Rotary in Serbia

The start of Rotarianism in Yugoslavia and especially in Serbia was linked with the activities of dr Vojislav Kujundžić and his first concats with Czechoslovakian Rotarians. However, it should be emphasized that the Serbian intellectuals and businessmen adapted the idea of Rotarianism at an earlier date.

Between 1928, when the first Rotary Club was founded in Yugoslavia, and the begining of the Second World War, the followins clubs were organized in Serbia: „Beograd“, „Bačka Topola“, „Ćuprija-Jagodina-Paraćin“, „Morava“, „Leskovac“; „Niš“, „Novi Sad“, „Pančevo“, „Petrovgrad“, „Sombor“, „Stara Kanjiža“, „Stari Bečej“, „Subotica“, „Velika Kikinda“, „Vršac“ and „Zemun“.

June 28th 1929 was the begining of the rapid expansion of the clubs, which resulted in the creation of the 77th Distict /Yugoslavia/. In 1940, this Distict included 34 clubs, 15 of them in Serbia.

Beside the development of friendship the service to the club included the elaboration of the rosters and, in connection with that, the internal extension, the frequency and the care about the private life of all members of the club.

Every Rotary club in Serbia had his „bag for the needy“ in which donations were put at the end of every meeting. They acted also as maecenas, sponsoring the education of poor high school students, talented musicians or painters. Special attention was paid to the young people and to their education in the spirit of Rotarianism.

The members of the clubs were not numerous, but they were very distinguished citizen, and their influence was increasingly felt in business, cultural and political life in Serbia.