 Considered to be among the most influential Serbian mathematicians of the 20th century, Karamata was one of the founders of the Mathematical Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, established in 1946.Jovan Karamata was born in Zagreb on February 1, 1902 into a family descended from merchants based in the city of Zemun, which was then in Austria-Hungary, and now in Serbia.Being of Aromanian origin, the family traced its roots back to Pyrgoi, Eordaia, West Macedonia "(his father Ioannis Karamatas was the president of the "Greek Community of Zemun")".