When he became an American citizen, Nikola Tesla listed his former nationality as "Austrian" your opinion on this?
Posted by Username998823@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 149 comments
https://teslauniverse.com/nikola-tesla/documents/naturalization-record-nikola-tesla-us-citizenship
I found this on the Austrian Hungary history sub
AzdajaAquillina@reddit
He was.
He was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and would have been considered citizen thereof.
People born in the Yugo era would have put Yugoslavian as their citizenship.
Government forms don't care about your feelings just your paperwork.
Gloomy-Statement-193@reddit
not having anything with citizenship but later on he would embrace Yugoslavian identity over Serbian one and was strong believer that south Slavs should stick together and didn't make much distinction among them. (this comment is to piss Croatian and Serbian nationalists)
Obvious-Desk4573@reddit
He was pro-Yugoslavian but that didn't stop him from identifying as a Serb when asked by others.
Here are some further details
zanimljivo123@reddit
Austrian empire*
AzdajaAquillina@reddit
My bad.
zanimljivo123@reddit
Okay, so what? Why is his ethnicity/nationality discussed so much? Ataturk was born in modern day greece yet there is no doubt that he is a turk for example, why is there so much buzz about nikola tesla? He is born to serbian parents in lika, back then austrian empire, currently croatia. He was an ethnic serbs. He also had two passports during his life: austrian and american. That doesn't make him ethnic austrian, also there are no ethnic americans. He was a serb. Would anyone question my roots if i were to take chinese citizenship?
believewhatisayy@reddit
Ataturk is a british spy,greek,jew,macedonian,albanian,slav and a free mason!
his ethnicity changes depending on the ideology of the person youre asking
ugrasergun@reddit
How much is one scoop of ice cream?
Aspect2Live@reddit
Bruw.
I hope ur trolling etc. or else I don't know how can u still function normally as a human.
KackhansReborn@reddit
Ataturk is from Mars
BrazilianFascisMan@reddit
Atatürk is Turk, see the name "Ata - TURK"
_Katu@reddit
brother do you know what a joke is
rub_yeezylover911@reddit
completely missed the joke
More_Ad_5142@reddit
He was being sarcastic. Are you a little thick or hyper sensitive?
Ok-Guitar-6553@reddit
Imaginary_String_814@reddit
Because of the historical tensions, Croatia has yet to acknowledge the genocide against Serbs.
Don’t you find it questionable that Croats put a ethnic Serb on their national coin ?
Some are literally claiming he was a Croat while his family was victim of the genocide. They nuked his monument twice. Just google the name Tesla on the Jasenovac victim list, to find out where he would have ended in Croatia. Also Croatia is celebrating the expulsion of their Serb minority as biggest day of the year, the same minority Tesla belonged to.
I personally think most are just coping that they trolled a ethnic Serb on their national coin. Tesla won through an online vote with less then 1% votes compared to the total population.
CasperGwamm@reddit
There is nothing that a Serbian nationalist can't make about Croatia looking bad. We live rent free in the minds of chetniks.
Imaginary_String_814@reddit
History’s is painful sometimes but I am sure future generations will deal with the dark past properly.
See austria and Germany also very long so it’s natural.
CasperGwamm@reddit
Yeah, history is very painful for Serbian nationalists. We know.
Imaginary_String_814@reddit
ur deflection is just proving my point. You have no idea about ur own past but thats alright, future generations will be ashamed of the current ones. The only nation that celebrates the ethnic expulsion of their native minorty they genocided in the same century like they made it to the mars.
Its the same when croats claim the resisten movement started in Croatia, without understading why. Entertaining but sad tho.
