Ilija (Elijah) Monte Radlovic (5 July 1914 – 26 August 2000) was a British Army officer, an author, and businessman.

Personal background

Radlovic was born in the country of Montenegro. After studying at Cambridge University in England, he embarked on a career in journalism. He eventually worked for the

Reuters News Agency Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

in London after World War II. Previous jobs included the

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

, and on the staff of the ''Balkan Herald''. After further publishing endeavors he went back to study law in Belgrade.

Military career

In a daring and internationally reported event, Radlovic helped organize a group of fellow fugitives from the Naval Base at Kotor after the German carpet bombing of the capital of Belgrade. They fled for freedom on board the British built

Hrabri-class submarine The ''Hrabri'' class consisted of two submarines built for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and SlovenesYugoslavia from 1929 onby Vickers-Armstrong in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1927, the boats were named (Brave) and (Fearless). Their desig ...

named Nebojša (Fearless) during the German bombing invasion of April, 1941. After a treacherous journey, endangered by Axis bombing (at one point his family heard radio reports that the submarine was missing and believed sunk), he arrived in Alexandria, Egypt. He eventually enlisted in the British Army. Serving with the famous "

Desert Rats The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the ''Desert Rats'' nickname. After the Muni ...

", commanded by General

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and t ...

, Radlovic participated in many battles (such as Tobruk, El Alamein and Monte Cassino) throughout North Africa and Italy. He rose to the rank of major as a sharpshooter in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

. He was recognized as the first

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

officer to enter via tank into Bologna and Padua in Italy. He was highly decorated by the British government and awarded the Order of the British Empire by

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

for his efforts behind enemy lines. Image:ElijahRadlovic2.png, Click to Enlarge

Literary activities

Radlovic spent time as a correspondent for Reuters offices in London, Rome and Belgrade. At times he was accused of being a Western Agent. While working in the London office of Reuters he worked with the famed British journalist and TV host

Derek Jameson Derek Jameson (29 November 1929 – 12 September 2012) was a British tabloid journalist and broadcaster. He began his career in the media in 1944 as a messenger at Reuters and worked his way up to become the editor of several British tabloid ...

. In his autobiography, ''Touched by Angels'', Jameson writes that in the group of journalists in the office, "Foremost among this group was a Yugoslav war hero name Monte Radlovic, six-foot tall and good-looking with it." He said Radlovic, after the North African and Italian campaigns, "was among troops who linked up with Tito's forces on the liberation of his homeland" of Yugoslavia. Later Radlovic's positions against Yugoslav president

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

and communism became well known at the Reuters office. After Reuters he then founded the influential publication ''European Affairs'' where he worked closely with Bertrand Russell and George Bernard Shaw. He came to the US in 1950, where he busied himself with literary activities. Living in Washington D.C. Radlovic started a magazine, ''The Diplomat''. He authored two books, ''Tito's Republic'' (eventually translated into seven languages), and ''Etiquette and Protocol''. Furthermore, he worked as Director of an anti-communist organization, the British Institute for Political Research. He enjoyed a great friendship with the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose wife was from his home country of Montenegro.

Family

In the late 1950s, Radlovic went back to Yugoslavia to recommence legal studies at the University of Belgrade, where, in 1959, he met another student, Milena Djukic, who became his wife. Before the birth of his first son, Radlovic was again compelled to flee Yugoslavia after Communist officials threatened to jail him for his anti-communist activities. He moved to Covina, California where he was soon joined by his wife and son. By the early 1960s, he had built a thriving real estate business, and decided to move to Claremont, California. It was there that a daughter and second son were born.

Business ventures

In the years that followed, Radlovic became involved in a number of flourishing business ventures. He founded Pomona Realty Co., which grew to encompass 16 offices, and United Business Brokers, both located in the Inland Empire of Southern California. The company offered free seminars for entrepreneurs on how to develop successful businesses. Observers estimated that United Business Brokers played in a role in the creation of more than 150 businesses in the Inland Empire. For years he was the owner of the well-known restaurant Magic Towers, located at 540 E.Foothill Boulevard (Route 66) in Pomona, California. In his later years, even after he became seriously ill, he worked on a project to build a World Trade Center near the Ontario International Airport, which never reached fruition.

Memberships and organisations

He was active in a number of organizations, principally as a Master Mason of the Claremont Masonic Lodge, as a member of the Almalikah Shrine and Pasadena Scottish Rite in Los Angeles, and of the Claremont University Club.

Death

Radlovic died at age 86. He left behind his wife Milena, of Claremont, sons Mike Radlovic of Diamond Bar, CA, Marko Radlovic and wife, Julie, with 3 granddaughters of Sherman Oaks, CA (Samantha, Sydney, Sophia), daughter Alexandra Radlovic of Paris, France, and two children from a previous marriage, Sally and Adrienne. Longtime friends California State Senator Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga and L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich led their respective elected bodies in adjourning in Monte Radlovic's memory upon the day of his death in August 2000. A close friend, Nicholas Polos, described Radlovic as "a warm and friendly person," with "European manners," and as "an elegant gentleman and scholar." Congressman David Dreier said of him, "Monte Radlovic epitomized the American Dream. He was an immigrant who came to the United States and did extraordinarily well. I had the privilege of knowing him for 20 years, and was very, very saddened by his passing."

Sources

1. Autobiography "Touched by Angels," by Derek Jameson 2. The Diplomat – http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/roebling/roebling_containerlist.shtml 3. Tito's Republic – https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-1996804-4039248?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=I.%20Monte%20Radlovic 4. Tito's Republic – http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/f41c4f31330d70cb.html 5. Etiquette & Protocol – used as source for US Air Force "Guide to Civil Air Patrol Protocol" 6. Etiquette & Protocol cited here – http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/ercdesk/text/protocol.html 7. Etiquette & protocol;: A handbook of conduct in America – http://cgi.ebay.com/Etiquette-&-protocol_:-A-handbook-of-conduct-in-America_W0QQitemZ290284382234QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20081222?IMSfp=TL081222115001r3274 8. Congressman David Dreier 9. Amazon.com – https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-1996804-4039248?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=I.%20Monte%20Radlovic 10. Frank Lloyd Wright: A Bio-bibliography -https://books.google.com/books?id=kKwWH7z92KwC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=monte+radlovic&source=web&ots=atkBvLIKpu&sig=4QGThBOQ4TFJvsaQe8KywS2u9Zg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result {{DEFAULTSORT:Radlovic, Elijah Monte American reporters and correspondents King's Royal Rifle Corps officers American real estate businesspeople American people of Montenegrin descent Members of the Order of the British Empire 1914 births 2000 deaths Yugoslav emigrants to the United States British Army personnel of World War II Alumni of the University of Cambridge University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers