Čupić Endowment

Nikola Čupić Endowment

Čupić's Endowment is a literary fund bequeathed in his will by Nikola Čupić (1836–1870), an artillery captain and grandson of Zmaj of Noćaj. His express wish was that the estate be used exclusively for publishing books and rewarding writers.

The fund consisted of a house in Šabac and 16,000 dinars in gold. After news of Nikola's will, a commission was established in 1871, which later grew into the Endowment Board; the first official meeting of the Board was held on 22 December 1874, and the endowment began its work then. The Board included Kosta Protić, Josif Pančić, Čedomilj Mijatović and other prominent figures of their time, and service on it was voluntary and unpaid.

Significance and legacy

In its first years the endowment published mainly patriotic and educational material, and then increasingly literature and scholarly works. During its operation 33 books of special editions and 50 volumes of the “Godišnjica” were published. From 1877 the “Godišnjica of Nikola Čupić” appeared, one of the most important literary almanacs in Serbia and later in Yugoslavia. In 1880 the Board decided that a public session and memorial service would be held every 31 January, on the anniversary of the founder's death.

At the beginning of the Second World War the endowment's work was suspended, and after the war it was placed under the administration of the Endowment Department and ceased to exist. Read more about the founder on the page Nikola Čupić.