Friday, September 09, 2005

Rendering unto Caesar

UNLIKE many of Europe's cultural treasures, the monastery of Decani—a lovely mix of Romanesque architecture and Byzantine art—faces little risk from changes in the physical environment. In this wooded valley at the foot of a forbidding mountain, there is no ecological challenge comparable to the acid rain that erodes cathedrals in Cologne and Cracow.

Yet the 30 Serbian monks who man this 700-year-old redoubt face far more lethal dangers than that. Having suffered several mortar attacks since Kosovo became an international protectorate in 1999, the community's survival hangs by a thread; its sole guarantors are the Italian troops who patrol the unruly region in armoured cars. Take that guard away, and this medieval fortress would almost certainly suffer the fate of the 35 religious buildings that were damaged or wrecked by mobs during the two days of rioting, against Serbs and other non-Albanians, which shook the province last year.


So Decani's Father Sava Janjic, an internet-dextrous cleric known as the cyber-monk, is one of the many people who are watching nervously as the western powers that oversee Kosovo prepare for talks on the future of the province. The emotional stakes in Kosovo's bid for independence—massively backed by the ethnic Albanian majority—rose this week after the Kosovars' veteran leader, Ibrahim Rugova, said he had lung cancer.

“Whatever is decided about Kosovo's status, there will be a need for an international security force to guard places like this,” says Father Sava. He suggests that the care of Decani and other historic sites in Kosovo might be entrusted to an international body like the Council of Europe. “Above all, we don't want to be used by any side to stake out territory,” he insists.

Avoiding that danger—the use of holy sites and symbols to justify territorial claims—will be easier said than done. In several parts of the southern Balkans, religion, politics and diplomacy have recently become entangled in a messy way.

In Macedonia, a notionally religious dispute (pitting one Slavic Orthodox church against another) has led to a straining of ties with Serbia, with bizarre results. For example, a Serbian minister says he has held back two passenger aircraft which Serbia rents out to the Macedonian national airline—in part, at least, because of the general downturn in relations. The dispute has come to a head following the jailing in Skopje of a bishop, Jovan Vraniskovski—who is either (depending on your viewpoint) a pro-Serbian troublemaker who has sold out the Macedonian cause, or the only Orthodox prelate in the land whose office is valid in the eyes of the rest of the eastern Christian world.

How can a country that aspires to join the European Union go locking up clerics? In church matters, as in regional politics, Macedonia's Slavic majority feels it has struggled hard (and so far, unsuccessfully) to gain due recognition from its Balkan neighbours—each of which rests its position on passionately held views of history. And to cut a long, Byzantine story short, Macedonia's Orthodox church has been out of step with the rest of eastern Christendom since 1967, when (as part of communist Yugoslavia's political intrigues) it broke free from its Serb overlords.

Under Orthodox procedures, a national church usually gains independence by negotiation with its erstwhile masters. Bishop Jovan's camp says it is not against Macedonian self-government—but it must be negotiated, not asserted unilaterally. The first step should be reconciliation with Serbia. But to many people in Skopje (including those with zero interest in religion) this stance means betrayal of a country that is fighting an unequal battle to win the world's respect. “People feel their national identity is under attack,” says Ana Petruseva of the Balkans Investigative Reporting Network, a news service.

That is the background to the authorities' egregious treatment of Bishop Jovan. On July 27th, he was sentenced to at least 18 months in jail for “instigating national and religious hatred”. His dastardly crimes include printing calendars that reflect his view of church affairs, under which his authority is legitimate and that of his critics is not. The Supreme Court in Skopje may yet release him; but Bishop Jovan also faces separate charges of embezzling funds.

Meanwhile his opponents feel they are the victims. “It is not Jovan we are up against, but greater Serbian chauvinism,” laments Bishop Naum, a leading figure in the Macedonian church, reflecting the common view that the whole affair is a product of tricks hatched in Belgrade. His suspicions do not end there. He reckons that by meddling in Macedonian church politics, Serbia's authorities—both political and religious—are gearing up for a bigger contest in Montenegro, where a vote on independence may be held next year.

