milutin milanković was born in the village of dalj, a settlement on the banks of the danube in what was then part of austro-hungarian empire (present day croatia). milutin and his twin sister were the oldest of seven children. their father was a merchant, landlord, and a local politician who died when milutin was eight. as a result, milutin and his siblings were raised by his mother, grandmother, and an uncle. his three brothers died of tuberculosis as children. as his health was fickle, milutin received his elementary education at home (in "the classroom without walls"), learning from his father milan, private teachers, and from numerous relatives and friends of the family, some of whom were renowned philosophers, inventors, and poets. he attended secondary school in nearby osijek, completing it in 1896.