The main trigger for resistance against the new authorities was the mass murders of Serbs that the Ustasha began to carry out just a few days after the NDH’s establishment. These escalated throughout summer 1941.Faced with the real threat of physical annihilation, Serbs organised armed village guards with the aim of preventing further people from being taken to their deaths. These guards were among the first to resist. However, the resistance of the local population only resulted in increased pressure from the Ustasha authorities, who sent more numerous punitive expeditions that poorly armed peasants could no longer oppose. As a result, people sought safety in mass escapes. Entire villages moving to nearby forests and mountains. Armed groups of local men ensured the security of the fugitive population, often taking offensive actions against the enemy in addition to defensive measures. The appearance of an increasing number of people willing to resist the terror and the new authorities prompted the Yugoslav communists to take advantage of the situation. Life‑endangered Serb peasants gave the communists the one thing they lacked despite their uncompromising commitment to fighting against the occupiers and collaborators: large numbers.
https://weristwalter.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/All-Abstracts-Wer_ist_Walter-International_Perspectives_on_Resistance_in_Europe_During_WWII.pdf
CasperGwamm@reddit
Your unrelenting attempts to paint Croatia as some murderous country in every unrelated thread always proves my point for me.
You lost the war, we escaped your clutches, and paid our freedom in blood. Get over it.
Imaginary_String_814@reddit
That’s just historical facts. As mentioned future generations will deal with it and unpack the national traumas of the past.
Very similar to Austria and Germany, nothing special.
CasperGwamm@reddit
Yes, historical facts that Serbia lost its genocidal war in the nineties and that you still haven't gotten over it.
Imaginary_String_814@reddit
the topic is not the 90s and you have to bring it up on ur own showcases how lost you actually are and how bad you wanna deny ur owns nation past. Everything i wrote is a fact you see many Croats proudly mention how the partisan movement started in Croatia, but do they even themself know the reason why ?
Horrific but always remember that future generations are gonna be very ashamed of the current one who is ruining Croatia but filling Shitsons stadiums.
Nobody is talking here about the 90s sweetheart. It’s the Serbs in ur head I guess
doomscroller6000@reddit
Well it seems like just any country that has the possibility of a vague relation to the origin of a very famous and prestigous person tries to claim this person for its own national identity
NOTExETON@reddit
"also there are no ethnic americans" lol
-TaylorDurden-@reddit
He was an ethnic Bosniak, actually. Read at least a few books, bro.
zanimljivo123@reddit
I can't tell if you're sarcastic or not
-TaylorDurden-@reddit
I am. However, I wonder what Nikola would say if he could see all these heated debates about his ethnicity. He’d probably laugh his ass off and say we’re all crazy motherfuckers.
zanimljivo123@reddit
Well considering that on numerous occasions he accented his serbian roots i am sure that his answer would be pretty one soded in our favour
-TaylorDurden-@reddit
He also said that he's equally proud of his Serbian origin and his Croatian homeland. My point is that he probably would not fit comfortably into today’s hyper nationalistic online battles over “ownership” of his identity. The guy was so much above it all.
a_bright_knight@reddit
that quote is fake btw
treba_dzemper@reddit
It's a literal letter he sent back which can still be attested lol
a_bright_knight@reddit
it actually isn't. Google and try to find a copy of it
treba_dzemper@reddit
You are, obviosly, completely wrong. But so was I. Tesla did acknowledge Maček's words:
https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datoteka:Telegram_Tesla_Macek_0108.JPG
zanimljivo123@reddit
What he said about his croatian "homeland" was when he recieved a message from some croatian politicians if i remember correctly. In the message, that politician called tesla a son of croatian land or something like that. Tesla probably said that in response not to insult him or start a squabble, because on all other occasions he never mentioned croatia or croatians, only his serbian heritage. He said how he is a proud serb even on the other side of the ocean.
InjuryEmbarrassed532@reddit
Why would he be a proud Serb? Serbia did nothing for him or his success. Best thing he ever did was not have any business with Serbia.
No wonder the Balkans are a cesspool.
a_bright_knight@reddit
because being a Serb doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the state of Serbia. Its that state of Serbia originates from Serbs, not that Serbs originate from Serbia.
