His Grace Iriney, bishop of Serbian Orthodox Church for Australia and New Zealand, visited Tesla Expo|2011 in Perth Town Hall.

Serbian-American Scientist and Inventor, Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest inventors of all time, was born on July 10, 1856, in the village of Smiljan, in the province of Lika within Vojna Krajina region in Austria. His father Milutin was a Serbian Orthodox priest, a gifted writer and poet. Nikola’s mother Georgina – Djuka, in his own words was an inventor of the first order. She was the daughter of Nikola Mandic, a Serbian Orthodox priest in Gracac, and the granddaughter of Toma Budisavljevic, another priest.

Djuka and Milutin Tesla had five children: Dane (1848-1863), Angelina (married name Trbojevic), Milka (married name Glumicic), Nikola (1856-1943), and Marica (married name Kosanovic). All three girls married Serbian Orthodox priests.

Nikola, the fourth child, was born on June 28, according to the Julian calendar, or July 10, according to the Georgian calendar. He was born “at the stroke of midnight” during a summer storm and lightning. The village midwife, afraid of storms, said, “He’ll be a child of the storm,” to which the mother replied: “No, of light.”

Nikola’s Baptism Certificate, in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, states that he was born on June 28, and christened the very next day, by the Serbian priest from nearby Gospic, Toma Oklobdzija; the godfather was Jovan Drenovac, a Captain in the Krajina army, also of Gospic.