Legacy

In the Personal Documents category, the following documents are preserved:

Tesla’s baptism certificate – Excerpt from the christening protocol of the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Smiljan, in the Serbian Orthodox parish of Gospić. There are two copies of the extract, made on October 19 and 31, 1883, and both are damaged extensively. They are hand written, the first part in Old Church Slavonic and the second in German.

Certificates from the 6th, 7th and 8th grades and a graduation certificate from the Royal Senior Secondary Technical School in Rakovac, Karlovac. Note: These are duplicate certificates issued on June 29, 1885.

Confirmation from the Customs Bureau of the Port of New York of the arrival of Tesla in New York on June 6, 1884, on the steamship City of Richmond.

Certificate of American Citizenship with a personal description of Nikola Tesla, issued on July 30, 1891.

Passport of Nikola Tesla, no. 1079, issued in Zagreb in the name of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia. The passport contains a personal description of Tesla. November 25, 1883.

Celebrations – The conferral on Tesla of an honorary doctorate in science by the Czech Technical University in Prague. Photograph album from the celebration and clippings from the Czech press; The award to Tesla of an honorary doctorate in science by the Brno University of Technology. Album with clippings from the Czech press, 1937; Celebration of Tesla’s 80th birthday. The People’s University in Nova Gradiška congratulates Tesla on his 80th birthday with an album, March 10, 1936; Commemoration of Tesla’s 75th birthday – a collection of letters from Tesla’s friends and admirers, various esteemed scientists and inventors from America, Europe and Yugoslavia sent greetings on his 75th birthday. Each of the 73 letters is mounted on a separate sheet of paper to make up a kind of scrapbook. This was organized by Tesla’s great friend, the young American journalist Kenneth Swezey in 1936.

Diplomas – which Nikola Tesla received from various institutions on various occasions during his life. This collection comprises 56 diplomas awarded between 1986 and 1939.

Documents relating to the death and burial of Nikola Tesla – Death certificate issued by the City of New York Health Department on January 11, 1943: date of death – January 7, 1943, date of funeral – January 12, 1943. This certificate was issued on March 11, 1955; Certificate of the cremation of Nikola Tesla, no. 11,759, in Ferncliff Crematorium on March 25, 1943, issued on March 25, 1943; Information on Tesla’s funeral – The Information Centre of the Royal Yugoslav Government in New York issued information on the protocol of Tesla’s funeral: After his death, Tesla’s body was transferred to the Campbell Funeral Chapel, the funeral service will be held in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on January 12, 1943, at 4.00 p.m. The protocol also lists the priests officiating at the funeral, the people giving eulogies and the people who would make up the guard of honor during the funeral; Book of Condolences containing expressions of sympathy for the family; A Eulogy for the Honorable was broadcast on January 10, 1943, by Radio New York. It was written by Louis Adamic and read by the mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia.