Childhood
More than anything, I loved books. My father had a large library, and whenever I could, I tried to satisfy my passion for reading. He did not allow it and would be furious whenever he caught me. When he discovered that I was secretly reading, he hid the candles, determined to prevent me from straining my eyes. However, I found tallow, made a wick, crafted thin candles, and every night, after plugging the keyhole and all the cracks around the door, I would read, often until dawn, while everyone else slept, and until my mother began her exhausting daily chores.
During my childhood in Smiljan, I was surrounded by various domestic animals, but one held a special place in my heart. My best friend was a cat who followed me everywhere and even protected me from my sworn enemy—a gander. That cat was responsible for my first encounter with electricity. One evening, while petting him, his fur produced tiny sparks that glowed vividly in the dark. I was fascinated by this wonder, and that moment awakened a deep curiosity about nature within me. I later wrote about this in a letter to Pola Fotić, the daughter of Konstantin Fotić, the Yugoslav ambassador to America, which I titled “A Story from Childhood.”
One winter, my friends and I climbed a nearby hill. We played by rolling snowballs down the slope, watching them grow larger as they gathered snow. One snowball grew to the size of a house and tumbled into the valley with a thunderous roar. I was amazed at how something as small as a snowball could generate such immense power. From that moment, I became fascinated with the idea of amplifying energy, and perhaps that event influenced my later discovery of one of my most important inventions—the Tesla transformer.
Even as a child, I tried to harness the forces of nature for the benefit of humanity. On a vertical stick serving as an axis, I placed two intersecting sticks that could rotate. To them, I tied beetles, whose flight powered the rotation of the contraption. I remember watching with delight as the beetles tirelessly drove my “machine” for hours. That was one of my earliest experiments, hinting at my future in the world of science and invention.
Youth
1881. I moved to Budapest and began working as an engineer, thanks to a family friend, Ferenc Puskás. I served as the “Chief Telephone Electrician” at the Central Telephone Exchange of the American Telephone Company. There, I realized my first invention—a device for amplifying voice on the telephone.
1882. While walking with my friend Antal Szigeti in a city park in Budapest, observing the setting sun and reciting lines from Goethe’s Faust, I discovered the principle of creating a rotating magnetic field using alternating current.
Suddenly, I began drawing lines in the sand with a stick to illustrate the forces of the rotating magnetic field. Over the next two months, I developed sketches for various types of motors and modifications, which I would patent in America five years later.
Later that year, I moved to Paris and began working for the Continental Edison Company as an engineer. My role involved improving electrical equipment.
By the end of the year, on the recommendation of Tivadar Puskás, Thomas Edison’s chief European representative, I started working on repairing Edison machines, traveling to various locations in France and Germany.
1883. In Strasbourg, I constructed the world’s first induction motor. Early in the year, I was sent to Strasbourg to repair the direct current electrical system, which had failed during its initial operation. I worked on the repairs at the power station from October 14, 1883, to February 24, 1884.
While there, I signed my first business contract for the realization of the first induction motor. By the end of 1883, the first induction motor utilizing the principle of a rotating magnetic field powered by alternating current was created in Strasbourg.
I also began developing various types of polyphase systems and devices with rotating magnetic fields, for which I was granted a patent in 1888.
Education
1862. I started the first grade of elementary school (a one-year elementary school) in Smiljan.
July 1863. My family and I moved to Gospić. My father was appointed parish priest (prota) at St. George’s Church in Gospić, prompting our relocation. There, I enrolled in the first grade of the main elementary school, known as the Hauptschule, where classes were conducted in German. I completed the four grades of elementary school in 1867 as an excellent student, and my name was recorded in the school’s “Golden Book.”
1867–1870. I attended the so-called lower Realschule—three additional years of elementary schooling.
1870. I graduated from elementary school and the lower Realschule in Gospić.
1870–1873. I attended the Higher Real Gymnasium in Karlovac, known as the Rakovac Higher Realschule, a prestigious institution that prepared students for technical studies. While there, I lived with my aunt, Stanka Branković. I graduated in 1873 with commendable results, although I received only a passing grade in descriptive geometry.
1874. I fell ill with cholera. Despite my father’s insistence that I not return to Gospić, where an epidemic was raging, I went home after completing my final exams and became gravely ill. I spent nine months bedridden. During this time, I convinced my father to promise that, instead of enrolling me in a seminary, he would send me to study engineering. Once I recovered, he sent me to stay with my uncle, Prota Toma Mandić, in Tomingaj near Gračac, to regain strength in the countryside and mountains for the challenges ahead.
1875–1877. Thanks to a scholarship from the Military Frontier authorities, I began my studies in 1875 at the Polytechnic School of Joanneum in Graz. I displayed great diligence in my studies, sleeping very little—only four hours a day—and dedicating all my free time to learning. I passed my exams with the highest grades. My favorite lectures were those of Professor Jakob Pöschl, who taught physics. During one lecture, as Pöschl demonstrated the operation of a Gramme generator, I publicly proposed the possibility of a commutator-free motor powered by alternating current—a concept considered impossible at the time.
Concerned for my health, my professors wrote letters to my father, advising him to withdraw me from studies if he didn’t want me to destroy myself with overwork.
After my first year, the scholarship from the Imperial-Royal General Command for impoverished students from the Military Frontier was discontinued. Twice, I sought a scholarship from Matica Srpska in Novi Sad: first on October 14, 1876, and again on September 1, 1878. Both requests were denied.
1878. During my third year of studies, I fell into neglect. I postponed my academic obligations and spent time carousing, gambling, and indulging in nightlife—something I am not proud of. I lost my scholarship and left the university in January 1878.
I appealed to Matica Srpska for a scholarship again in 1878. In my request dated September 1, 1878, I sought funding to continue my technical studies in Vienna or Prague, but I was again denied. However, as a globally recognized scientist, I became a member of Matica Srpska in 1902.
1878–1879. I worked in Maribor for a local technical firm. During this time, I often gambled and played billiards in taverns. Due to financial difficulties, the city administration expelled me from Maribor on March 8, 1879, escorting me to Gospić under police supervision. For a time, I worked at the Realschule in Gospić.
January 1880. With the help of my uncles Petar and Pavle Mandić, I resumed my studies at Charles University in Prague. I studied as an external student at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics in the Department of Natural Philosophy. However, when financial support from my uncles ceased, I left Prague and moved to Budapest. The following year, in 1881, I resolved to relieve my family of the significant sacrifices they had made for me and decided to abandon my studies.
While in Prague, I saw electric lighting for the first time, installed on Hybernská Street by Czech electrical engineer František Křižík, founder of a factory for manufacturing electric lamps.