Jovan Dragašević

Jovan Dragašević (Požarevac, Principality of Serbia, 4 February 1836 - Niš, Kingdom of Serbia, 1 July 1915) was a Serbian military geographer, historian and writer. He was acting Chief of the Serbian General Staff in 1877, professor at the Military Academy and the Velika škola in Belgrade, as well as an honorary member of the Serbian Royal Academy. [1] [2]

Biography

He was born in Požarevac on 16 February 1836 (February 4 according to the Julian calendar). That is why he signed some works with "Braničevac", in his hometown. After finishing primary school in his hometown, he enrolled in the grammar school in Belgrade in 1855. [2] In the same year, he entered the Artillery School, graduating in 1860, when he was promoted to the rank of artillery lieutenant.

Jovan was married to Milo, and they had three sons in marriage: Borivoj, Gradimir and Velibor. Velibor Dragašević is known as the editor of the newspaper Vojnički glasnik. [3]

Jovan Dragašević died during the First World War in Niš on 14 July 1915 (July 1 in the Old Style), where a funeral service was held in the local Cathedral. The body was transported by train to Belgrade, where he was buried. [4]

Educational career

A year after graduating from school (1861), he became a professor at his alma mater, and he remained in this position, except for small breaks, until 1885. [2] [1] For 23 years, Dragašević taught geography, general and military history [5], stylistics, war skills, strategy and cosmography. He was also one of the founding members and a member of the first Board of the Serbian Archaeological Society in 1883. [6] He taught geography and the Serbian language to the young Serbian King Milan Obrenović. Dragašavić was the first Serbian scientific geographer to systematically deal with geography as science in Serbia, especially military geography, which he considered the basis of strategy. [2] In addition to the Artillery School of the Military Academy, he was also a professor at the Visoka škola in Belgrade [1], where he taught comparative geography and ethnography. [2]

Military career

As already mentioned, after graduating from the Artillery School on 19 August 1860, he was promoted to the rank of infantry [7] sublieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant on 30 July 1862 and became a class II captain on 1 January 1866. He passed the examination for a general staff officer on December 19, 1867, [8] and appeared in the rank of a full-fledged captain of the 1st class on 1 January 1870. His career continued in the General Staff through the rank of Major (1874), Lieutenant Colonel (1876) until the rank of Colonel which he obtained on 1 December 1880. From Colonel he was promoted to General before Dragašević retired on 27 April 1888, and twelve years later (13 July 1900) he was promoted to the rank of honorary general, [1] with the right to wear a general's uniform. During the bombing of Belgrade in 1862, he was the commander of the Lyceum (student) legion, and in 1867 the organizer and commander of the Bulgarian Legion. [9]

In addition to the above, in his military career, he performed the following, other, functions:

• Commander of the Kruševac Brigade and on duty at the Supreme Command Headquarters in 1876;
• Chief of the Adjutant Department of the Supreme Command Staff 1877-1878;
• Expert on territorial issues at the Serbian delegation to the Berlin Congress in 1878;
• Chief of the History Department of the General Staff (1878-1885);
• Assistant Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command in 1885;
• Assistant Chief of General Staff, etc. functions; [5] [2]

He was acting Chief of the General Staff in 1877. He stayed in Kingdom of Romania on a special mission, and at the time of the Berlin Congress (1878), he was sent as a military expert to help Jovan Ristić. He published as the third part of his autobiography "Memories of the Berlin Congress".

Scientific and literary work

Even as a cadet, Dragašević started writing. The first song "Prayer" was written by young Jovan in 1854. His most significant literary works are Poems (1860 and 1869), "The Battle of Negotin or the Death of Hajduk Veljko" (1861), True Stories (autobiography part one, 1888), "Empress Jelena" (unfinished 1890), etc. [10] He was known among Serbs for his work "Jovan Kursula". [11]

Dragašević was a member of the Society of Serbian Letters from 1862, and later a member of the Serbian Academic Society (1864) and the Serbian Royal Academy (1869), the forerunner of today's SANU. He wrote Principles of Military Geography, Military Stylistics 1 and 2, Military Eloquence, Cosmetry, Chronography, Soldier on the March, Illyrian Tropolje (Balkan Peninsula): military-political study, Ethnographic map of Serbian lands and numerous other works. [10] He was also a founding member and a member of the first Board of the Serbian Archaeological Society in 1883. [source requested]

Influenced by the activities of the Society of Serbian Literature, he worked on collecting archival material and writing national history, while in 1865 he submitted a paper and a plan on how to organize military history in Serbia. [5] He was also the representative of Serbia at the International Conference of Geographers in 1875, as a delegate of the Serbian Academic Society. He is considered the founder of Serbian military terminology, and he was also one of the first Serbian officers to deal with science. His Cosmetry on methods for determining time, geographical coordinates and magnetic declination using simpler instruments and devices (clocks, sextan

Influenced by the activities of the Society of Serbian Literature, he worked on collecting archival material and writing national history, while in 1865 he submitted a paper and a plan on how to organize military history in Serbia. [5] He was also the representative of Serbia at the International Conference of Geographers in 1875, as a delegate of the Serbian Academic Society. He is considered the founder of Serbian military terminology, and he was also one of the first Serbian officers to deal with science. His Cosmetry on Methods for Determining Time, Geographic Coordinates and Magnetic Declension Using Simpler Instruments and Devices (Clocks, Sextants, Theodolites, Compass and Compass) and Simpler Methods, published in 1875 for the needs of Artillery School cadets and High School students, is among the oldest textbooks from astronomy, written by an officer of the Serbian Army. [2]

He was the founder and editor for seven years of the newspaper Vojin, which he started in 1864 and which was the first military newspaper in the Balkans. As the head of the Historical Department of the General Staff, he later founded and edited the newspaper "Ratnik" for nine years (until his retirement). [12] He started and edited the political newspaper "Dardanija" for five months, and he also collaborated with articles in the newspapers "Vila", "Danica", "Velika Srbija" and "Šumadinka". [13] He is the author of the slogan "Only the unity of the Serb saves", believing that the four arrows on the Serbian coat of arms can be interpreted in this way - as an abbreviation of the four Cyrillic letters "S". [2]

The apple variety (Soldat labourer) - Dragaševka - is named after Jovan Dragašević, and this name was given by the initiative of the Serbian Agricultural Society in gratitude to Dragašević because he was one of the first people in Serbia to grow new types of fruits and flowers. [10] He is one of the first members and associates of that society. [14]

Bibliography

• Poems, Zemun 1860;
• Military Stylistics, Book 1-2, Belgrade 1871-1876;
• Principles of Military Geography, Belgrade 1876;
• Military Eloquence, Belgrade 1876;
• True Stories, Belgrade 1888;
• Empress Jelena, Belgrade 1890;
• Apodixis (second part of the autobiography), Belgrade 1891.

Decorations

He was awarded the Order of the Cross of Takovo the second-, third- and fifth- degree, the Order of Saint Sava of the second and third degree, and the commemorative medals of the Serbian-Turkish Wars (1876-1878) and Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 with other decorations. [5]

References

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