THE UNIFICATION OF SLAVIC GEOGRAPHERS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS—A PIONEERING ENDEAVOR OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Throughout human history, science has been the driving force of changes in societies. Unfortunately, many historical circumstances, including security, economic, and health risks, as well as spatial and cultural differences, have affected the extent of cooperation among the scientific community. Precisely, the fragmentation of the Slavs, as well as their “immersion” in broader communities, made it impossible to discuss joint plans and their realization. Although the initial outlines of cooperation existed at the beginning of the 20th century, only after the Great War did the first activities on this issue begin. As one of the prominent representatives of European geography, Jovan Cvijić encouraged the establishment of the “All-Slavic Scientific Council”. Confirmation of his engagement was the initiation of the First Congress of Slavic Geographers and Ethnographers in Prague in June 1924. In accordance with the agreement, Congresses followed in Poland (1927), the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1930), and the Kingdom of Bulgaria (1936). In addition to Cvijić, respected scientists from Czechoslovakia (Václav Švambera, Václav Dedina, Jiří Daneš, Viktor Dvorsky), Poland (Eugeniusz Romer Ludomir Sawicki, Walery Goetel, Jerzy Smoleński), Bulgaria (Anastas Ishirkov, Mihailo Arnaudov, Ivan Batakliev), and USSR (Yuly Shokalsky, Evgeniy Spektorsky) were present. Support was also provided by representatives of the French (Emmanuel de Martonne, Pierre Defontaines), British (John Bartholomew), and Italian geographical schools (Giuseppe Caraci, Riccardo Riccardi). After Cvijić’s death, Yugoslavia was represented by professors Pavle Vujević, Borivoje Ž. Milojević, Stevan P. Bošković, Sima M. Milojević, Borivoje Drobnjaković, Milisav Lutovac (Belgrade), Artur Gavazzi, Josip Roglić (Zagreb), Niko Županič, Jože Rus (Ljubljana), Petar S. Jovanović, Vojislav S. Radovanović, Atanasije Urošević (Skoplje) and other prominent scientists. The working part was divided into eight thematic sections. The emphasis was on current topics in physical geography, as well as in the field of ethnology and related branches. The results of the held Congresses were expressed by the adoption of a number of resolutions that had application significance. However, there was no discourse, i.e., polemics about socio-political, demographic, and other problems which had to be the focus of interest of the research community. Nevertheless, this pioneering venture showed numerous opportunities for cooperation among Slavic countries. Unfortunately, 88 years have passed since the last event. The upcoming fifth Congress, which will be held in October 2024 in Belgrade, will provide an overview of new scientific findings, as well as answers to numerous “open” questions.