Danilo Kalafatović ( sr-cyr, Данило Калафатовић; 27 October 1875 – 1946) was a Serbian military officer and Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) who served in the armies of the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

( Royal Serbian Army) and

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

( Royal Yugoslav Army) during the first half of the 20th century. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was briefly Chief of the General Staff and Supreme Commander of Yugoslavia.

Biography

Kalafatović was born on 27 October 1875 in Konarevo. At the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Kalafatović became head of the operational section of the Serbian

general staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

. During the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

invasion of Yugoslavia, on 13 April 1941 General Kalafatović was named Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army by King Peter II, succeeding General

Dušan Simović Dušan Simović (; 28 October 1882 – 26 August 1962) was a Yugoslav Serb Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia), army general who served as Chief of the General Staff (Yugoslavia)#Royal Yugoslav Armed Forces (1920–1941), Chief of the General Sta ...

, who was also serving as Prime Minister. Following the defeat of the

, Kalafatović designated

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Aleksandar Cincar-Marković and General Radivoje Janković to sign the unconditional surrender of the country to the Axis powers. He died in 1946 in Moosburg an der Isar,

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

. His military archive is located in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

References

Sources

* * * 1875 births 1946 deaths People from Kraljevo People from the Principality of Serbia Serbian soldiers Royal Yugoslav Army personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Serbian military personnel of World War I Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Royal Serbian Army soldiers Date of death missing Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) {{Europe-mil-bio-stub