The book Nikola Tesla: A Spiritual Portrait, written by Presbyter Oliver Subotic, founder of the “Petar Mandic” Endowment, which is also the publisher, has been released.

Nikola Tesla: A Spiritual Portrait

The book represents a substantially expanded and refined edition of Tesla: Duhovni lik, which was, by coincidence, also published on the Feast of the Annunciation four years ago. The English edition is published with the blessing of His Holiness, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, and includes his foreword, as well as the foreword of Patriarch Irinej, taken from the first Serbian edition.

Nikola Tesla: A Spiritual Portrait is a monograph printed in the so-called coffee table book format, spanning 420 pages of high-quality color printing. Compared to the original Serbian edition, which served as its foundation, the English version is substantially more voluminous (with 100 additional pages), featuring a wealth of new data, observations, critical reflections, and conclusions. This edition also includes special textual supplements and maps created specifically for this publication, aimed at helping international readers better understand the history of the Serbian people and its Church, in connection with Nikola Tesla and his ancestors, many of whom were Orthodox priests and frontier soldiers.

The study Nikola Tesla: A Spiritual Portrait draws upon approximately 350 primary sources (including Tesla’s autobiography, articles, interviews, lectures, personal correspondence, and recorded speeches), over 120 secondary sources (mainly period newspaper articles), more than 80 tertiary sources (including the most prominent global studies on Tesla, as well as selected works by domestic and foreign authors), and over 100 entries of supplementary literature. The monograph is referenced using the Harvard citation style and is written in a popular science style, with the aim of presenting a historically grounded, accurate, and non-idealized portrayal of the spiritual profile of one of the greatest inventors of all time.

In addition to the Nikola Tesla Museum, which granted the author access to its extensive text and photo archives for research purposes, important contributions to the content came from the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Matica Srpska, the National Museum of Serbia, the Museum of the City of Belgrade, and the National Museum of Pancevo. These institutions provided relevant historical photographs and renowned works of art in high resolution from their digital collections to illustrate the study.

Co-publishers include the Nikola Tesla Museum, the publishing agency Bernar, the Prometej Publishing House, and the Laza Kostic Foundation.

The publication was sponsored by the Belgrade-based company Smartberry, which covered the costs of translation, editing, and printing.

The author, once again, has completely waived any personal revenue from the sale of the book in favor of the “Petar Mandic” Endowment, which he founded. All proceeds are designated for the construction of an ethno-museum complex dedicated to Tesla’s priestly ancestors - a project for which an official Detailed regulation plan was adopted on March 21 of this year.

The book will be available for purchase in select Belgrade bookstores during the month of May, and the “Petar Mandic” Endowment will soon offer electronic ordering options in cooperation with the co-publishers.

Preparation for the printing of the second, revised and expanded Serbian edition is currently underway, with its release expected later this year, also under the auspices of the “Petar Mandic” Endowment.