-TaylorDurden-@reddit
Whatever, bro. I don’t give a fuck. I’m just an observer, and I find this whole thing we’ve created around him extremely funny. People are eagerly fighting over his origins even though they probably can’t name a single one of his inventions and think he “invented electricity.”
And I’m certain he would have found all of this extremely bizarre if he were able to see it.
Insert_0riginal_name@reddit
Nah he wouldn't, he was born during a time of rampant nationalism in both austria-hungary but also in the world, if anything he would say "oh come on, this thing again?" lol
Also technically he didn't invent electricity since the storing and transmission of electricity has been widely tested throughout the 19th century but he made it viable for use by creating an actual induction motor capable of creating AC current, he technically invented it but he wasn't the sole contributor to its invention, still he basically invented something comparable in tech to creating the first steam or combustion engine so thats why everyone claims he did
Anyways since y'all are talking about if he was a serb or not i'd say that he was a serb, since his family claims so and so does most of the world, although they often call him serbian-american which just sounds wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised that he was actually montenegrin or a bosnian serb by descent, since I come from the same region, to the point where my grandfather visited his village (although he never really talked to the teslas to my knowledge) by foot and most people there were often Serbs that escaped western Herzegovina and zeta or southern serbia early into the conquests of the ottomans
zanimljivo123@reddit
No, i find this whole thing croats created about him funny. It is clear as day what and who he was yet we are still here leading endless brain rotting debates in regards on one of the easiest question. What he would find bizzare is people that he had no blood connections to claim him as their own even though he stated the otherwise and even though dozens of his relatives got killed by croats. End of discussion.
-TaylorDurden-@reddit
I think those online debates are mostly rage bait, and you Serbs just take the bait like a catfish takes a durdubak, if you know what I mean. I can see you're annoyed, and that’s exactly what makes it entertaining to everyone.
zanimljivo123@reddit
How couldn't i be annoyed? They're literally trying to claim a man they would have slaughteres along with his relatives if he was in his birth village during ww2. And remember, a lie that get repeated over and over becomes the truth. That's why it's important for us to stand up to these absurd claim whenever we can.
-TaylorDurden-@reddit
Again, you're making a clown of yourself. Historians already determined who he was, what his views were, and how he felt about his origins. I think that’s pretty clear to everyone at this point. There are books, documents, and material evidence out there.
So why are you still beating a dead horse? Who are you supposed to be, his attorney? The more emotionally you react, the more provocateurs will show up just to poke at you. Hope you understand that.
zanimljivo123@reddit
In this whole debate the only ones who make clowns of themselves are those who claim him as their owm even though we all know that he was a serb. If you weren't so touched by him being a serb you wouldn't spend so much time arguing
-TaylorDurden-@reddit
I'm not touched by his ethnicity at all. I am, however, deeply touched and grateful for his contribution to science and humanity. But you wouldn't understand that.
Direct-Antelope-9583@reddit
Well said.
Direct-Antelope-9583@reddit
As an outsider I can say you're clearly making a fool of yourself in this conversation.
Apparently you have very little to be proud of if you care so much about this.
Username998823@reddit (OP)
I don't know anything about him but that he is a slav and people in balkan want to say that he is their guy and not from them others but after looking a bit around it clear that he was a serb and proud of it.
Gloomy-Statement-193@reddit
He would, as he already did, say he sees himself as a Yugoslav, boy would that piss off nationalists
silentmarrow@reddit
are YOU sarcastic? Tesla was a bosniak orthodox it’s common knowledge lmao..
Professional-Fee-488@reddit
Speaking in today's terms and considering local political/religious climate being bosniak and orthodox would be a misnomer no?
treba_dzemper@reddit
Tesla actually was pretty certain his family was bosnian Serbs before they crossed over to Lika.
