Belgrade » Beograd | 67 TheHouseofJevremGrujić has a history dating back to the 19th century and is connectedtoseminal events inthehistory of the nation, involving actors who were members of the families of the statesmen and diplomats who we have to thank for the passing of the first lawon theNational Assembly. Despite Belgrade having been bombed on numerous occasions during more recent times, and attemptstohavethehousedemolished tomakeway for the constructing of modernbuildingsafterWorldWar II, it has remained in place and under private ownership to this day. is is thanks to the efforts of the then T HE HOUSE OF J EVR EM GRU J I Ć Precious haven of tradition and avant-garde The house of JevremGrujić, at 17 Svetogorska Street, has been captivating passers-by with its beauty for more than a century, while it also represents an architectural gem for connoisseurs and lovers of Belgrade antiquities and is the first designated heritage building in the Serbian capital newly established Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Belgrade in 1961, which stood in defence of this edifice and saved it frombeingpermanentlyerasedfrom Serbia’s cultural heritage map. Jevrem Grujić had the house built for his family back in 1896, according to the design project of architectMilanKapetanović, onland owned by his father-in-law, Teodor Herbez, who had served as minister of finance in the government of Prince Miloš and gifted the land to his daughter, Jelena Grujić, as her dowry. Belgrade was expanding rapidly at that time, changing and transforming into a European capital.During the19th century, the city’s modern urbanisation included the participation of foreignurbanplanners and engineers, but they were soon joined by Serbian architects who’dbeenschooledabroad, suchas MilanKapetanović,whobroughtEuropeanarchitecture toSerbian lands, modelled on the examples of Vienna, Budapest and Paris. Such a grasp of aesthetics and construction principles are actually evident in the example of the house at 17 Svetogorska Street, located next to the building of the Atelje 212 theatre, which highlighted both the social status and economic power of the family, as well as their acceptance of a new cultural orientation. At the time of its construction, it represented a typical city villa designed to reflect the spirit of 19th century Western European architecture. emain façade’s painteddecorationwas theworkof Italian master of decorative painting Domenico D’Andrea and renders the house unique in the architecture of Belgrade. Alongside itsmaterial values, the Housealsodemonstrates the importance of the individualswho, directlyor indirectly, built the family tradition, but also the history of Serbian society at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and later at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. at’s why this house is simultaneously a symbol of the constructing of a new social reality, a new state and a new cultural matrix at the dawn of the modern age. You can interpret all of this when you step into its salons, along with the interesting story of the museum’s curator and today’s
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