Bishop Naum may be exaggerating the tension in Montenegro, but his suspicions are not wholly absurd. As the “state union” between Serbia and Montenegro gets looser, the Serbian Orthodox church, and the federal army, are among the few agencies that straddle the two entities; and they co-operate. In July, the army sent helicopters to erect a small Orthodox church on Montenegro's Mount Rumija. To backers of independence, this act seemed like a provocation, organised from Belgrade.

Father Velibor Dzomic, a Serbian Orthodox priest in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, disagrees: he says all his church wants is equality under the law—and protection from a new Montenegrin Orthodox church that challenges its status.

Even as they proclaim their love of Serbia, some priests in Montenegro give the impression that they are hedging their political bets and preparing for the day when Montenegro's ties with Belgrade are broken. Could this be so? “Our first concern”, insists Father Velibor, “is the kingdom of heaven.” If only that were always true.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Milosevic picked Kingdom of Heaven, too. Soo innocent it makes me cry.
Serb Orthodox Church is deeply involved in politics and as such nobody should be surprised when it suffered the consequences of dirty, violent Balkan politics.

Anonymous said...

"...we are up against... greater Serbian chauvinism" said Bishop Naum.

Well said Bishop Naum.

Join the club!

Yours,

Croatians, Bosnians, Hungarians, Albanians, Montenegrans, Romas...

Anonymous said...

TMK has offered its protection for the monuments. At least they won't run away like the Italians did when the mobs of HS teenagers arrived.

Let's give them a chance.

I hope Father Sava can stand the idea that goes against his ideology, since he claims his interest is not taking sides but protecting Serb cultural legacy.

Anonymous said...

Actually Father Sava is protecting old Catholic Albanian sites. The church of Decani can be traced back to an architect that designed other catholic sites in Croatia during the Roman times. He was Albanian. Albanians should be allowed to visit the church and convert to Orthodox Christianity if they want to. They should also be allowed Albanian clerics if they so desire. This way the church can survive. I think this would be fair democracy. After all religion is supposed to be an ideology promoting peace and tolerance.

Anonymous said...

Many of you blogger might be surprised. Kosovo/Kosova will not be independent. It will neither go back to the pre 1999 era. It will be a protectorate like Bosnia. Probably you know this, or at least, you feel it already.
To 1.19 blogger; You must be joking. Should a church be guarded by some pyjamas dressed terrorists ? And something else, the Italian Kfor did not flee, they kicked ass like hell there. Just like the americans kicked asses in Gjilan. You are so misinformed and sometimes so stupid. Is it you media that is lying to you about all this with independency etc. Chill out or go and play doctor with some girls.
See ya !

Anonymous said...

hahaha. to the last blogger.

Since we're being lied by the media, where did you get your info? And nobody asked for your opinion whether KosovA will be or not independent. you can do nothing about it, like the whole serbian kingdom. I also think that you are confusing the march riots that the blogger was talking about with the war of 1999 . In that case I agree with you, Italians and my favorite ones, Americans kicked major ass; I wish they do it again - it's fun to watch.

Kisses from the Kosova,
Avni

Anonymous said...

blogger 2.03 makes a very good point. if not for converting to christianity we should protect the churches out of respect, for being part of our history and most importantly for the christian minority that we have in albania. now as far as the priest being jailed in macedonia i am for that.
the idea is this. every one accepts that vatican is the center of catholic christians but not even one sane italian would say that every one that is catholic is of italian minority. when it comes to orthodox christians there is not a center. Grece, Russia or Serbia do not satisfy the criteria. why? I was born an orthodox albanian (now anagnostic) and the fact that grece claims that each orthodox albanian is part of the grece minority in albania and therefore south of albania is and should be part of grece pisses me off so much. i do not want to remind them of cameria cause if i do i'll punch their teeth out first. the same goes for russia and serbia. Now, if some one who can keep their calm, can you tell me why should the macedonians allow this priest preach that the church should be under the serbian one. so Serbia can claim macedonia as its own? the author of this report says very clearly that religion is being used for political and territorial resons. not right, very very wrong. i am not saying this out of hatred for this religion, no, i respect every one whether they believe or not. i hate it when religion is used as a tool for political gains and other things.

Anonymous said...

"It will be a protectorate like Bosnia.

So an independent state...yepeeee....

Love to all Macedonia and a lot of ICE CREAM to SERBIA!!!!

Anonymous said...