In either case he spent brutto 36 hours of his entire life in Serbia. He might have been a Serb, but he was absolutely not a Serbian Serb.
silentmarrow@reddit
not always, like in this case 😊
yeah-I-know-that@reddit
And Nietzsche was Polish
ResidentIll6511@reddit
Hardly. Our brothers Muslims got rebranded too much recently for that....
terra_filius@reddit
people want to feel proud of his achievements
InjuryEmbarrassed532@reddit
God knows Serbs need something to be proud of, even though Serbia has zero to do with Tesla’s achievements - unless you are an irrational blood and land nationalist. Best thing he ever did was to have nothing by to do with Serbia, otherwise his main achievement would have been as a peasant.
redditboy117@reddit
What was he culturally? Can we be the ones to deem him as something else than what he identified as?
Empty-Pace-4228@reddit
It is a common joke in Turkey that Atatürk's background is depend on who you are talking with. He's called Macedonian, Albanian, Slovenian, Jew, Greek, Serbian, Armenian, Bosnian, Bulgarian. I even heard Syrian and I'm not even joking.
The sides that Atatürk has beaten in the war like Kurds, Islamists, Armenians and Greeks don't call him Turk.
Few_Raise6919@reddit
Ataturk destroyed Turkey
exhiale@reddit
Well I have literally never met a Turk with your opinion, and I know quite many that would start a fight over your sentence. And I'm not even Turkish.
Few_Raise6919@reddit
Maybe you should meet the Turks in villages rather than Westernized boys ftom Istanbul
Communist--CAT@reddit
Maybe you shouldnt care opinion of fcking villagers
Putrid_Speed_5138@reddit
Ataturk's situation was not comparable. He was born in Salonika, which was part of the Ottoman Empire, whose passport he carried. By ethnicity, he was Turkish. These are all clear. Because Turkey is seen as the heir of the Ottoman Empire, there is nothing controversial.
Tesla's situation, too, is clear as per his passport, which was of the Austrian Empire, and ethnicity, which was Serbian which both of his parents belonged.
What is debated today was related to his birthplace. Smiljan was a village in the Croatian Military Frontier within the Austrian Empire.This territory is part Croatia today. Because of this fact, some argue that his roots should be linked to Croatia, too.
mattfen93@reddit
I mean, you're right, but he actually had a Croatian passport and not an Austrian. It was issued by the Goverment of Kingdom of Croatia, making him a subject to Habsburg Crown without ever being an Austrian citizen. Austria-Hungary was rather a union of many autonomous or semi-autonomous countries than a unitary country. I guess USA never bothered to differentiate and for practical purposes just considered everyone from the Monarchy "Austrian", even if they were Czech, Croat, Serbian or whatever.
Putrid_Speed_5138@reddit
When Tesla was born, the territory that includes Smiljan belonged exclusively to the Austrian Empire and functioned under the direct control of Vienna. Consequently, Tesla held Austrian imperial citizenship at birth and during his early life.
The 1883 passport you linked reflects the administrative restructuring that occurred later (the 1867 Compromise, the 1868 Croatian-Hungarian Settlement, and the dissolution of the Military Frontier in 1881 etc.). These are used today for linking his roots to Croatia and even Hungary.
mattfen93@reddit
Haha okay, but the Military frontier you're mentioning was actually called Croatian military forntier, and it surely wasn't part of Austria proper. It was a teritory of Kingdom of Croatia, administred directly by Wienna instead of Zagrab due to state of war. After it's dissolution the administration returned to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Don't be so naughty do Croats, dude, this was obviously their territory.
Putrid_Speed_5138@reddit
Hey I am not, I have Croatian friends
zanimljivo123@reddit
So my roots should be linked to china if this land on which i am born on becomes their territory in 50 years? Tesla was a pure serb. I can't grasp how someone can claim him. I wonder why croats aren't trying to claim peja stojakovic, momcilo djujic, milutin milankovic, bogdan diklic and patriach pavle. I suppose they haven't learned about their birthplaces yet.
Putrid_Speed_5138@reddit
Yes, retroactive national claims based strictly on shifting territorial boundaries frequently occur, regardless of their validity.
