Early life and studies Josif Pančić was born in Ugrine, near
Bribir, in the
Vinodol region, then part of the
Illyrian Provinces of the
First French Empire. Pančić was the fourth son of Pavel Pančić and his wife Margarita. His paternal grandfather, who came from the area around
Niš, had served in a
volunteer battalion of the
Austrian Imperial Army during the
Austro-Turkish War. According to tradition, the Pančić family hailed from
Herzegovina and settled in Ugrini in olden times. Some sources claim that Pančić was of
Bunjevci origin, some describe him as of Croat origin, while some sources describe him as of Serb origin. After finishing elementary school in
Gospić, he went on to the
lyceum in
Rijeka, and then continued classes in the
Regia Academica Scientiarum in
Zagreb (1830). He graduated in 1842 in
Budapest in
medicine. In addition to other courses, Pančić attended
botany courses, taught by the then renowned botany professor, Joseph Sadler (Sadler József). Later, recalling those early lectures, he wrote: In May 1846, he arrived in Serbia where for the first seven years he worked as a physician in rural area. In 1847, he asked to be released from his Austrian citizenship and applied for Serbian citizenship, the same year he met his future wife Lyudmila Mileva. In 1853, he moved from
Kragujevac to
Belgrade when he was first appointed
adjunct professor at
Belgrade Lyceum's Department of Natural History and Agronomy by decree of Prince
Alexander Karadjordjević, before becoming a full-time professor of Natural History and Agriculture in 1854, as decreed by the Ministry of Education of the
Principality of Serbia. Pančić was a lecturer at the
Great School (the future
University of Belgrade), and the first president of the
Serbian Royal Academy. As Professor of Natural Sciences, he was one of the six original professors (along with
Konstantin Branković,
Jovan Sterija Popović,
Đura Daničić,
Matija Ban, and
Dimitrije Nešić), of the Lyceum of the Principality of Serbia. He later became rector of the Great School (the future University of Belgrade) and the founder of the Institutes of
Mineralogy and
Geology, Zoological and
Botanical Departments and of the experimental botanical gardens in Belgrade. The crowning achievement of Pančić floristic studies was the "Flora of the Principality of Serbia" () published in 1874, while a supplement was added ten years later. His explorations marked the golden age of Serbia's botany. which he discovered near
Zaovine on the
Tara Mountain in 1875. He firmly established Serbian botany among European sciences. He ascertained that Serbia's flora was rich and worthy of further studies. Pančić was named the first president of the
Serbian Royal Academy formed on April 5, 1887. He requested the opening of the
Botanical garden "
Jevremovac" in
Belgrade. Pančić died on 25 February 1888, his last wish was to be buried in the Kopaonik Mountain. ==Legacy==