Velimir Mihailo Teodorović

Velimir Mihailo Teodorović[1] (Rogaška Slatina, 8 May 1849 – Munich, 31 January 1898) was a Serbian philanthropist, endowment holder and an illegitimate descendant of the House of Obrenović, ruling family of the Kingdom of Serbia.

[4] Mihailo bought a house in Vienna for Maria and his son, gave her a dowry, and paid alimony for the child through his Viennese banker Tirke.

Four years later, she married a certain Dr. Schuster, who saw in Velimir only a source of income and influenced Maria to ask for more and more money to support herself.

[6][7] Despite the fact that Velimir initially spoke only German, he was enrolled in the primary school near the St. Michael's Cathedral, where he studied solidly.

From his students from the painting school, Steva Todorović formed the "First Serbian Gymnastics and Wrestling Company", of which Velimir was a member, as well as the sons of other high-ranking civil servants and prominent citizens of Belgrade.

[8] At the suggestion of Ilija Garašanin, Velimir then continued to study in the house of Professor Milutin Stojanović, who passed on his love for theatre, literature and art.

The prince was very reserved towards him, fearing that he would spoil him with excessive attention, which was a common custom at that time, especially with male children.

[6] He grew into a handsome young man, he looked very much like his father, both in stature and character, as well as in the color of his voice, movements and nature.

[6] It was there that he last met his father, who was returning from the World's Fair in Paris, and on that occasion, he received a diamond ring, of exceptional value and beauty.

[6] After his father's death, in the assassination in Košutnjak in 1868, since there was no will, at the request of Metropolitan Mihailo, the governor and the prince's sister Petria Bajić of Varadija (1810-180), he was immediately brought to Belgrade, he was given an inheritance, bordered on the Danube and had its own port, in Lesser Wallachia, and Romanian bonds worth 30,000 ducats, thus securing its future.

The will was supplemented in 1893, according to which he left a legacy to his half-sister Teresa Schuster, in the form of a sum that was to be paid to her for life in German marks, which was done until 1944.

In the meantime, there were discussions about the inheritance, which the state had to lead before the Romanian courts, while closer and further descendants of the Obrenović family appeared as possible heirs, who disputed the establishment of the endowment, among them the most persistent were the descendants of Mihailo's sister Petrija, and then Queen Natalia, as the heiress of King Alexander, who asked for a sum of 30,000 ducats with 6% interest.

[6] Velimirianum came out of the Second World War badly damaged, and after the abolition of the State Council in 1945, the Ministry of Education, by order of the Presidency of the Government, took over the management of the endowment by a commission.