For example, Immanuel Kant spent his life in Königsberg, a city of Prussia, and he held German ethnicity. Following World War II, the Soviet Union annexed the territory and renamed the city Kaliningrad. Modern Russian authorities and local institutions routinely promote Kant as a figure of local heritage despite his complete lack of Russian ethnic or linguistic ties.
It happens even more frequently with Islamic thinkers. For instance, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) was born in Bukhara during the Samanid Empire. While academic consensus identifies him as ethnically Persian, the modern state of Uzbekistan claims him as a foundational national icon simply because his birthplace lies within its borders today.
yeah-I-know-that@reddit
I mean some people believe a refugee coming to Europe and getting a passport in 3-5 years makes them "German/Italian/French etc."
By their logic receiving citizenship is enough lol
New_Entertainer_4895@reddit
Nikola tesla Was black
Username998823@reddit (OP)
Next Netflix movie about Tesla live story
Wonderful-Bat-5897@reddit
he was a Croat.
zanimljivo123@reddit
It's okay buddy, dreams are not a crime
Unable_Item_6133@reddit
I'm not even sure this is THE Nikola Tesla we are talking about. According to the Ellis Island registry 8 Nikola Teslas entered the US. And in this form occupation is listed as "civil engineer" Tesla was an electrical engineer.
VladimirLogos@reddit
I found this on the same website. Basically Pupin scolds Tesla for misunderstanding that Gavrilo Princip is not a citizen of Serbia, but of Herzegovina. Tesla was grieving that his fellow countryman and Serb committed the assassination. So obviously he liked the Austria-Hungary as a nation which educated him and where he grew up. And also quite obviously he identified as a Serb. :) https://teslauniverse.com/nikola-tesla/articles/pupin-replies-tesla
Username998823@reddit (OP)
I understand he was a Austrian Serb
pdonchev@reddit
Yes. Later American Serb, after he emigarted to the USA.
pdonchev@reddit
Well, his nationality was Austrian. His ethnicity was Serbian. How complicated can this be?
CypriotGreek@reddit
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. When Nikola Tesla became an American citizen, he was born in territory that belonged to the Austrian Empire, later Austria-Hungary. So his nationality in legal terms would’ve been Austrian.
People confuse ethnicity with nationality way too much. Tesla being ethnically Serb doesn’t magically mean his official nationality at the time wasn’t Austrian. Those are two different things.
Self__Sabotage@reddit
True, although he was born on a territory of modern day Croatia, as an ethnic Serb. But do keep ethnic Serb have nothing in common with Serbia or Serbian nationality so don’t fall for that trap.
Self__Sabotage@reddit
True, although he was born on a territory of modern day Croatia, as an ethnic Serb. But do keep ethnic Serb have nothing in common with Serbia or Serbian nationality so don’t fall for that trap.
ThEtZeTzEfLy@reddit
it's well known he was really called Nicolae Teslea and was actually romanian. look it up ! /s
twentyCar@reddit
I tell my fellow Croats he is Serbian. Then they always get upset when i explain his parents were orthodox Christian and his dad was a priest to a Serbian Orthodox Church.
JRJenss@reddit
Only a certain, very specific type of a nationalist can get upset about something like this. Most Croats either don't care or are trolling you - because they can.
CataphractBunny@reddit
TIL that Orthodox = Serbian?
Imaginary_String_814@reddit
It’s called literally the Serbian Orthodox Church …
You can’t be that dense actually
CataphractBunny@reddit
All that larping is hurting your reading skills.
klockmakrn@reddit
Aren't Serbians just orthodox Bosniaks, just like Croats are papist Bosniaks?
MrDilbert@reddit
He is not Serbian, he's a Serb. He didn't have a lot to do with Serbia as a country, but he was ethnically a Serb. Kinda like Croats from Burgenland - they're not Croatian (rather, Austrian), but they are Croats.
