STOJANIĆ: TESLA - A BEACON FOR THE SERBIAN PEOPLE

BELGRADE, JULY 10 /SRNA/ - The author of the book "Tesla's Banquet," Milijan Stojanić, who has shed light on the life and habits of Nikola Tesla from a previously unknown perspective, said that the genius of this distinguished scientist is timeless and belongs to humanity, but above all to his Serbian people.

Stojanić believes that, alongside their slava /family patron saint celebration/, Serbs as a people should also celebrate and remember Tesla, who was an exceptional figure, a beacon for the Serbian people.

"We should promote Tesla as the greatest scientist of all time and take pride in that. In Belgrade and every other city, we should have museums and monuments, and laboratories should be built on every hill. We should clearly say that he is a world scientist, that he did live in the United States and was born in Austria-Hungary, but that he was not a Croat - he was a Serb," Stojanić told SRNA on the occasion of the 170th anniversary of the birth of the Serbian genius.

He said that he had studied Tesla, his legacy and his lifestyle, especially his culinary habits, for more than two decades, and that he had visited Tesla's birthplace of Smiljan several times, where, as he said, he had no one to whom he could say "good afternoon".

"The fact that, during World War II, all Serbs with the Tesla surname in that area were killed is being ignored. His baptismal certificate clearly states that he was a Serb. He was born in Austria-Hungary, while Croatia, which now claims him, did not even exist at the time. They rejoice in claiming that he was theirs, but that is marketing - something they may do better than us. Their goal is to present Tesla as one of their own," Stojanić said.

Stojanić pointed out that Tesla had more than 50 priests and church dignitaries on both sides of his family, and that he belonged to a lineage which, through its heritage, was predisposed to faith and to promoting Christianity and Serbian identity.

"Tesla had all the predispositions to become great, as he indeed did," Stojanić said, adding that during his research he came across information that, as a young boy, Tesla made a mousetrap out of a cardboard box during a rat infestation in Gospić, which helped rid the town of the pests.

He said that Tesla had a mischievous spirit and that in his youth he wanted to try everything, but that he did not have major vices, as some of his biographers have recorded.

"As a young man during his student days in Czechia, as well as in Graz, he wanted to try everything - gambling and alcohol as well. And he did try them, but only for a short time. He came to know himself and his body in great detail and had complete control over himself," Stojanić said.

Stojanić emphasised that Tesla had extensive knowledge of medicinal herbs and treated himself, and that in his later years he was exceptionally disciplined and strict in his diet.

"Tesla ate twice a day and stopped eating at 6:00 p.m. He loved the dishes his mother prepared for him as a child and was extremely demanding when it came to food, so cooks wherever he stayed were wary of him. He most enjoyed eating dairy products, eggs, honey, and fruit. He contracted cholera in his youth, and at the age of 40 he stopped eating meat and became a vegetarian," Stojanić said.

He stressed that Tesla, who forged his life and scientific path through his genius and the traits inherited from his father Milutin and mother Đuka, left behind around 350 recognised patents, while the total number is estimated at around 700.

Stojanić pointed out that Tesla had numerous enemies who wanted to hinder him and stand in his way.

"/Physicist and inventor Thomas/ Edison hired a large number of agents to monitor Tesla - where he went and what he was doing - and they even hired people in an attempt to steal his knowledge. There were many occasions when he could have been killed. The well-known case involving a taxi driver is one example, but he overcame all the trials and, throughout his life, truly proved that he was a `child of light,` as he was said to be at the time of his birth on this day 170 years ago," Stojanić said.