"one of the oldest people in the world" hahahahahahah only a stupid insecure sheep fucker could say something as moronic as that, as if ALL the people of the world are not desending from "the oldest people in the world". dude show ME SHOW ONE THREAD OF EVIDENCE THAT SHOWS EVEN AN A IN ALBANIA FROM THE ILLIRIAN CULTURE (and dont give me the albanoi tribe bullshit caue if u are basing ur argument on that i can point the baku and azeri albania where u really came from). show ur "albanian and illirian connection" culture, art, monuments etc etc etc that were from the illirian times, show me when was the first time that the word ALBANIAN WAS USED - IT WAS IN THE 12th CENTURY!!! not 4, 10 or 20 thousand years ago. it is a know fact that all of the people of the balkans share common ansestors, now that fact that the albos have no culture and nothing of their own to be proud of is another issue. SHOW ME ONE, JUST ONE ALBANIAN SOURCE PRIOR TO THE 19TH CENTURY THAT CLAIMS U ARE THE ILLIRIANS??????!?!?!?!?! HAHAHAHAHAH U WILL NEVER FIND ONE!! NEVER!!! u guys started to lay cliam to that thoery in the 19th cent. after u saw the croats and serbs doing so as well. be original for once. and for ur info there are many muslim serbs in sandjak and bosnia and catholic serbs in dalmatia, and guess waht they were traitors just like u guys were to ur christian faith. check this out idiota:

Continuity in Balkans
Despite the multiethnic nature of the Balkans, it seems that most inhabitants of the peninsula share common ancestors. Scientists feel that we will have a better picture of these ethnic trajectories within the next several years. The genetic marker M170 appears to have come from the Middle East to the Balkan region roughly 20,000 years ago. It seems today that this marker is unique to the Balkans area, though research suggests that about 80% of European genetic stock goes back to Paleolithic period.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Balkans

Anonymous said...

To the idiot blogger above, just last week an 8 thousand years old habitation was unearthed from the region of th Enkelei tribe. The day before that a 10 thousand year old graveyard was found in the region of Korce. Meanwhile the Serbs have been in the Balkans for a maximum of 1 300 years.

Anonymous said...

No one is impressed with your baseless claims to be of an ancient peoples. It has not been proven, it cannot be proven. You are merely Europe's embarrassment.

Anonymous said...

Is this someone from the European Donkeys, wooops my bad Europeann tigers talking? Why cant it be proven because that's what your terrorist pedofile priest told you? Open Encarta Encyclopedia sometimes, its good to free yourself from the fatal fumes of the Serbian church and State propaganda.

Anonymous said...

READ IT AND CRY SHEEP LOVERS!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAH!
all from wikipedia.org

Contribution to humanity:

Serbs have played a prominent role in the development of the arts and sciences. Prominent individuals have included the scientists Nikola Tesla, Mihajlo Pupin, Jovan Cvijic, Milutin Milanković and Mileva Maric (mathematician and Albert Einstein's first wife); the famous composer Josip Runjanin; Rudjer Boscovich's father was Serb. In the United States, two Serbs are NBA stars: Vlade Divac and Peja Stojaković and actress Mila Jovović's father is Serbian.
The mother of the last (Eastern) Roman Emperor Constantine XI Paleologos Dragases was Serbian princess Helene Dragas, and he liked to be known by her Serbian surname of Dragas.
According to the National Enquirer, author Ian Fleming patterned James Bond after Dusko Popov, a Serbian double agent nicknamed Tricycle.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed Slavonic March (Marche Slave) in 1876 known at first as the “Serbo-Russian March” based on Serbian folk melodies as “Come, my dearest, why so sad this morning?”

