Serbia: Protest against transfer of inventor Nikola Tesla's ashes

2014-03-08 122

Hundreds of people have demonstrated in Belgrade against plans to transfer the ashes of electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla to a Serbian Orthodox Cathedral.

“Tesla brought the light, don’t leave him in the dark,” said a banner held by one protester.

An urn containing the physicist and inventor’s ashes has been on display for decades at his museum in the city.

Tesla, a Serb born in Croatia, was a pioneer in electricity, wireless communication and radio.

Church and nationalist authorities want Tesla’s ashes moved to the cathedral and interred, not kept on display.

The protesters, among them scientists, want his ashes to stay in the museum that honours his life’s work.