Nikola Tesla Museum

After the death of Nikola Tesla, an American court, in January 1943, awarded custody of his property to Sava Kosanović, the son of Tesla’s youngest sister Marica. He was a Serbian politician, publicist and diplomat who, at that time,  was living in New York as a member of the Royal Yugoslav Government-in-exile.

Following his death, Tesla’s entire property was packed, sealed and handed over to the Office of Alien Property Custodian. His belongings were transferred from the New Yorker Hotel to the Manhattan Warehouse  and Storage Co. where some of Tesla’s property was already stored.   

On the basis of Article 80, Paragraph 2, of the Yugoslav Constitution, and at the proposal of the Government Council for Science and Culture, the Yugoslav Government, on December 5, 1952, resolved to establish the Nikola Tesla Museum. This resolution was signed by Josip “Tito” Broz. The same year, Veljko Korać, a professor of the Belgrade University Faculty of Philosophy, was appointed the founding director.

The Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade was opened to the public on October 20, 1955. It was the first technical museum in Yugoslavia. The opening presented the permanent exhibition, which gave visitors the opportunity to see models built accurately according to Tesla’s drawings.

It was built between 1927 and 1929, according to the project of the architect Dragiša Brašovan. Gencic's villa is located on the corner of Prote Mateje Street and Krunska Street. The construction of the buildings began in June 1927, and was completed in December 1929.

Today, the Nikola Tesla Museum represents the unique institution of science and culture in Serbia, as well as in the world. It is the only museum that preserves the original and personal legacy of Nikola Tesla with extremely valuable collections: over 160,000 original documents, over 2,000 books and magazines, over 1,200 historical and technical exhibits, over 1,500 photographs and glass photo plates and over 1,000 plans and drawings.

The museum collection consists of nine collections. Within this collection, over 1200 items have been officially registered. The collection consists of the following collections: in the field of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, fine and applied arts, chemical technology, then small technical items, medals, textiles and leather, and memorial and personal items.   

Tesla's home and Church of St. Peter and Paul in Smiljan, today's Croatia. At the time of Tesla's birth, Smiljan was a part of the Austrian Empire. From 1863 until 1918 - a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in 1918 its territory became a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.   

Photograph of Nikola Tesla bears the mark of the Henri Dupont photo studio in Paris, where Tesla lived from 1882 - 1884. It is the earliest preserved portrait of Tesla. It has been published as an illustration for Tesla’s article in Electrical Experimenter in 1919.

To investigate the realm of high-frequency and high-voltage, Tesla invented an apparatus known as Tesla coil. None of its components were new, but design and operation together spawned uniqueness. Tesla coil was capable of producing electric power at a higher voltage and frequency than had ever been seen before. This device first appeared 1891 in Tesla's US patent No. 454,622.

The Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade stores a bust made by the famous sculptor Ivan Meštrović. This bronze bust was created during 1952. There are two more castings, one in the Lika Museum in Gospić and the other in the Vienna Technical Museum. This bust was made by Mestrovic during his exile in the United States, in the late period of his life, after he had already exhibited at the New York MOMA Museum. The Nikola Tesla Museum mobile app is available on Google Play and App Store.

For building the Wardenclyffe. Tower Tesla acquired land on the cliffs of Long Island Sound. By 1901 the Wardenclyffe project was under construction, the most challenging task was the erection of an enormous tower, rising 187 feet in the air and supporting on its top a fifty-five-ton sphere made of steel. The project was financially supported by the banker J.P. Morgan.

On July 10th, 1937 at the ceremony reception in New York, Tesla received the order of the White Lion first degree from the Czechoslovakian Minister Vladimir Hurban. On the same occasion, he was awarded the Order of White Eagle first I class of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Diploma of this order was preserved in Nikola Tesla Legacy.

Among Tesla's most significant inventions are: a polyphase system, a rotating magnetic field, an asynchronous motor, a synchronous motor and Tesla's coil. Tesla also made significant discoveries by experimenting with X-rays.

Since 1943, Tesla has been considered the inventor of radio, which was proposed in a patent submitted to the US Patent Bureau on March 20, 1900. Prior to that, the priority in this invention was given to Marconi.    

Tesla died of a heart attack, alone in hotel apartment 3327 on the 33rd floor of the New Yorker Hotel on January 7, 1943 , at 10:30 p.m, at the age of 87. It was officially recorded that he died of heart thrombosis. The funeral of Nikola Tesla was organized by the Yugoslav Information Center.