Serbian Genealogical Society
Encyclopedia
The Serbian Genealogical Society (SGS) is a non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 society that is engaged in genealogical
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...

 research in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

 and the Balkan peninsula.

History, Purpose, and Activities

The SGS started in 2000 as the legal successor of the Serbian Genealogical Foundation, an organization devoted to establishing genealogical infrastructure in Serbia. Members of the foundation, together with other researchers in the region, created the SGS for the promotion of genealogy in its broadest sense.. The SGS strives for objective research and is not engaged in political activities, which it is prohibited from doing under its statutes .

Article 2 of the statutes state
  • The society’s goal is to promote and stimulate genealogy and related sciences in the broadest sense of the word in Serbia-Montenegro and the rest of the region. To supply resources both online and offline for the general public and members.
  • To assist the archives in promoting and assisting in genealogical research in the broadest sense of the word.
  • The creation of genealogical databases in cooperation with the archives of Serbia and other related institutes in accordance with the law of the state of Serbia.
  • The society does not have a financial gain and serves the general interest; it therefore remains politically independent, and will provide in objective research.
  • The society can not accept donations from political institutes that can jeopardize the independent and objective status of the society.
  • The society is not affiliated with any church or religious denomination, in order to maintain its objectivity.
  • To assist in reuniting families that have been scattered due to the civil war in the former-Yugoslavia.
  • The society also provides for humanitarian aid in the broadest sense of the word.


The SGS is not a learned society although many of its members are. SGS members include historians, sociologists, ethnologists, genealogists, and researchers, as well as amateur genealogists. The SGS shares a collective membership with the Serbian Heraldry Society, known as the “White Eagle”. The SGS also has close ties with different archives in Serbia and abroad and other similar organizations. These include:
  • National Archives of Serbia
    National Archives of Serbia
    The National Archives of Serbia were founded in 1900. Prior to that Serbia adopted a law that would enable the creation of a national archive through the adoption of a law on National Archives on the second of December 1898. However, archival work already started in 1847...

  • National Archives of Montenegro
  • Macedonian Heraldic Society
  • Slovenian Genealogical Society
  • Slovakian Genealogical & Heraldic Society
  • Croatian Heritage Museum (USA)


A primary goal of the SGS is to provide genealogical tools for those want to know more about their family heritage. The SGS runs an online presentation through its official website, which also provides forums, research tools, and allows people to post their family tree online for free through a system called “Moj Rodoslov”. This is done in accordance with the privacy laws in Serbia. The SGS is also responsible for a validation and accreditation programme to ensure proper quality of research inside Serbia.

Serbian Heraldic Society: White Eagle

The Serbian Society for Heraldry, Genealogy, Vexillology and Phaleristics, also known as the Serbian Heraldry Society "White Eagle", was founded in 1991.. The society is the only professional organisation of that kind in Serbia. It is involved in research and work in the fields of heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

, genealogy, flags
Vexillology
Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum, meaning 'flag', and the Greek suffix -logy, meaning 'study'. The vexillum was a particular type of flag used by Roman legions during the classical era; its name is a diminutive form of the word velum...

, medals and honours, and the more specialized fields of insigniology, archontology and nobilistics.

The White Eagle is responsible for Serbia and Montenegro's heraldic arms registry, including responsibility for the design and drawing of the Coats of Arms for most of the states and cities of Serbia.

Branches

The SGS has different branches in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

, Krusevac
Kruševac
Kruševac is a city and municipality, and the administrative center of the Rasina District, in central Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the municipality has a population of 127,429, while the town has 57,627....

, Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. All branches have their own commissions.

Archives

The SGS provides information about the available archival resources and assists people in accessing the archival resources. Serbia, unlike neighbouring countries like Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, has no microfilmed archives. This makes archival work more difficult. The SGS works with archives in Serbia to make them more accessible while ensuring that archival documents are properly preserved. .

External links


Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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