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family finances. Mirko’s job was to deliver the milk to neighboring houses before the start of each day’s classes.
    For the first few months in Novi-Sad, the lad found it difficult being apart from his immediate family. Compared to his schoolmates, he felt clumsy and was ashamed that he spoke with a country accent. He was not well travelled; he felt he had poor manners and had no book learning. But what he lacked in sophistication he made up for with an unshakeable will and an uncanny ability to adapt. He was a tireless worker which helped him prevail even when difficult circumstances presented themselves— and they often did in his life.
    Once he settled into his schooling, he quickly became well-respected among his teachers. Mirko loved school and was a fast learner. He also got along well with his aunt, uncle, and grandmother. Over the next ten years, Mirko realized that Turija was not a place to which he ever wanted to return. When he returned to visit, he found the time there endless. In 1942 Mirko successfully passed his Serbian baccalaureate test (the test allowing his graduation from school), and it was just in the nick of time, too. His high school was closed down a couple of days after his graduation because World War II was raging throughout Europe.
    In addition to World War II, civil conflict struck Yugoslavia. The entire country was now at war with itself while at the same time trying, and failing, to protect itself from Nazi Germany. Loyalties were divided and tensions ran high. While refusing to be political, different cliques of his friends pushed Mirko to join either with the Yugoslavian partisans, who fought the Germans, or the monarchists who feared communism more than the German invaders and who were attacking the partisans.
    He held back from joining either side.
    Mirko hesitated—he never had been interested in politics—but he finally decided to enlist with the partisans and spent several months traveling clandestinely from farm to farm, relaying messages. He was required to attend political meetings even though he disliked his situation and the way things were being run. His partisan buddies looked with disfavor on Mirko’s reserve, especially his lack of enthusiasm regarding some military maneuvers. Additionally, he cherished his freedom of speech and sometimes dared to criticize the “higher ups.”
    The atmosphere around him was getting tense. By a stroke of good luck, his situation changed. In 1944, Mirko was selected, along with several other Yugoslavian students, to receive a fellowship to continue his scholarship abroad; it was to be either in Moscow or Paris. At a meeting in Belgrade where these promising students assembled to learn the location of their fellowship studies, Mirko found himself in an unlikely group of compatriots: those who did not own a winter coat. Those students who were totally unprepared to face the harsh Moscow winters without warm clothing were automatically assigned to study in Paris, a choice which suited Mirko just fine. Paris had always been his preference. Thus his limited material possessions, along with his humble background, for once helped give him a great opportunity. And so it was that on a rainy day in the autumn of 1945, Mirko Beljanski arrived on the streets of Paris.
     
    Mirko, the Student
    Taking shelter in local student hostels, young Mirko Beljanski settled into a scholar’s life in Paris. Registration for college took place at the Sorbonne, where Mirko intended to obtain his doctoral degree in science. To participate in classes, he was required to learn French and to speak and read it fluently. Money was scarce; there was barely enough earned cash to rent a room, eat one good meal a day, and buy books. While he did experience his first romances, the young man preferred to remain on his own in order to fully dedicate himself to work in the sciences. Mirko had a great love of learning. He did well in chemistry but found his passion in