Gerasim Zelić ( sr, Герасим Зелић; 1752–1828) was a Serbian Orthodox Church

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") wh ...

, traveller and writer. His chief work is ''Žitije'' (Lives), in three volumes. They are memoirs of his travels throughout western Europe, Russia and

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

from the latter half of the 18th century to the first decade of the 19th century and the famous personalities (

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marr ...

, Viceroy of Italy, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor,

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...

Semyon Zorich Count Semyon Zorich (1743–1799) was an Imperial Russian lieutenant-general and count of the Holy Roman Empire, born in Serbia, who served Imperial Russia against the Prussians and Turks. A member of the Russian court, he was presented to Empress ...

, Catherine the Great,

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

, Stanisław August Poniatowski,

Dositej Obradović Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...

) he encountered. He left behind invaluable original notes on the people, religions, manners, customs, and trade of his era. As much as

is an emblematic figure of the 18th century Habsburg Serbian Enlightenment so is Gerasim Zelić. In many ways the East-West travel itineraries of the two men are similar, covering the Levant, the German lands, France and Russia, though Zelić went first to Russia (rather than to the Levant). While both lament their people's plight under the Ottoman rule and promote similar solutions, their perspectives are different, Dositej's cosmopolitanism contrasting with Zelić's

clericalism Clericalism is the application of the formal, church-based, leadership or opinion of ordained clergy in matters of either the Church or broader political and sociocultural import. Clericalism is usually, if not always, used in a pejorative sense ...

, though their intentions are the same: the emancipation of their people from under the tyrannical yoke of the two empires, the Habsburg and the Ottoman. Zelić was one of the earliest members of the Serbian Learned Society, better known as ''

Matica srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Матица српска, Matica srpska, la, Matrix Serbica, grc, Μάτιτσα Σρπσκα) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national inst ...

'', founded at Budapest in 1826.

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*. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zelic, