Who does Nikola Tesla belong to?

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario has proclaimed July 10 as Nikola Tesla Day, similarly proclaiming Tesla a Serbian-American inventor. While it is a laudable thing to mark the achievements of a person whose genius changed the world, it also reignites a perennial reoccurring question: to whom does Nikola Tesla actually belong? Firstly, a quick reminder of the significance of Tesla and his inventions. He invented the first alternating current (AC) motor and developed AC generation and transmission technology. Amongst other things, he invented electric oscillators and high-voltage transformers, which you know as Tesla coils; experimented with X-ray technology; and demonstrated radio communications two years before Guglielmo Marconi. None of this is contentious and rightfully needs to be celebrated. What we in Croatia object to, though, is Serbia’s unrelenting campaign to divorce any connection Tesla had with his country of birth—namely Croatia. Serbian authorities are quick to point out that Tesla was ethnically Serb. They argue that in 1856, his place of birth—the town of Smiljan—was then part of the Austrian Empire. They conveniently overlook the fact that even the Austrian Crown, to which Croatia belonged, recognized this area as unquestionably part of Croatia. In comparison, it should be noted that Serbia was under Ottoman jurisdiction until 1878. What my Serb colleagues also fail to mention is Tesla’s intimate relationship with his country of birth and its people. When traveling abroad he would consistently return not to Serbia, but to Croatia (Zagreb, Gospić, Šibenik). During his lifetime he made one solitary transitory visit to Serbia, on route from Zagreb to Budapest, in 1892, for a total of 31 hours. He never had Serbian citizenship, but did take U.S. citizenship in 1891. On May 24, 1892, Tesla made a proposal to the City of Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, to build an alternating current power station. During his speech to the city council, Tesla said: “As a son of this country, I consider it my duty to help the City of Zagreb in every way, either through council or through action.” Equally important, on Aug. 28, 1895, the City of Šibenik under Tesla’s direction became the first city in the world to have streetlights powered by alternating current. But perhaps the best illustration of his state of mind was that Tesla spoke of himself as being “equally proud of my Serb origin and my Croat homeland.” This historic quote was part of a correspondence Tesla had with the then pre-eminent political leader of Croatia, Vlatko Maček, with whom he often communicated. Now, despite a wealth of evidence of Tesla’s close links to Croatia, we do not in any way claim (exclusive) rights to Tesla, recognizing instead his extraordinary contributions to mankind. Rather than focus on divisive rhetoric, we would instead invite all those interested in learning first-hand about Tesla’s life and works to visit the Tesla Memorial Centre located in Smiljan, Croatia. The centre, originally opened in 1956, was restored by the Croatian government after the Homeland War of 1991-1995 and re-opened July 10, 2006, on the 150th anniversary of Tesla’s birth. Vice Skračić Ambassador of Croatia to Canada Ottawa, Ont.