– Smiljan –
(On the left, the house where Nikola Tesla is born, on the right the church where his father officiated.)
Nikola Tesla was born on 10 July 1856 in Smiljan, a small village in the Kingdom of Croatia. At that time, this one was a part of the Austrian Empire.
The Tesla family is originally from Serbia and the name Tesla (i.e. тесла in Cyrillic) is the Serbian word for adze, a woodworking tool.
– Nikola’s parents : Milutin and Djuka –
Nikola’s parents are Milutin, who is an Orthodox priest, and Djuka, born Mandić. He inherits – it seems – his father’s mental rigor and his mother’s ability to invent. Nikola’s first name is chosen because it is the name of his two grandfathers.
Apart from the parents, the Tesla family consists of Dane (born in 1848 and who will die in 1861), Angelina (born in 1850), Milka (born in 1852), Nikola (4th child), and Marica (born in 1858).
– Gospić –
In 1862, Milutin Tesla was assigned to the parish of Gospić and the family moved to this small town.
– Karlovac –
In 1870, Nikola Tesla went to live with his aunt in Karlovac.
– Graz –
From 1875 to 1877, he studied electrical engineering at the Graz Polytechnic Institute, now the Graz University of Technology.