Professor Lukić is walking along the Boulevard, buys the old good “Politika” newspaper, and sits down in “Šansa” at Tašmajdan. As he reads “Politika,” he looks around and notices that hardly anyone is reading newspapers anymore; instead, everyone is looking at modern gadgets, noticing they have taken over. The former, almost the only one reading newspapers, gets a bit scared. His brain starts to think feverishly, as if defending itself: “Aha, society… is it theory or maybe a game.”
Since he was different from the others, he felt a bit uncomfortable at the thought that something might be wrong with him, so he thought of asking the young people what it was. Actually, he wasn’t very interested in the gadget because he remembered well the basic premises of his theory on form and (social) process, but rather what those kids were constantly looking at. With some concern, he asked: “Hey, kids, what are you looking at?” They replied: “Grandpa, these are social networks. For example, this is Facebook. Look!” “Ah, will I break something?” he asked the children. “You won’t, grandpa, it’s easy.” Professor Lukić looked, recalling some of his old thoughts, and said more to himself: “We didn’t have such things in my time.” And the children, like all other children, replied kindly: “Well, grandpa, times change.”
The professor stood up and decided to walk to the Law Faculty, maybe to seek answers in some literature, just as he had done all his life. Entering the faculty, he looked to the left and saw that on that very day there was an exam in Introduction to Law, so he asked the younger colleagues at the department to allow him to attend the exam. The young professor felt, of course, pride, but also a bit of discomfort because he knew that students were afraid of Professor Lukić and his famous quips, but he decided to oblige Lukić nonetheless.
And so, the students heard that Professor Lukić would be at the exam, and the “five” was packed as it used to be. The first student came, and the professor began to question him. Professor Lukić decided to ask the student a few witty questions, and the first was: “What do you think of Kristijan Kiki Golubović?” The students burst out laughing, and the student hesitated, having heard of Lukić, but not only wondering what he was allowed to say but also not knowing what to think. He mumbled: “I read something about him in the newspapers, I heard he was some kind of criminal.” The professor shot back: “Colleague, we are in Introduction to Law, not Criminal Law.” Again, the students burst into laughter, but it was still unclear to them what Kiki Golubović had to do with the subject of Introduction to Law. There were shouts from the audience for the professor to help the student: “Well, have you perhaps heard that he released a song?” The student mumbled: “Well, how do you know… what does his song have to do with Introduction to Law?” To this, Professor Lukić replied that he saw it on Facebook, at which the students burst into laughter again, while the now elderly Professor Lukić quickly tried to grasp the trends, attempting to conceptualize them, and just retorted: “Colleague, law is part of society.” After that, he simply began a conversation with the younger professor about the status of trends in law, but as new generations of students and new regulations regarding their status arrived, the young man dared and said: “Professor, I have heard about your quips, but please, everything in its own time… what Golubović, what songs! Are you going to invent some kind of musical law next?!”
Professor Lukić was in a dilemma. Timeless postulates of legal science, advice and messages of the philosophy of law, the history of political and legal theories were lining up in his mind, but at that moment he suddenly stood up and walked towards the door, seemingly absorbed in his own thoughts. All the students anxiously looked at him, and to the young professor, it seemed as if he heard Lukić’s words: “Problem… objectively… changing.” The rest of the sentence was lost as in a fog, the door closed, and silence fell in the lecture hall. The students looked a bit worried at the professor, somehow seeking some encouragement because Professor Lukić had never been the first to leave an exam. The young professor, aware of his students’ lack of life experience, just said: “Let’s hope we will understand Professor Lukić when the right time comes.” And then he continued with the examination.
In honor of a great man above all, academician Professor Radomir Lukić and his “students”
Taken from: https://www.istorijskizabavnik.rs/blog/radomir-lukic
Short Biography
Professor Radomir Lukić was a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, a full professor at the Faculty of Law, a theorist of legal sciences, and the founder of the Department of Philosophy and Sociology of Law. He wrote the first Yugoslav textbook on sociology.
From a young age, he was considered an exceptional person. He was born and raised in the village of Miloševac, raised by his grandfather because his father died in the war, and a significant influence on his direction came from the village teacher, who persuaded his grandfather to further his education. He earned his doctorate at the Sorbonne in Paris, defending his dissertation dressed in Serbian, Šumadija folk costume, which surprised the committee members. When he appeared dressed like that, he simply asked: “Do you want me to defend my work in French or English?”
He rarely appeared in public. Among students, Professor Lukić was known as a strict professor. Those who took exams with him, more than the grade, feared his witty remarks. Thus, he gained the status of an urban legend in Belgrade during his lifetime, and countless anecdotes about him are still told today.
Radomir Lukić died in 1999 and was buried in his native Miloševac. At the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, scholarships are awarded from the “Radomir D. Lukić” foundation. The largest amphitheater (popularly known as “the five”) bears his name.