Kon was born in Csongrád. His father was a rich rabbi and was the director of an elementary school. Unable to complete school, Kon moved to Belgrade in 1889. In Belgrade, he found work in the bookshop owned by Frederick Breslauer. He worked in the shop until 1894, then moved to Novi Sad, staying there for a year.[1]
Publishing career
In 1901 he established a bookselling and publishing business which soon became the largest in Yugoslavia. From his premises in Belgrade he published over 3,500 books before his business was closed in 1941 with the Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia.[2]
In 1906 he began publishing the journal Archives of Law and Social Sciences. The first catalogue of books of his publications Gece Kona came out in 1910. The catalogue contained 50 books, a selection that included many famous Serbian writers, including Mihailo Gavrilović, Slobodan Jovanović, Toma Živanović, Stojan Novaković and Gojko Niketić.[1]
He was attacked for being Jewish in the antisemitic journal Balkan. When the German army occupied Serbia, Kon reloacted briefly to Vrnjačka Banja, where he was arrested. He was moved to Sajmište concentration camp near Belgrade, and later to Austria, where he was executed.[3][4]
Marriage and family
Kon married Elsa Wiles in 1902. They had two daughters, Elvira and Malvina. His wife and daughters, alongside other family members, were killed by the Nazis in the town of Jabuka near Pančevo.[4]
Bookstore
In the early 20th century, Geca Kon's bookstore operated from several locales in the center of Belgrade, and in 1932 settled at the address 12 Knez Mihailova Street.[5] Prior to World War II it was the largest bookstore in the Balkans, with 700 pages of its 1938 catalogue featuring 16,000 titles.[4]
In 2021 the bookstore was remodeled in the spirit of the original design, with wood panels around the store windows and the entry door with the mechanism from the 1930s. The upper floor includes a memorial space with fully restored furniture and Kon's personal items.[6]
