Twelve rectors

History of Serbian universities, begins in 1838 with the establishment of a Lyceum in the then capital of the Principality of Serbia, Kragujevac. When in 1841 the capital was moved to Beograd, and the Lyceum, together with all other state institutions, was moved to Belgrade, to the Residence of Princess Ljubica. Then, in 1863, the Lyceum became the Great School, which was located in the then just completed Captain Misha's building, which was built to be the palace of Prince Đorđe Karađorđević and Princess Sara, daughter of Captain Misha Anastasijević, the great benefactor, but that's for another story.

The Lyceum gave the Great School good foundations. All its twelve rectors were academics, members of the Society of Serbian Literature, today's Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. All of them had diplomas and doctorates from Western European universities, the so-called Parisians, as the people called everyone who was educated in Europe, thus setting the highest standards for their successors. It is also interesting that the first ten rectors came to Belgrade from Hungary, as "Prečani", much more educated than the Serbians of that time, where the real school system had just been introduced. Only the eleventh and twelfth rectors of the Lyceum were from Šumadin, but also those with doctorates from Europe and membership in the Society of Serbian Literature. For twenty-five years, they led the Lyceum towards the Great School and Belgrade University.

The first rector of the Lyceum was Atanasije Nikolić, engineer, artillery officer and professor of mathematics, who held this position from 1838 to 1840. He was born in Prečan, from Backa, from Brestovac, and he was educated in Sombor, Sremski Karlovci, Novi Sad, Đur, Vienna and Pest. He graduated from the Artillery School in Vienna, and graduated as an engineer from the University of Pest. Upon his arrival in Serbia, he was immediately appointed rector of the newly founded Lyceum, where he himself taught: mathematics, geography and drawing.

Nikolić introduced the celebration of Saint Sava's Day to the Lyceum and all Serbian schools, the use of the school bell, and he made the steel seal of the Lyceum. Later, he founded a private School of Drawing in Belgrade himself, and from 1846 he was a professor at the newly founded School of Engineering. He is one of the founders and first members of the Society of Serbian Literature. He was dismissed from all service in January 1859 due to serving Karađorđević, with a message sent to him by Prince Miloš from Bucharest on his way to Serbia and returning to the throne.

In fear of the new prince, he took refuge in Serbia, but Prince Mihailo brought him back, duly retired and left him to live peacefully in Belgrade. Thus, Atanasije Nikolić even got the opportunity to decorate Topčider Park according to his design, which was approved by Prince Mihailo. According to the record of a contemporary, it is simply incredible how much that man did in just two decades of active service in Serbia.

The next rector, who held that office for two terms (1840–1841 and 1845–1846), was Isidor Stojanović, professor of history. Like his predecessor, he was also a priest, from Backa, from Kanjiža. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Pest. And also, like his predecessor, he was one of the founders and members of the Society of Serbian Literature. He collected and published sources for the history of the First Serbian Uprising.

Konstantin Kosta Branković was the rector of both the Lyceum and the Great School for several terms between 1841 and 1865, so he covered the time when the Lyceum grew into the Great School. He practically and most directly participated in the drafting of the Law on the Organization of the Great School, which was promulgated in 1863. He too was from "ancestors", a native of Novi Sad.

He completed his law degree in Pest, and the seminary in Sremski Karlovci. He taught rhetoric, philosophy, logic, psychology and pedagogy. He was a frequent guest at the court of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević, especially at the artistic gatherings organized by Princess Persida and her daughters.

Among the first rectors was a religious teacher, a monk, later an archimandrite, Gavrilo Popović. He was born in Baja in Bačka, and studied law in Pest and theological seminary in Sremski Karlovci. In Serbia, he was first a secretary in the office of Metropolitan Peter, then he was a religious teacher at the Lyceum, and then a rector. After several years of work at the Lyceum, he became the bishop of the Šabac eparchy. He translated textbooks and other interesting books from German and Russian that he considered suitable for reading at the Lyceum.

Ignjat Stanimirović was a professor of general statistics and mental criminal law, and rector of the Lyceum in 1843/1844. year. He was born in Subotica, and graduated in law and philosophy in Kežmark.

