21.05.2020.

The ceremony on the occasion of unveiling the bust of General Jovan Mišković and the inauguration of the Memorial Room at the Military Academy

Today, the Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin, attended the ceremonial unveiling of the bust of General and Academician Jovan Mišković, after which he inaugurated the Memorial Room of the Military Academy in the "General Jovan Mišković" barracks, as part of marking the 170th anniversary of the Military Academy.

Referring to the significance of the anniversary, the Commandant of the Military Academy, Major General Bojan Zrnić, PhD, said that the Military Academy is celebrating 170 years of existence this year and that it has been "the core institution of our homeland’s defence system" since its founding.

- Due to the epidemiological situation, we were not able to celebrate the anniversary on 18 March, the Military Academy Day. However, I am pleased to say that the members of the Military Academy of the University of Defence have managed to leave two important and lasting traces inspired by the long tradition of military education that many generations will be proud of and that will remind us of the military and academic values nurtured by the Military Academy for 170 years - a bust of Academician General Jovan Mišković and the Memorial Room of the Military Academy - General Zrnić pointed out.

According to him, the institution of the Memorial Room is important for nurturing the traditions and moral development of the members of the Military Academy.

- Working on the exhibition of the Memorial Room, we saw that the history of the Military Academy is firmly connected with the glorious past of our armed forces and the turbulent history of our country. As of today, everyone who enters the "General Jovan Mišković" barracks will be able to see the bust of General Mišković and be reminded of the values we inherit, and in the Memorial Room they will be able to see the history of our state which we serve unreservedly - concluded the Commandant of the Military Academy.

The bust of General Mišković was unveiled by the Vice President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Academician Zoran Popović, having in mind that General Mišković was the only professional serviceman who was elected to the position of the President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

In his address, Academician Popović thanked for the honour of giving a bust to one of the members of that institution and its former president. He also spoke about the long history of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which had more than 40 members who were officers.

In the continuation of the ceremony, the winner of the competition for the best speech on the topic "Honour is our property", Second Lieutenant Strahinja Jelača from the River Flotilla, read his speech, after which the bust was consecrated and a memorial service was held for General Mišković. The bust of General Mišković was made by the academic sculptor Vladimir Jablanović.

The Memorial Room of the Military Academy was designed by a team led by Associate Professor, Colonel Slobodan Đukić, the Head of the Department of Social Sciences and a professor of military history, who was in charge of a guided tour after the inauguration today.

The Memorial Room of the Military Academy was established with the aim of outlining the long and pride worthy past of this important military higher-education institution. The goal is for the Memorial Room to additionally educate professional members of the Military Academy, to motivate, encourage and inspire them to devote themselves to the Service, to educate cadets of the Military Academy and to encourage the development of virtues defined by the Code of Honour of the Serbian Armed Forces, and to help delegations visiting the Military Academy understand the long history of military education in Serbia.

Today's ceremony was also attended by the members of the Collegium of the Minister of Defence, the Rector of the University of Defence, Lieutenant General Goran Radovanović, PhD, members of the University of Defence and the Military Academy, as well as professors, teachers and cadets of that higher-education institution.