 Probable reason for this was the fact that Mihailo Petrović Alas was first a private tutor and mentor and later a close friend of the prince Đorđe P. Karađorđević, the king's brother, who was arrested in 1925, and held in house arrest.In 1931, members of the academy unanimously proposed Alas for the president of the academy, but authorities again dismissed this proposal.Mathematician and physicist Bogdan Gavrilović, a fellow professor, was nominated instead.