First Belgrade Gymnasium


First Belgrade Gymnasium is a grammar school with a long tradition, founded in 1839, in Belgrade. Since 1938 it is located in the center of Belgrade, in 61 Cara Dušana Street, the place where once stood the Vidin Gate through which people could enter Belgrade. Near the school, the Church of Aleksandar Nevski is located.
In October 1838, Kragujevac was Serbia's capital. But despite Kragujevac being the cultural center of Serbia at the time, Miloš Obrenović ordered for First Belgrade Gymnasium to be founded in Belgrade, its area called Dorćol. The school was founded on 18 June 1839. The school, at that time, was located in Jug Bogdan's Street number 26, which was the residence of Nikola Selaković. At the very beginning, the school had only 2 grades, but through the next 4 years, the school's system greatly upgraded so at the end, it had 5 grades. In the 1842–43 school year, it could be said that the school actually became a real gymnasium.
The first school professors were Vasilije Berara and Mihajlo Popović, and the school's director was Mihajlo Popović. According to law from 1844, thanks to Jovan Sterija Popović, teachings and classes in the school were reformed, so that the 6th grade was actually added to the school's system. With this addition, First Belgrade Gymnasium receives the same status like other European higher class schools. That year, the school got its first school library and first school books.
This school was also the school which Bosnian nationalist Gavrilo Princip attended. When Gavrilo was suffering from tuberculosis, he received an offer from the Black Hand terrorist group to assassinate the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This was the direct cause of World War I.

Notable alumni