page_title: Archive of Serbia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Archive of Serbia / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Founders of the Archive of Serbia. Text reads: "Founders of the State Archive 1900-1911". From left to right: J. N. Ivković, Dr. M. Gavrilović, M. Rančić and M. K. Borisavljević. Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски: Оснивачи Архива Србије (ранији званичан назив "Државни архив"). Слева на десно: Ј. Н. Ивковић, др М. Гавриловић, М. Ранчић и М. К. Борисављевић.
context_page_description: The Archive of Serbia, is the national archive of Serbia, located in Belgrade. It houses and protects documents and other archival materials produced by state bodies and organizations of Serbia before 1918 and documents produced during and after World War II. Documents dating from the period when Serbia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and documents produced by the state bodies and organizations of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 2006 are kept in the Archives of Yugoslavia, also in Belgrade.
context_section_description: The first proposal to establish a national archive came in 1846, but the Law on National Archives was only adopted on 14 December [O.S. 2 December] 1898. The Archive began operation in 1900, and the founding members of the National Archives were: J. N. Ivković, Dr. M. Gavrilović, M. Rančić and M. K. Borisavljević. Its first official name was National Archive of the Kingdom of Serbia. Historian and diplomat Mihailo Gavrilović was The President of Archive in the period 1900-1910. Gavrilović was chiefly responsible for early development and organisation of the Archive. In this period the Archive was located in residence of general Sava Grujić.
  The name was changed several times. Between 1918 and 1945 it was called National Archive (during this time it was National Archive of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Between 1945 and 1948 the name was National Archive of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Between 1948 and 1969 it was National Archive of the People's Republic of Serbia (the separate Archives of Yugoslavia were established in 1950). In 1969, the Archive was given its current name, the Archive of Serbia.
  During World War I, a part of archive material was moved to Niš and Kragujevac, but another part remained in Belgrade. During the retreat of the Serbian Army, some of the archives were destroyed, some lost, but much was preserved in a train car in the Kruševac train station. After the war, the Archive became the National Archive of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia). The current building of the Archive was dedicated in 1928.
  During the World War II, some of the archive material was confiscated by the Nazi German authorities. In 1941 total of 519 boxes from the period of Kingdom of Serbia were taken, and in 1942 total of 579 crates full of documents and 88 acts were transported to Vienna. German Army occupied the building in two periods, so much of the archive was moved to the Faculty of Technology and the Belgrade University Library and the most valuable items were placed in the National Bank's safes. After the war, the Archive became the National Archive of the newly formed Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, until 1 January 1948 when the separate Archives of Yugoslavia were formed.
caption: Founders of the Archive of Serbia.
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