(ANSA) - TRIESTE, DEC 9 - "Not only history and tradition unite us, but also the future, which we are building together, and this city proves it." This is the message of "friendship between Serbia and Italy, based on mutual respect and cooperation" spread by Serbian first lady Tamara Vucic at the unveiling of a plaque to the memory of Dositej Obradović, writer, reformer and founder of modern Serbian education, who stayed in Trieste in the early 19th century. A friendship that is summed up in the "beautiful city Trieste, for centuries an important place in the cultural heritage of the Serbian people." President Vucic's wife stressed the importance of Trieste as "one of the most significant spiritual and cultural Serbian points," where "generations of Serbs have found refuge, open doors and a new home." Tamara Vucic also recalled the figure of Obradović, "a man who courageously led our people into the future," and that in 1808 Obradović founded the University of Belgrade, the oldest in Serbia, which began as the Belgrade High School. The plaque was affixed in Ponterosso Square 5, originally Palazzo Teodorović, built in 1791, and was unveiled in the presence of Serbia's ambassador to Italy, Mirjana Jeremić, Stavrophoric Protopresbyter Raško Radović, pastor of St. Spyridon's Church in Trieste, and representatives of the Serbian community in Italy, including Lidija Radovanović, president of the Union of Serbs in Italy. The Teodorović brothers - Petar (Peter), Đorđe (George) and Drago - were originally from Trebinje, Herzegovina. All three, in different years, served as presidents of the then Illyrian Community (now the Serbian Orthodox Religious Community), financially supporting the most important Serbian insurrections against the Ottoman Empire in 1804 and 1814. Drago Teodorović was also a patron and supported numerous writers of the time, including, indeed, the most distinguished, Dositej Obradović, who lived in this palace from 1802 to 1806. (ANSA).