About Me
Josif Pancic (March 8, 1814 – March 6, 1888) was a Serbian botanist of Bunjevac descent.The Pancic family originates from Herzegovina. Josif Pancic was born in Bribir near Senj (at the time in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Empire, today in Croatia) in a Catholic Bunjevac family as the fourth son of Pavel Panchich. After finishing elementary school in Gospic, he went on to the lyceum in Rijeka and graduated in 1842 in Budapest in medicine. He had an avid interest in biology, especially botany. He was born as Josip Pancic but changed his name and coverted to Orthodoxy after he moved to the Kingdom of Serbia.He was acquainted with the Serbian linguist Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic in Vienna who wrote him a letter of recommendation to the Serbian authorities in order to fullfil his wish to settle in the then Principality of Serbia.Pancic worked as a physician in rural Serbia and documented its flora during his frequent visits of the principality. He fell in love with Kopaonik which he visited 16 times between 1851 and 1886.He was credited with having classified many species of plants which were unknown to the botanical community at that time. His most significant discovery was the Serbian Spruce, which he named Pinus omorika ('omorika' being the Serbian name for a spruce), later being reclassified as Picea omorika (Pancic) Purkyne.Pancic was named the first president of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts formed on April 5th, 1887. He requested opening of Botanic Garden "Jevremovac". A mausoleum of Josif Pancic on Kopaonik was erected in 1951 by the Academy, the University of Belgrade and the Hikers union, with the inscription:Honoring Pancic's request, we moved him here to rest forever. We also announce his message for the Serbian youth: "Only with a thorough understanding and analysis of the nature of our country will they show how much they love and honor their homeland".The standard botanical author abbreviation Pancic is applied to species he described.
