Nikola Tesla was a Balkan visionary whose influence continues to shape the very world in which we live in myriad ways.

Every year on July 10, the world marks the birth of Nikola Tesla—a man whose genius continues to shape our technological civilization. Born in 1856 in the village of Smiljan, in present-day Croatia, Tesla was an ethnic Serb who built his scientific legacy in the United States. His intellectual heritage transcends national borders and belongs to all of humanity.

More than a day of remembrance, Nikola Tesla Day is a celebration of the boundless human capacity to imagine, invent, and defy limits. His groundbreaking work on alternating current (AC), wireless transmission, and radio laid the foundation for the modern electric age. Yet Tesla was more than an inventor—he was a visionary, a humanist, and a symbol of scientific universalism.

A Global Scientist With Balkan Roots

Though widely known as an American inventor—his name even gracing one of the world’s most prominent tech brands—Tesla’s identity and memory remain deeply rooted in the Balkan region. Serbia proudly hails him as a national icon. Croatia honors him as a native son. Throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia, schools, streets, and institutions bear his name. His legacy, therefore, offers a rare example of shared cultural pride in a region often burdened by divisions, rivalries, and the weight of historical grievances and injustices. 

In an era of polarization and fragmentation, Tesla represents........

© The National Interest