Four Decades of Cultural and Educational Institutions in Pirot

Abstract

The paper presents the development of educational and cultural institutions in Pirot from its annexation by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1877 until the end of the First World War. The first primary schools in this area were founded in 1838, and after it was annexed by Serbia, they were renewed and continued their work, with more or less success, but in accordance with the new school programs. After primary schools, vocational schools were established as well. Several printing houses were opened, and then newspapers were launched. The first social library in Pirot started working in 1872, so the beginnings of librarianship in this town should be placed in that year. After 1877, several libraries, reading rooms, and a social library were formed in Pirot, until 1909, when the first Public Library was established by the Decree of King Petar I Karađorević. The Balkan wars, and then the First World War, almost completely destroyed the institutions created before 1918, which ended the initial phase of the cultural development of Pirot.
The works published so far bring mostly historical facts about all cultural or educational institutions, the establishment of printing houses and the appearance of the press in Pirot, and it is certain that their development fitted into the developmental trends of the countries under whose administration the town was. They also contain data that testify to the fact that the town had all the prerequisites for faster development of education and school system, as a basis for the formation of all types of libraries – from social libraries, through school and workers’ libraries, to the public library used by the largest circle of users, which is a direct consequence of the level of literacy and educational structure of the population. However, none of these texts offers an explanation why, despite all these efforts and the very early formation of schools and libraries, illiteracy in Pirot at the turn of the two centuries was still enormous, especially among the female population.