Cvijić completed his postgraduate study of geography at the University of Vienna in 1892 with the dissertation “Das Karstphaenomen”, tutored by Professor Albrecht Penck. The dissertation – published by the Academy of Sciences in Vienna – aroused a great deal of interest among geo-scientists worldwide. In his dissertation and further studies Cvijić explained the morphogenesis of sinkholes and provided classifications of caves, karst rivers, poljes and other karst features. Praise from many European countries greatly encouraged and inspired Cvijić to do further field surveys throughout Europe. Jovan Cvijić was appointed professor of geography at the University of Belgrade, and later became Rector, as well as president of the Serbian Royal Academy. He made an invaluable contribution to the development of education and sciences in Serbia (Mijatović, 1997; Stevanović, 2012). Cvijić’s most significant contribution is to the theory of water circulation and the function of karst aquifers (Mijatović, 1997). At that time there were the two contradictory theories: one created by Katzer and Martel, and one from Grund and Penck. Cvijić was the first who explained that arguments for both theories could be acceptable and tried to harmonise them, providing many case examples he had collected during his field work (Mijatović and Komatina, 1983; Stevanović and Mijatović, 2005). Cvijić (1918) also described his own theory of superposition of “hydrographic zones in karst”. He introduced three main super-positioned zones in specific dynamic
Figure 2: Jovan Cvijić’s gold medal from the American Geographical Society, New York, 1924: “The recognition obtained for exceptional scientific results and published works in the field of physical geography of Balkan countries”.
coexistence with permanent lowering of the water table due to the dynamic evolution of the karst aquifer. Cvijić’s opus and exploration were fundamental to the foundation of karstology and karst hydrogeology (Stevanović, 2012). He created a very important and wide scientific base and tracked further investigation of karstic phenomena (Ford, 2005; Zojer, 2005). Thanks to his work many local Slavic terms such as polje, doline, uvala and ponor started to be widely used to explain morphological and hydrogeological processes in karst. Cvijić received awards from the Royal Geographical Society of London, from the
Figure 3: Participants of the IAH international conference KARST 2005 at the monument of “the Father of karst hydrogeology” in downtown Belgrade.
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American Geographical Society (Fig. 2), and many other international academies, geographical societies and institutions. Serbia and Belgrade, where Cvijić spent most of his life, have gratefully acknowledged his achievements. The Geographical Institute of Serbia, established in 1961 under the patronage of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, bears the name of Jovan Cvijić. The Museum Jovan Cvijić was established in 1965, while a large monument was erected near the entrance of the University of Belgrade headquarters (Fig. 3). Karst hydrogeology in Serbia after WWII Cvijić’s works enabled the establishment of a strong karst geomorphology and hydrogeology school in Serbia. The centre of education is the University of Belgrade, a state-owned institution with a long tradition, today home to more than 70,000 students enrolled in 31 colleges and schools. Courses in hydrogeology were first introduced into the curricula of the Faculty of Mining and Geology. Postgraduate studies for hydrogeological sciences were introduced in 1960. Since then, the Faculty and its Department of Hydrogeology has educated over 700 graduated hydrogeologists, and 50 holders of doctorates in this science. This school has become not only a leading educational and scientific centre for hydrogeology for the former Yugoslavia but also one of the largest in south-eastern Europe (Filipović, 1997). The late 1970’s saw a new generation of karst hydrogeologists. Borivoje Mijatović and Miomir Komatina were among the founders of the Karst Commission of International Association of Hydroge-