Sergije Nikolić was rector of the Lyceum in 1844/1845, and of the Great School in 1865/1866. year. He was born in Novi Sad, and graduated from the Faculty of Law in Pest. He taught Roman law, administrative law and the German language.

School 1847/48. Janko Šafarik, professor of physics and history, was the rector of the Lyceum. He was born in Kiškeres in Hungary, he completed philosophy and law in Požun, and then medicine in Vienna. He worked as a doctor in Prague, Pest and Novi Sad. He moved to Serbia in 1843, where he was appointed a professor at the Lyceum. He researched and published in the "Journal of the Society of Serbian Literature" sources for Serbian history and Serbian literature of the Middle Ages. He also dealt with numismatics and sfragistics. He died in Belgrade, as a member of the State Council.

Another religious teacher, professor of church history, dogmatic and moral theology, Sava Jovšić, was rector of the Lyceum in 1848/49. year. A native of Novi Sad, he graduated from philosophy in Požun (Bratislava) and theological seminary in Sremski Karlovci. He came to Belgrade in 1841 to become a professor at the Lyceum. After his career at the Lyceum, he became an archimandrite in the Gornjak monastery on Mlava.

Emilijan Josimović was rector of the Lyceum in 1849/50. and the Great School in 1874–1877. year. He taught mathematics, practical geometry and civil architecture. He was born in Old Moldavia, in Banat. He finished his Polytechnic studies in Vienna and in the same year he came to Belgrade, where he was appointed as a professor at the Lyceum, and later at the Artillery School (precursor of the current Military Academy).

He is responsible for the introduction of mechanics and architecture as special subjects in the Lyceum, i.e. in the Great School. He was a member of the Society of Serbian Literature. He is remembered as the first Serbian urban planner. He created the first urban plan of Belgrade in 1867, and with it the first precise geodetic survey of Belgrade at that time. He determined the stretch of today's Knez-Mihailova Street and Terazije as the main artery of the city. This happened at the time of the departure of the last Turkish garrison from the Belgrade Fortress and the demolition of the old city walls with the main entrances in Varoš Gate and Stambol Gate. He wrote many professional works in the fields of mechanics, physics, mathematics, technology and architecture, as well as a large number of textbooks for students of the Great School.

Vuk Marinković was rector of the Lyceum in 1850/51. and 1856–1859. year. He was born in Novi Sad, and he started studying medicine in Pest, and finished it in Vienna in 1830. He worked as a doctor in Novi Sad until the Hungarian Revolution, when he took refuge in Belgrade, where he was appointed a professor at the Lyceum. He taught physics and became the creator of the Serbian terminology for that subject that is still valid today. He also wrote textbooks for physics and the Latin language. He died in Belgrade, at the age of 52.

Kosta Cukić was the first rector of the Lyceum (July-August 1851) who was born in Serbia, in Karanovac, today's Kraljevo. He studied and graduated in economics at the University of Heidelberg. After returning to Serbia, he taught National Economy, Finance and Science of Trade at the Belgrade Lyceum. He also published the first economics textbook in Serbia. He became a member of the Society of Serbian Literature immediately after returning from his studies in 1848. He also had a successful political career. First he was the secretary of the Ministry of Education, then the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he represented Serbia in the European Danube Commission in Vienna, he was the minister of finance, and then the agent of the Serbian government in Bucharest and Vienna, where he died.

Rajko Lešjanin was also born in Serbia, in the village of Lešje, near Ćuprija. He studied law in Heidelberg and Paris, and after returning to Serbia in 1850, he was appointed professor of Roman law, mental law and criminology at the Lyceum in Belgrade. He wrote the first textbook of Roman law in Serbia. He participated in drafting many laws in the Principality of Serbia. He was the rector of the Lyceum from 1853 to 1856, after which he became a member of the State Council, a political body that at that time shared supreme power with Prince Karađorđević. Under Prince Mihailo, he was the Minister of Justice, and after the Prince's death, he was, until the election of Prince Milan and the new Viceroyalty, the Prince's Viceroy. He died in Vienna, at the age of 47.

The buildings that housed the Lyceum, both in Belgrade and in Kragujevac, do not exist today. Captain Misha's building in Vasina street on Studentski trg, where the Great School lived and worked and where it waited for it to become the University of Belgrade in 1905, is today its Rector's office.