Writers:
David Albahari
Ivo Andrić (Nobel Laureate)
Svetislav Basara
Miodrag Bulatović
Miloš Crnjanski
Branko Ćopić
Radoje Domanović
Predrag R. Dragić Kijuk
Nićifor Dučić
Đura Jakšić
Petar Kočić
Dušan Kovačević
Marko Kraljević
Skender Kulenović
Stefan Lazarević
Mateja Matejić
Dimitrije Mitrinović
Nikola Moravčević
Branislav Nušić
Dositej Obradović
Milorad Pavić
Borislav Pekić
Goran Petrović
Nenad Petrović
Nenad Prokić
Jovan Rajić
Meša Selimović
Bora Stanković
Kosta Trifković
Srđa Trifković
Zoran Živković (SF writer)

Poets:
Kosta Abrašević
Mika Antić
Jovan Dučić
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj
Vojislav Ilić
Desanka Maksimović
Miloš Đoka Nikolić
Petar Petrović Njegoš
Sima Pandurović
Vladislav Petković Dis
Vasko Popa
Ratko Popović
Branko Radičević
Slobodan Rakitić
Milan Rakić
Charles Simic
Aleksa Šantić
Slobodan Vuksanović

Film arts:

Enki Bilal (Enes Bilal) (director)
Peter Bogdanovich (director)
Lolita Davidović (actress)
Brad Dexter (Boris Milanović - actor)
Milla Jovovich (Milica Nataša Jovović - model/actress)
Emir Kusturica (director)
Karl Malden (Mladen Sekulović) (actor)
Princess Catherine Oxenberg (actress of royal descent)
Velimir Bata Živojinović (actor)
Ljubisa Samardzić (actor/director)
Rade Šerbedžija (actor)
Paul Stojanovich (producer/director)
Bora Todorović (actor)
Srdjan Žika Todorović (actor)
Milena Dravić (actor)
Danilo Bata Stojković (actor)
Steve Tesich (Oscar-winning screenwriter and playwright)
Zoran Rankić (actor)
Dragan Nikolić (actor)

Painters:

Stojan Aralica
Petar Dobrović
Marko Čelebonović
Nedeljko Gvozdenović
Ignjat Job
Mladen Josić
Paja Jovanović
Uroš Knežević
Milan Konjović
Đorđe Krstić
Petar Lubarda
Milić od Mačve
Petar Marković
Đorđe Mitrofanović
Mihael Milunović
Vasa Pomorišac
Milena Pavlović-Barili
Nadežda Petrović
Zora Petrović
Mića Popović
Uroš Predić
Radul
Ljubica Sokić
Sava Šumanović
Ivan Tabaković
Zoran Velimanović

Sculptors:

Dušan Džamonja
Olga Jančić
Olga Jevrić
Đorđe Jovanović
Drinka Radovanović
Toma Rosandić
Jovan Soldatović
Sreten Stojanović
Matija Vukovic
[edit]
Performance artists
Marina Abramović

Cartoonists:

Enki Bilal (Enes Bilal)
Predrag Koraksić Corax
Aleksa Gajić
Branislav Kerac

Composers:

Petar Bingulac
Vojkan Borisavljević
Dejan Despić
Dragutin Gostuški
Zoran Erić
Aleksandar Simic
Stevan Hristić
Nikola Jeremić
Petar Konjović
Vuk Kulenović
Kosta Manojlović
Ljubica Marić
Miloje Milojević
Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac
Vasilije Mokranjac
Miloš Raičković
Rudolph Réti
Josif Runjanin
Marko Tajčević
Jasna Veličković
Tihomir Vujičić

Musicians:

Đorđe Balašević (pop singer)
Zdravko Čolić (pop singer)
Bora Djordjević (pop singer)
Željko Joksimović (pop singer)
Mile Kitić (singer)
Alex Lifeson (Aleksandar Živojinović - guitarist with "Rush")
Stefan Milenković (Violin player)
Svetlana Velickovic - Ceca (pop singer)
Milan Mladenovic (singer, guitar player, composer, poet)
Lepa Brena (singer - currently resides in Belgrade)
DJ Krmak (singer}
Goran Bregovic (Guitarist, Singer}
Bajaga (singer, band)
Dragan Kojic - Keba (singer}
Boban Markovic (singer, guitar player)
Aleksandar Simic (composer, pianist)
Holly Valance (Australian actress/singer)

Saints:

Saint Danilo II
Saint Jovan Vladimir
Saint Hieromartyr Lazar
Saint Justin Popović
Saint Nikolai Velimirović
Saint Peter of Cetinje
Saint Sava
Saint Simeon
Saint Stephen of Piperi
Saint Vasilije (Saint Basil of Ostrog, Saint Vasilije Ostroski)

Scientists:

