Ljubomir Kovačević

Ljubomir Kovačević (4 January 1848 – 19 November 1918) was a Serbian writer, historian, academic, and politician. He is one of the early creators of the Serbian critical historiographical school and fighters for the separation of historical science from tradition. Kovačević directly influenced the political and cultural activity of Serbia at the end of the nineteenth century. He and Ljubomir Jovanović were the authors of the well-known two-volume "Istorija srpskog naroda za srednje škole" (History of the Serbian People for the Secondary Schools) in the Kingdom of Serbia. Both Kovačević and Jovanović were Ministers of Education at one time and, as historians, using a wealth of verified information, professionally and convincingly refuted many myths that were passed down through the ages.

Biography

Kovačević was born in the village of Petnica in the Principality of Serbia on 4 January 1848. His father was Mihailo Kovačević, the Serbian Orthodox parish priest of Petnica, and his mother Vasilija was the daughter of professor Janićije Popović. Kovačević was educated at the Gymnasium of Šabac and the Belgrade Velika škola; he took his degree in 1870, afterward was employed as lecturer at a college in Negotin and a year later he joined the staff of a teacher's college in Kragujevac before it was relocated to Belgrade. Later, he became a professor of history at his alma mater and rector of the University of Belgrade (former Velika škola). Kovačević chose to specialize in history because of his desire to be involved in the developing field of critical historiography.