New beginning from old roots: Russian mathematicians at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Russia was devastated by the aftermath of the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution that started in 1917. As a result, many people, particularly members of the intelligentsia, were forced to flee their country, prompting waves of migration. They were reasonably safe in some European countries and the USA, and the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was one such destination. Here I discuss the case of two Russian mathematicians, Anton Bilimovich (1879–1970) and Nikolay Saltykov (1872–1961), who were established figures within the Russian scientific community, but upon arrival in Belgrade their status shifted immediately to that of refugees. Nevertheless, they promptly continued their scientific careers as integrated members of Yugoslav society, ultimately reaching the ranks of academicians of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the highest academic distinction in Serbia to this day. Their lives in Yugoslavia were characterized by new beginnings and continuing with mathematical practices. I also argue that their arrival in Belgrade was mutually beneficial for them and for the state, since their contributions to the development of Yugoslav mathematics were substantial at a time when the country was struggling to establish its national identity.