The Gradaščevići were better managers than today's

The Gradaščevići are among the greatest benefactors in northeastern Bosnia and certainly among the greatest in all of BiH, said Nusret ef. Kujraković, chief imam of the Islamic Community in Gradačac, in a statement to the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

A few days ago, his book "The Endowment of the Gradaščević Noble Family" was published, which deals with the endowments of this family from their establishment to nationalization.

The assets that the Gradaščevići donated as a voluntary contribution for their people and their country are impressive, says ef. Kurjaković. It includes over 1,500 hectares of the best land plots, five mosques, three madrasas, dozens of shops and other facilities, water supply systems... However, the way in which the Gradaščevići, as well as other benefactors of that time, endowed property is also impressive. What they gave, says Kurjaković, was not only sustainable or self-financing, but also generated certain revenues which were also invested in the development and progress of society.

- When the Gradaščevići built a mosque, they would also build several shops next to it, from whose revenues the maintenance of the mosque, the imam's salary, etc., would be financed. Today, benefactors do not think in such a way at all – explains ef. Kujraković.

The value of the property that the Gradaščevići donated to serve the people with whom they lived could be estimated today at tens of millions of convertible marks.

- It includes two madrasas in Gračanica, one in Gradačac, four mosques in Gradačac, a mosque in Modriča, then a mesjid in Gradačac, a muallimhana in Modriča, various public fountains, water supply systems, but also many other facilities throughout northeastern BiH – says ef Kujraković.

The land that these benefactors donated were the most exclusive land plots in the city centers, which they leased to tenants for building facilities, but the land still remained the property of the endowment. After the Austro-Hungarian rule arrived in BiH, the controversial Land Registry Law was passed, and based on Article 24 of that law, all that endowment property was confiscated, which led to the disappearance of the largest part of the endowment property.