Museum of Vuk and Dositej

This tiny museum is dedicated to two of the greatest names of Serbian culture and education – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and Dositej Obradović.

Vuk was a reformer of the Serbian language, creator of the first modern Serbian dictionaries, collector of national folklore and poetry.

Vuk’s legacy was donated to the National Museum by his daughter and famous painter Mina (Wilhelmina) Karadžić. It was first exhibited at the National Museum as a part of the Memorial Room of Vuk and later as a part of the Department of History at the Museum. A part of Vuk’s legacy, especially the furniture, went missing or was destroyed during the Austrian occupation of Belgrade in the World War I.

Today the Collection holds personal and family belongings of Vuk Karadžić, portraits and art legacy, first editions of his books and numerous archival documents.

Dositej (folk’s name Dimitrije) was a member of the Enlightenment movement and the first Serbian Minister of Education.

The collection in the museum is smaller than Vuk’s, and there aren’t any personal belongings, as they were destroyed in a fire in 1813. Therefore, the part of the Museum collection that relates to Dositej consists of paintings, archival documents, Dositej’s correspondence and books that include first editions of his works.

The Museum of Vuk and Dositej is housed in the Lyceum building – one of the oldest preserved buildings in Belgrade dating from the early XVIII century. This building was once home to the Great School, the forerunner of today’s Belgrade University.