Category:Serbian scientists
Milan Budimir
Jovan Chokor
Ljiljana Crepajac
Jovan Cvijić
Vladimir Ćorović
Veselin Čajkanović
Milan Damnjanović
Stevan Dedijer
Petar Djurković
Mihailo Djurić
Nićifor Dučić
Bogdan Gavrilović
Slobodan Jovanović
Pavle Ivić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
Jovan Karamata
Zoran Knežević
Đuro Kurepa
Mileva Marić
Milutin Milanković
Veljko Milković
Ogneslav Kostovic Stepanovic
Josif Pančić
Branislav Petronijević
Mihailo Petrović
Milorad B. Protić
Mihajlo Pupin
Jovan Rašković
V. Alexander Stefan
Nikola Tesla
Milan Vukcevich
Jovan Žujović

Military:

Old Times
Miloš Obilić
Hajduk Veljko
Starina Novak
Deli Radivoje
[edit]
Balkan Wars and WWI
Vojvoda Živojin Mišić
Vojvoda (Duke) Vuk Popović
Vojvoda Radomir Putnik
Stevan Sinđelić
Vojvoda Stepa Stepanović
General Pavle Jurišić Šturm (Paulus Sturm)
[edit]
WWII
Boško Buha
General Peko Dapčević
Žikica Jovanović-Španac
General Milan Nedić
Sava Kovačević
Dimitrije Ljotić
General Draža Mihailović
General Koča Popović
Žarko Zrenjanin
[edit]
Yugoslav Wars
General Ratko Mladić
Željko Ražnatović - Arkan
Milorad Ulemek Legija
[edit]
Foreign Armies
Louis Cukela (Major USMC)
Lance Sijan (Captain USAF)
Mele "Mel" Vojvodich (Major General USAF)
[edit]
Various
General Blagoje Adžić
General Božidar Janković
General Veljko Kadijević
General Nikola Ljubičić
General Kosta Nađ
General Dragan Paskaš
General Dušan Simović
Simela Šolaja
Serdar Janko Vukotić
Stanoje Glavaš
Janis Bukuvalis
Stojan Janković
[edit]
Entrepreneurs
William Jovanovich President and chief executive officer of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Bogoljub Karić
Milan Mandaric Owner and chairman of the Portsmouth football club
Milo Medin Vice President for now defunct @Home company
Ilija Milosavljević Kolarac
Kapetan Miša Anastasijević
Vladimir Mitić (Owner of Robne kuce Beograd)
Milan Panić President and Chief Executive Officer, MP Global Enterprises & Associates, USA
Djordje Vajfert (Czech originated Serb, owner of old Weifert brewery)
George Yerich (Successful businessman from Niagara Falls, Canada owns the Skylon and Holiday Inn)
Philip Zepter (owner of Zepter formerly known as Milan Janković)
Milan Puskar (Owner and Originator of Mylan Laboratories)
[edit]
Assassins, outlaws
Dragutin Dimitrijević Apis - leader of Black Hand organization
Mijailo Mijailović - Anna Lindh assassin; no political affiliations, mental illness
Gavrilo Princip - Serb national hero, assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Puniša Račić - parliament assassin of Stjepan Radić and Đuro Basariček
Jovo Stanisavljević Čaruga - outlaw
Joco Udmanić - outlaw
[edit]
World Record Holders
Vesna Vulović
Milorad Čavić
[edit]
Athletes
Category:Serbian sportspeople
[edit]
Group sports
[edit]
Basketball
Dejan Bodiroga
Dražen Dalipagić (Hall of Famer; Bosnian Muslim father, Bosnian Croat mother; naturalized Serb)
Vlade Divac
Predrag Danilović
Aleksandar Đorđević
George "Blind Bomber" Glamack
Mile Ilic
Marko Jaric
Igor Kokoskov
Radivoj Korac
Nenad Krstic
Press Maravich
Pete Maravich (Hall of Famer)
Darko Milicic
Aleksandar Nikolić (Hall of Famer)
Žarko Paspalj
Kosta Perovic
Gregg Popovich (NBA coach with San Antonio)
Zoran Savic
Borislav Stanković (Hall of Famer: Secretary-General FIBA)
Predrag Stojaković
Uros Tripkovic
[edit]
Football
Vladislav Bogićević
Dragan Džajić
Siniša Mihajlović (Croat mother)
Savo Milošević
Zoran Mirković
Bojan Neziri
Mike Pejic (Premiership)
Dejan Stanković
Dragan Piksi Stojković
Simon Vukčević
[edit]
Other
Norm Bulaich (NFL)
Walter Dropo (baseball) (AL Rookie of the Year: 1950)
Nikola Grbić (volleyball)
Vladimir Vanja Grbić (volleyball)
Sam Jankovich (administration}
Mickey Lolich (baseball}
Mike Mamula (NFL)
Ivan Miljković (volleyball)
John "Big Serb" Miljus (baseball)
Bob O'Billovich (CFL)
Aleksandar Šapić (waterpolo)
Dragan Škrbić (handball)
Goran Vujević (volleyball)