Whole-O@reddit
Half of my family is Croatian Serbs. We're not really Serbian, but I'm planning to apply for citizenship because why not. If I had to guess, Nikola Tesla had too high IQ to support nationalism and hatred between nations.
zanimljivo123@reddit
hE wAs aN oRthoDox CrOAt
cockttail@reddit
So a Serbian
zanimljivo123@reddit
Dream.
Content-Departure-77@reddit
Why should anyone be upset? It’s a matter of public and widely known fact, just like the fact that no such thing as a Croatian independent state existed back then, meaning he couldn't possibly have been a citizen of it. In any case, neither Serbia nor Croatia helped him in any way to achieve what he did.
InjuryEmbarrassed532@reddit
He lived and went to school in Croatia and Austria. That’s his formation. Had he gone to Serbia and been influenced by Serbian culture, then he would have been a peasant.
Only in the Balkans does his “blood” origin define someone, as if there is Serbian blood.
Early-Show2886@reddit
Yes, same with my Danube Swabian Ancestors. They was also listed until 1918, as Austro-Hungarian citizens.
Sure, Tesla was born in Austria-Hungarian Empire.
chbb@reddit
And, when they lived in Yugoslavia, they were Germans of Yugoslav nationality
Erwin_Rommel22@reddit
Nikola tesla is a turkish and his real name is Nihat Tesloğlu
Little_Intention4710@reddit
This is a nonversation. Nationality is not how you identify or your ethnicity - it’s literally your citizenship/subject status. He was born as a subject of the Austrian crown.
Ambitious-Tea-9923@reddit
A legal national and he is correct but his heritage is Croat
Imaginary_String_814@reddit
His ancestry and heritage is Serbian, at no point in his life he was a Croatian national in the modern sense.
As you can see urself he declared his nationality Austrian and his Serbian ethnicity is undisputed.
Kinda weird that Croatia put an Austrian Serb on their national coin, even more when you consider their hate for Serbs.
Username998823@reddit (OP)
Is he family not Serbs who lived in Croatia?
SquareFarts@reddit
OP what is your opinion on the fact that the Danube flows through Austria?
Username998823@reddit (OP)
Negative
SquareFarts@reddit
Ok, now do something about it.
Username998823@reddit (OP)
I will
NeitherElephant1253@reddit
Next question.
Darjuz96@reddit
A question, we know that Tesla said about his identity? It may possible that he was not so nationalist and didn't care if he's serbian, croat or something else?
LibertyChecked28@reddit
Serbia has fallen, billjons must eat Saurkrat and apply for superior citizenship.
Nikoschalkis1@reddit
I'm not well versed in Yugoslavian politics but please someone help me. Is this debate only based on wether his parents worshipped christ the catholic way instead of the orthodox way?
Username998823@reddit (OP)
On his paper stands orthodox
Stverghame@reddit
Former nationality - therefore former citezenship, which nation he was part of.
He was born in Austrian empire. So what's the issue? He is a Serb ethnically (his whole life, you cannot change ethnicity by choice suddenly), while nationality wise he was Austrian at first, American later.
All in all, he was an Austrian Serb, and later an American Serb. Nothing from that pic is controversial at all they way you try to make it for the sake of ragebaiting.
radube@reddit
You can definitely change the ethnicity of people. Hundreds of thousands ethnic Bulgarians disappeared under Tito and another ethnicity reappeared in their place.
I'm not hating or provoking, I'm just saying it is possible and can provide some links and examples as a proof if you are interested.
Djlas@reddit
It happens all the time, even officially (see Bosnian politics)
QuietWaterBreaksRock@reddit
People shouting at the sky won't change the fact that their grandpa was an Orthodox Serb
SuperSerb07@reddit
If you go back far enough….😏
kyeblue@reddit
don’t know why OP ask this. Tesla was a citizen of Austria Empire, nothing less nothing more
4UBBR_Nicol_Bolas@reddit
Who gives a shit?
MrDilbert@reddit
People (from all sides) who want to keep shit stirred up in case they need an excuse for armed conflicts.
