FROM HERDSMAN TO SCIENTIST The most famous bird ever to fly the Idvor coop Upon departing the village that he made famous, Mihajlo Pupin’s mother sent him on his journey to worldwide fame with the parting words – “My child, knowledge is the magical ladder with which we climb to heaven...” I f you want to head out into the world that you’ve dreamed of, you must have another pair of eyes – for reading and writing...” That’s what Alimpijada, who was illiterate, but filled with folk wisdom, told her son Mihajlo Pupin. Her words, but also her im- measurable motherly love, charted her son’s path to “a future filled with eternal glory”. Born 9 th October, 1854, in the South Banat village of Idvor, Mihajlo was one of ten children, five boys and five girls. However, the common childhood illnesses of the time meant that only he and three of his sisters sur- vived to adulthood. His father, Konstantin, had the sta- tus of a frontiersman, because Idvor was part of the Mil- itary Frontier during the time of Austro-Hungarian rule. “That status for the local Serbs, alongside the obligation to guard the border, also implied privileges in the form of the right to use their language, script, religious freedom, as well as local self-governance,” explains Svetislav Zakić, director of the Mihajlo Pupin Cultural Centre in Idvor. These rights were also practically exercised through a time-honoured tradition of the village that would see Id- vor folk spend long winter nights sitting around a warm stove in someone’s home. “The people smoked and talked, and they resembled senators, self-proclaimed guardians of all the wisdom in Idvor,” once recalled Mihajlo. The women would sit to the side, on benches beside the wall. They spun wool, linen or yarn, or sewed or em- broidered. The men would clip the crowns of corn and recount stories of Serbian heroism throughout the cen- turies. When a story would end, the women would sing. Attending those traditional gatherings was impor- tant for the young Mihajlo. However, he took his most important lessons from the local pasturelands, where he would spend the summer months protecting live- stock with his friends. “Livestock raids were common at that time, so the young herdsmen figured out a way to prevent them, but also to prevent cattle from enter- ing other people's fields.” They devised a signalling sys- tem, driving a knife into the ground and listening to the echo of vibrations,” explains Zakić. They thus discovered
sci u Prvom svetskom ratu, uprkos protivljenju advo- kata – naglašava Zakić. Idvoru je ostavio Narodni dom, sa idejom da po- služi obrazovanju mladih u osavremenjivanju poljopri- vrede, a putem savremenih medija – radija i televizi- je. Svoj rodni kraj nikad nije zaboravio, opisuje ga i u autobiografiji From Immigrant to Inventor , za koju je 1924. dobio Pulicerovu nagradu. Knjiga je kasnije pre- vedena na srpski pod nazivom Od pašnjaka do učenja- ka . Tih pašnjaka u Idvoru danas više nema, jer sva se plodna zemlja obrađuje, dok stoka boravi na farmama, pod nadzorom kamera, a ne čobana. Ipak, sećanje na Pupina ne bledi, već se svake godi- ne obnavlja kroz Oktobarske susrete . Ta prilika je vrlo svečana, jer se u zadužbini naučnika dodeljuju nagra- de najboljim učenicima i studentima. Negovanju sećanja služi i Memorijalni kompleks Mihajla Pupina, koji čine njegova rodna kuća, pomenu- ta zadužbina i muzejska postavka, što kroz četiri celine otkriva detalje o njegovom naučnom radu. – Kuća prikazuje tipičan banatski život u vreme kada je Pupin u njoj živeo, sa mnoštvom originalnih predmeta – kaže Zakić. Deo svakodnevnih alatki – za kuvanje, pranje, pe- glanje, kao i za poslove u bašti i polju spadaju u kolekci- ju muzejske etno-zbirke. Sam muzej se nalazi u zgradi stare osnovne škole, sagrađene 1846, koja je od 1979. pod zaštitom kao spomenik kulture. Posetilac tu mo- že da vidi Pupinov rast i razvoj od skromnog čobanina da naučnika svetskog glasa, ovekovečenog i kroz hu- manitarno delovanje. Centralni deo kompleksa jeste Pupinova zadužbi- na Narodni dom, koji je izgrađen u eklektičnom stilu. Ova građevina, praktično palata, svojevremeno je bi- la opremljena bibliotekom, generatorom za električnu struju, kao i razglasom za ceo Idvor. – Danas odatle kreću turističke rute, nakon gle- danja dokumentarnog filma o Pupinu – ističe Zakić. Idvor je ljupko selo. Austrougarski ušoreno, pra- vilno raspoređene kuće u pravolinijskim ulicama, sa kapijama koje vode u prostrana dvorišta sa stajama i ambarima. U centru sela je crkva iz 1803. posvećena Blagovestima, impozantna zbog ikonostasa koji je izra- dio Steva Todorović, čuveni majstor tog vremena. Taj pravoslavni hram je značajan i zbog toga što je Pupin u njemu kršten desetak dana po rođenju. Posebnu čar Idvoru daje Tamiš, na kojem se leti ku- pa, vesla, peca ili sunča na uređenim plažama. Avgust je mesec kada se organizuje Bostanijada, koja uključu- je i takmičenje najmlađih u brzom kotrljanju lubenica. U blizini je i Kovačica, u kojoj se možete diviti dometi- ma slikarske škole naive. U Idvoru ima svega, ali jedno nedostaje, smatraju Idvorci. Oni čekaju da se realizu- je inicijativa preseljenja Pupinovih posmrtnih ostata- ka iz Amerike. Svi su radi da ovde počiva prvi predsed- nik Njujorške akademije nauka, član više evropskih i svetskih akademija nauka, počasni doktor 18 univer- ziteta, profesor čiji su studenti postajali nobelovci...
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