Peter Vuckovich (baseball) (AL Cy Young winner: 1982)
Peter Zezel (hockey)
[edit]
Solo sports
Milorad Cavic (swimming)
Jelena Dokić (tennis) (Serb born in Croatia)
Svetozar Gligorić (chess) - grandmaster, once rated the strongest European chess player outside Russia.
Ana Ivanovic (tennis)
Jelena Jankovic (tennis)
Daniel Nestor (Nestorović) (tennis)
Nataša Pavlović (flight)
Snezana Peric (karate)
Jasna Šekarić (shooting sports)
Bill Vukovich (car racing) (Two-time Indy 500 winner)
Nenad Zimonjić (tennis)
[edit]
Rulers and Politicians
[edit]
Historical
[edit]
Medieval
Vuk Branković (Medieval lord)
Prince Lazar
Tsar Stefan Dušan Silni (tzar)
Tsar Jovan Nenad
Stefan Lazarević
Vlatko Vuković (Medieval lord)
[edit]
Communist
Jovanka Broz Budisavljević (Tito's third wife)
Milovan Đilas (Communist leader and dissident)
Veselin Djuranović (Communist leader)
Dragoslav (Draža) Marković - mentor of Slobodan Milošević
Moma Marković father-in-law of Slobodan Milošević
Mirjana Marković
Miloš Minić (Communist leader)
Marko Nikezić (Communist leader)
Latinka Perović (Communist leader)
Moše Pijade (Communist leader of Jewish descent)
Milentije Popović (Communist leader)
Aleksandar Ranković - UDBA secret service
Ivan Stambolić (Head of Serbian Communists)
[edit]
Other
Zoran Đinđić
Stevan Doronjski
Pavle Beljanski (diplomat)
Dragiša Cvetković (pre-WWII prime minister)
Aleksandar Cincar-Marković (pre-WWII prime minister)
Sekule Drljević (politician)
Ilija Garašanin (foreign affairs advisor and minister)
Đoko Jovanić
Borisav Jović (former president of Yugoslavia)
Radovan Karadžić
Nikola Koljević
Svetozar Marković (Socialist)
Milan Martić - leader of the former Republic of Serbian Krajina
Milan Babić
Slobodan Milošević
Milan Panić
Stojan Protić
Nikola Pašić (prime minister)
Mehmed Paša Sokolović (Ottoman pasha)
Slobodan Penezić Krcun
Milanko Renovica
Petar Petrović Njegoš (prince-bishop)
Jovan Rašković (Serb party leader)
Jovan Veselinov
Veljko Vlahović
Radovan Vlajković
Svetozar Vukmanović - Tempo
Žarko Zrenjanin
Vidoje Zarković
Zoran Živković
[edit]
Current
Rod Blagojevich (Governor of Illinois)
Nenad Bogdanović
Predrag Bubalo
Momir Bulatović
Dragan Čavić
Nebojša Čović
Ivica Dačić
Vuk Drašković
Vojislav Koštunica
Miroljub Labus
Slobodan Lalović
Zoran Lončar
Predrag Marković
Svetozar Marović
Dragan Maršićanin
Nataša Mićić
Dejan Mihajlov
Tomica Milosavljević
Milan Milutinović
Radomir Naumov
Tomislav Nikolić
Milan Panić
Borislav Paravac
Milan Parivodić
Desnica Radivojević
Zoran Šami
Mirko Šarović
Goran Svilanović
Vojislav Šešelj
Boris Tadić
George Voinovich (US Senator - Ohio)
Helen Delich Bentley (Former Maryland Congresswomen)
Melissa Bean (US Congresswomen - Illinois)
Rose Ann Vuich (First woman elected to California Senate)
Slobodan Vuksanović
[edit]
Royals
[edit]
Obrenovic Dynasty Members
Miloš Obrenović
Milan Obrenović
Mihailo Obrenović
King Milan Obrenović
King Aleksandar Obrenović
Ljubica Obrenović
Queen Natalija Obrenović
Draga Mašin
[edit]
Karadjordjević Dynasty
Karadjordje Petrović (or Supreme Commander Karadjordje or Djordje Petrović)
Prince Alexander Karadjordjević,
HM King Petar I Karadjordjević,
HM King Alexander I Karadjordjević,
Princess Maria of Romania and Hohenzollern HM Queen Mother Maria,
HRH Tomislav Karadjordjević
HM King Petar II Karadjordjević,
Prince Pavle Karađorđević
Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark
HRH Princess Jelisaveta of Serbia and Yugoslavia
HM Crown Prince Alexander II of Serbia and Yugoslavia
[edit]
Others
Tijana Arnautovic (Miss World Canada - 2004)
Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich (First US born Serbian Orthodox priest: San Francisco 1863)
Đuka Mandić - mother of Nikola Tesla
Stevan Moljević
Mila Mulroney (nee Mila Pivnicki: Canada's First Lady)
Nikola Djuric (attorney with Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan)
[edit]
Connected to Serbs

