Draft:Marko Dragovic

Marko Dragović (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Драговић; Velestovo, Principality of Montenegro, 22 August 1852 — Cetinje, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, 19 September 1918) was a Serbian historian, secretary of the Ministry of Education of Montenegro, judge, professor in Podgorica, and cultural worker from the Montenegro. He is best remembered as a proud Serb hailing from the land of Montenegro. In his work "That's how they spoke" (Kako su govorili), historian Marko Dragović wrote:

"Every Montenegrin prided himself on being a Serb, of the Orthodox faith and retaining his golden freedom..."

Life and work

His mother, Krstinja, was the daughter of Jovan Jovović from Markovica, whose cousins were the priest Milo Jovović and priest Luka Jovović. Marko Dragović's brother was Živko Dragović, a Serbian writer, professor, and politician. That family produced other famous and influential figures. At the age of eleven, he came to Cetinje. After primary and secondary school, he graduated from Bogoslovija, 1869-1872, being among the first generation. After graduating (1872) from the Cetinje Theological Seminary, Dargović worked as a teacher in the village of Njeguš and a school in Brčeli (1871-1876). He was a member of the Montenegrin Fighter society and began collaborating in the newspaper Crnogorac (Montenegrin) in 1872. During the Herzegovina Uprising and the Montenegrin-Turkish War (1876-1878), he was a correspondent for Miletić's Zastava. In 1878, he went to study at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, from where he graduated in 1882. In the same year, 1882, he returned to Montenegro and 1884 was appointed secretary of the Ministry of Education and Church Affairs. At the same time, he performed the duties of the chief supervisor of the Public School. He was one of the founding members of the Serbian Archaeological Society in 1883. He was elected a corresponding member of the Serbian Learned Society in 1885. He became an honorary member and correspondent of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1891. In 1892, he moved to Ulcinj, where he worked as a secretary of the District Court. In Ulcinj, he was the president of the Ulcinj Reading Room in 1902. From 1907, he worked as a professor at the newly-founded Gymnasium in Podgorica. He retired in 1911 at his request and lived in Cetinje from then on. He edited the Municipal Gazette (1914) and several issues of the Vjesnik (1915). He spent the last years of his life in poverty. For opposing King Nikola, he was imprisoned on the island of Grmožur for four years.

Although he did not receive a formal education as a historian, Dragović devoted himself with great devotion to the study of history and, with his works, which were often pioneering, significantly raised the level of historical knowledge about Montenegro. Of particular importance is his work on publishing sources that he mainly collected during his education in Moscow and Petrograd or during research in Montenegro and Boka Kotorska. The archival materials that Dragović published, either independently or as supplements to monographs and treatises, are not without shortcomings that stemmed from insufficient knowledge of the principles of publishing historical sources or the criteria for selecting documents. However, despite these shortcomings, Dragović's publications continue to represent an important support for Serbian researchers in the history of Montenegro, starting from the time of the Crnojević until the second half of the 19th century. Dragović practiced critical thinking and observation of the past, and wrote several contributions on the history of Montenegro. In his works, he failed to resolve any of the major issues of Montenegrin history; however, he successfully dealt with a wide range of topics, all types of human activity in the past, basing his research not only on historical sources but also on folk tradition. He published his most important works in the Letopis (Gazette) of the Serbian Learned Society, the Monument and Antiquities of the JAZU, but a large part of his scientific work is scattered in numerous local Montenegrin journals.

Dragović is also a pioneer of an organized work on the systematic collection of diverse materials about the history of Montenegro. He began this work by cataloging the material. Marko Dragović is arguably the first Montenegrin bibliographer.

He carefully studied the history of Montenegro and the Bay of Kotor, and published historical findings, especially those from Russian archives. His treatises and works are widely scattered throughout numerous Montenegrin publications of that time and are difficult to access.

Major works

His major works are:

• "Materials for the history of Montenegro" 1-3 ("From the reign of Bishop Peter I "), 4. ("Russia and Montenegro 1780-1790"), 5. ("Correspondence of Bishop Peter II with Austria")
• "Monuments about Stephen the Small"
• "Materials for the history of Montenegro from the time of Metropolitans Danilo, Sava Petrović, and Vasilije Petrović"
• "Contributions to the history of Boka Kotorska"
• "Contributions to the history of Montenegro and Boka Kotorska in the early 19th century"
• "Contributions to the history of Montenegro from the time of bishop metropolises from various tribes"
• "The struggle of the Montenegrins with the Turks for supremacy over Grahovo"
• "Several documents on the centuries-old independence of Montenegro"
• "Metropolitan of Montenegro Vasilije Petrović Njegoš or the history of Montenegro from 1750 to 1766" (1884)
• "The Migration of the Montenegrin Lord Ivan Crnojević from the City of Rijeka to Cetinje in 1485" (1886).

He also published "Instructions for Collecting Materials for the History and Geography of Montenegro" (2nd edition 1885). He also left behind several unpublished but completed manuscripts.

Academician

He was a corresponding member of the Serbian Learned Society since 1885. He was an honorary member of the Serbian Royal Academy since 1892.

Literature

The Serbian–Croatian–Slovenian National Encyclopedia, Belgrade, 1924.1 (N. Radojčić).

External links

• Short biography on the SANU website

References

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D0%94%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B; and the Serbian Encyclopedia:

http://www.srpskaenciklopedija.org/doku.php?id=%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B