Nikola Tesla Articles
- Then who?
- That is a saintess, the venerable mother Angelina.
- Aha! Now I understand.
The monk looked at me as if he understood me, but I know he had no idea what I was thinking.”
Laza Kostić, Laza’s letter to Tesla, Lenka Dunđerski: The poet was in love with Lenka, but he realized that with the “best Vojvodina marriageable girl” he had no chance — among other things because of the big age difference. Tesla writes about her feminine charms but does not forget to add: her father could open a credit line of up to a million dollars for his son-in-law!
So far she has rejected an entire army of suitors. Her parents are worried: she is 24 years old — but you would not give her more than 20. Her father is my best friend, so of course I am her friend too. I have long tried to find out the reason for that coldness, and I finally learned: her ideal is Nikola Tesla.
I admitted to her that this has long been my own thought too, but I always had in mind that you have so far devoted all your love to the great idea and have no time even to think about women, let alone marriage. She still hopes she could turn you around…
That is all about the girl. And now — (…) about her property, her dowry or trousseau. She can bring about a million francs. But her father is in such a position that he could open a credit line of up to one million dollars for his son-in-law if needed.
Think it over carefully, think everything over, decide, and let me know what you have decided. If you agree, I will immediately send you a picture of my intended and you will learn her name. Whatever happens, rest assured that I remain forever your friend, Laza Kostić.”
Laza Kostić sent this letter from the Krušedol monastery, where he had withdrawn because he himself was under pressure to marry — after having been engaged to one girl for a full twelve years.
Letters from the Krušedol Monastery
But he cared little for his own fate. From June until September he eagerly awaited an answer across the ocean. Whether he received it is not entirely known. How Tesla replied we also cannot know exactly because the letter has not been preserved. However, the letter from Laza Kostić dated 4 September 1895 has been preserved, from which Tesla’s answer is clear. Here is that letter, again sent from Krušedol:
Ten people from Tesla’s closest family circle, starting with his father, were priests. His uncle Petar, in monasticism called Nikolaj, was Metropolitan of Dabar-Bosnia. His nephew, from his eldest sister Angelina, the abbot of the Šišatovac monastery on Fruška Gora, was our first doctor of theology. Nikola Tesla discovered the world of spirituality, books, dedication to ideas,