WhoYaTalkinTo@reddit
His former nationality was Austrian though
honkycronky@reddit
I don't know. I have my greatgreatgreatgrandfather documents from like 1900 that state his Former Nationality as Polish, despite Poland not being an independent country (he was born in the Russian Empire). Why is that?
Username998823@reddit (OP)
I understand citizenship and ethnicity are two different things and his a Serbian with a a Austrian-hungary citizenship
Didudidudadu737@reddit
I was born in SFRJ and I have to put that , that is my opinion
1stFunestist@reddit
He knew his people and chose not to be.
Desperate-Tea-6295@reddit
Because you have to list your existing citizenship on the application for US citizenship. You don't list your ethnicity but which passport you bear. In his case, Austrian.
nikolapc@reddit
Nationality is which nation you belong to, not your ethnic status He was of the Austrio-Hungarian nation.
abasoglu@reddit
He was an a citizen of the Austrian Empire. Ethnicity is not a country and none of those ethnicity based countries existed when he immigrated.
BI_OS@reddit
If you go back to the late 19th and early 20th century for any of these kinds of documents or even ww1 draft cards, you'll see this a lot. People who have clearly Polish, Bosnian, Serbian, etc names will just write the name of the empire they came from rather than the country they would identify with. I've mostly seen it with Polish people, but it's come up for other nations too. Some will write those country names or ideas and it's an interesting insight to look at to see who might have been a nationalist for that nation state.
loleenceee@reddit
People are so uneducated and don’t know english, nationality is basically what you passport is, so ofcourse he had an austrian passport ethnicity is something else
Educational_Green@reddit
These forms are usually dependent on the year they were filled out. I have lots of Croats in my family tree and I’ve seen Austria, Hungary, austro -Hungarian, Croat, and after 1918 Yugoslavia / jugoslavia.
Doesn’t mean anything.
EntertainmentOwn8627@reddit
A horse born in a pigsty is still a horse, so I don't know why everybody's obsessed with this.
He was a 100% Serb born to Serbian parents. Doesn't matter which country or nationality.
Snoo-15899@reddit
So was Kafka. Is he less Czech and/or Jewish because of that?
ReparteeRat@reddit
Jewish isn't a nationality
Snoo-15899@reddit
Neider was Czech at the time. What is your point? If you are aiming to it being a religion, there are many non-practicing or atheist Jews. Like this guy.
Physical-Fly6697@reddit
My ancestors born in Croatia at the same time as him also listed themselves as Austrian. This was factually the country they were from. There is nothing interesting about this me to even have an opinion on lol.
RevolutionaryFeed259@reddit
Shouldn't it have been Austro-Hungarian? Or back then they simply wrote Austrian, implying Austro-Hungarian? Like saying English implied subject of British Empire. What else is there to think about it?
alpidzonka@reddit
Pack it up boys, Tesla was an ethnic Austrian /s
believewhatisayy@reddit
bait post to start the second balkan-indian war...
bongiovist@reddit
🍿
mrvitz@reddit
The same problem persists today. My nationality is Hungarian, but born in Romania, living in Germany! Sometimes a paper to fill out asks about only nationality! You filled out the country because the papers are wrong!
ShitassAintOverYet@reddit
It was probably easy to explain to an American customs officer, Smiljan was an Austrian soil back when he was born. Austrians today don't go and claim Tesla was a pure Austrian soul either so what's really the problem?
PlanUnhappy@reddit
Niko Teslaj was Albanian. It is known.
CommunicationNo4547@reddit
That writing and print looks fake for the age. Check out most cursive writing from the era, literally everyone wrote in it.
Wooden_Luck1890@reddit
Well it is true, he's was citizen of Austrohungarian empire, but his ethnicity was Serbian
drjet196@reddit
That form looks way too modern for 1891. Makes sense that America managed to become the leading superpower. Funny how they didn‘t fill out the birth date.
a_bright_knight@reddit
it was literally his citizenship. He was a Serb of Austrian citizenship. That was his passport.