governing body of the Gymnasium in Sremski Karlovci.

As a rationalist and one of the last intellectual heirs of Dositej Obradović, he continuously worked on enlightening the people and was instrumental in spreading health education among Serbs in Hungary.

Peičić authored several books, including Guide to Regaining Lost Health /published three times/, The Life of Teodor Pavlović, and Materials for the History of the Serbian Movement in Hungary 1848–1849