Many of you have heard about Phileas Fogg and his adventures in Jules Verne’s 1873 novel Around the World in Eighty Days. A similar play was written in 1910 by Serbian playwright Branislav Nušić, called Пут око света (Travel Around the World). In the play, the main character Jovanča Micić goes around the globe from his hometown of Jagodina in central Serbia.

In 2019, the citizens of Jagodina made a monument to their famous neighbor and world traveler. The monument was made by Nebojša Cvetković, Jovanča is sitting on the top of the globe and there’s also a citation from a play instead of the equator. The figure atop the globe sits on a suitcase with an umbrella in his lap and his right hand outstretched.

There is also a street named after Jovanča in Jagodina. In 1964, Travel Around the World was made into a film directed by Soja Jovanović.