Exhibition ’Đuro Daničić: Language Loyalty

As part of marking the Year of Academician Đura Daničić (1825-1882), a key figure in the development of the contemporary Serbian language, and on the occasion of 200 years of his birth, the exhibition ’Đuro Daničić: Language Loyalty’ authored by Academician Zlata Bojović, will officially open on Tuesday, 23 December, at the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, at 7 p.m.

By working in many towns and undertaking various duties, Đ. Daničić remained dedicated to the language throughout his life. He worked as a librarian at the National Library, a professor at the Lyceum and Belgrade Higher School, a translator, and a publisher of seminal literary works, as well as a lexicographer who devoted his working years to compiling the first dictionaries. He was a member and served as a secretary of the Society of Serbian Letters, a full member and president of the Serbian Learned Society and a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was a member and secretary of the Society of Serbian Letters, a full member and president of the Serbian Learned Society, and a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. In addition, he was a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg, as well as a member of Matica Srpska’s Department of Literature, the Czech Society of Sciences, and the boards of the Čupić and Kolarac Foundations.

Amidst the turbulent cultural and historical changes of the 19th century, Daničić stood out for his profound understanding of the role of language in shaping spiritual, cultural, and national identity. He dedicated his scholarly activities to the concept of establishing the Serbian vernacular language as a stable framework of written culture. Through documentary materials, artistic objects and printed publications, the exhibition traces Daničić’s path through towns, institutions and ideas that shaped Serbian philology and literature.

The exhibition is open to the public until 15 March 2026.