Pavle Savić

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Pavle Savić (January 10, 1909 - May 30, 1994) was Serbian physicist and chemist born in Thessaloniki.

He graduated physical chemistry at the University of Belgrade, 1932. First published paper: 1931., with his professor Dragoljub Jovanović.

In 1939, from the French government receives a 6 month scholarship for studying at the "Institut du Radium" (world number 1 in nuclear physics at the time); instead of 6 months, Pavle stayes for 4 years in France.

In 1937. i 1938. year, he worked with Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie on research action of neutrons on the heavy elements. It was an important step in the discovery of nuclear fission.

Together with Irène Joliot-Curie was nominated for Nobel Prize in Physics [1].

When Second world war began, Pavle Savić left France and came back to Yugoslavia (now Serbia) to fight as a partisan against German occupation.

After the war he was one of the first promoters of the idea of construction of Institute for Nuclear Sciences in Vinča [2]. He was the principal of the Institute Vinča (in that time called INS "Boris Kidrič") 1960-1966; 1966 he returned to his position at the University of Belgrade, Faculty od Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Department of Physical Chemistry and Department of Physics (now Faculty of Physics [3]).

He was the president of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1971 to 1981.

He was active till his last days. He published his last scientific paper few months before death, at the age of 85.

Pavle Savić died in Belgrade in 1994.