Atanasije Stojković

Atanasije Stojković (, ; 20 September 1773 – 25 September 1832) was a Serbian, Austrian and Russian writer, pedagogue, scholar, physicist, mathematician and astronomer. He is considered the founder of Russian meteoritics. Stojković was the Rector of the Imperial University of Kharkov from 1807 to 1809 and from 1811 to 1813.

Early life and education Stojković was born in Ruma, then part of the Austrian Empire (now modern-day Serbia) on 20 September 1773. He finished grammar school in his native village of Ruma in Srem. From 1789 to 1794 he attended the École polytechnique at Buda and later the University of Göttingen until 1798. His education (at Buda and Göttingen) was funded by the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church at Sremski Karlovci, Stevan Stratimirović, and subsequently in Sremski Karlovci itself, where Stojković proposed to take orders. Upon graduation and on returning home, however, he abandoned the idea in favor of his academic and scientific careers. It was during his studies at the University of Budapest, where he was inspired by lectures and it was there that he determined to devote himself to natural science, mathematics, physics and astronomy.

Stojković took his undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1796, and for a time pursued the study of philosophy and natural science at the University of Göttingen. He graduated in 1798 with a doctorate in Philosophy and Natural Science. Due to Stojković's choice of the archaic idiom, the translation was viciously criticised by Đuro Daničić, a follower of Vuk Karadžić and proponent of using the folk Shtokavian idiom in literature. Daničić also accused Stojković of plagiarising Vuk's translation, although later research has shown that the two translations are independent of each other.

His 1800 book Kandor or Revelation of Egyptian mysteries is often described as the first original Serbian novel. However, its status as a novel has been disputed, as its narrative content is underdeveloped: the majority of the text is occupied by a monologue, interspersed with poems, and expressing concepts heavily influenced by Immanuel Kant's philosophy. Thus, it has also been classified as a primarily philosophical text, rather than a proper novel. Freemasonic and possible esotericist symbolism has also been detected in the text; the novel would thus present an initiationary process of the titular character.

Stojković's following novel, Aristid and Natalija (1801), was more conventional, and is regarded as one of the central texts of Serbian literary sentimentalism. The first book presented to the library of Matica srpska was presented by Stojković.

In his literary works he used the Slavonic-Serbian language and belongs to a group of authors who brought the German version of the Enlightenment to Serbs. After completing his education Stojković moved to Kharkov, Russia. He died in Kharkov on 2 June 1832.

Selected works Кандоръ или Откровеніе егѵпетскихъ таинъ (Kandor, or a Revelation of Egyptian Mysteries, 1800)

Вторая часть, 1802 Трета часть, 1803