Matica Srpska

a Serbian literary-scholarly and cultural-educational society. Founded Feb. 16, 1826, in Pest by the Serbian writer and jurist J. Hadzic and six Serbian merchants for the purpose of promoting the development of Serbian culture and continuing publication of the journal Letopis, which began publication in Pest in 1824. In 1864 the center of Matica Srpska’s activity moved to Novi Sad in Vojvodina.

Matica Srpska published original and translated works of literature, gave financial assistance to writers and students, distributed books among the people, and set up libraries and reading rooms. It played an important role in the development of the Serbian literary language and in awakening the national consciousness of the Serbs. In socialist Yugoslavia, Matica Srpska is a major scholarly and cultural-educational center; it has divisions for literature, scholarly work, manuscripts, and art history. In addition to specialized scholarly publications, Matica Srpska publishes various journals, including Letopis, Zbornik za društvene nauke (since 1950), and Zbornik za istoriju (since 1970).