Of course, a lot of f.e. world politicians are in some way connected to Serbs. But this list lists people intimately connected to Serbia or Serbs.
Madeleine Albright (saved by Serbs in Second World War)
Josip Broz (was married to Jovanka Broz Budisavljević)
Major Richard L. Felman (USAF, ret.)
Pierre-Henri Bunel
Luc Besson (was married to Milla Jovovich)
Patrick Besson
Albert Einstein (was married to Mileva Maric)
Mira Furlan (married to Goran Gajić)
Prentis Cobb Hale (married to Denise Minnelli Hale)
Peter Handke
Lottar Matthaus (coached FK Partizan Beograd)
Francis Mackenzie
Vincente Minnelli (married to Denise Minnelli Hale)
Archibald Reiss publicist, a professor, famous criminologist
Monica Seles (tennis player; an ethnic Hungarian born in Vojvodina)
Daniel Shifer
Aleksandar Solovjev (Александр Соловьёв)
Sir John Tavener (composed: The Epistile of Love and The Veil of the Temple on Serbian Medieval Poetry)
Henry McIver soldier of fortune - Serbian general de brigade
[edit]
Serbian language speakers, learners, etc.

Friedrich Engels
Johann Wolfgang von Göthe
Jakob Grimm
J. R. R. Tolkien
Leo Tolstoy

Anonymous said...

the modern Albanians were not mentioned in Byzantine chronicles until 1043, although Illyria was part of the Byzantine Empire, and since the Illyrians are referred to for the last time as an ethnic group in Miracula Sancti Demetri (7th century AD.), some scholars maintain that after the arrival of the Slavs the Illyrians were extinct. [3]
(see the Jireček Line) it is believed that most inhabitants of Illyria were Hellenized (the Southern part) and later Romanized (opponents say that some Illyrians were not Hellenized or Romanized, but maintained their own language, which may have been a proto-Albanian language). [4]
most Illyrian toponyms, hydronyms, names, and words have not been shown to be related to Albanian, and they do not indicate that Illyrians spoke a proto-Albanian language (opponents say that many of these toponyms, hydronyms and names are Hellenized and Romanized; whether the change in form is dramatic or not is hard to know in a number of cases).
ancient Illyrian toponyms (such as Shkoder from the ancient Scodra, Tomor from ancient Tomarus) were not directly inherited in Albanian, as their modern names do not correspond to the phonetic laws of Albanian [5]
a number of scholars believe that Illyrian was a Centum language, though others disagree. If Illyrian was Centum, then it is unlikely that Albanian (which is Satem) is an Illyrian language

Anonymous said...

would you please stop spamming this forum with this Serb information. It is not relavent to the topics at hand. Stay on topic please.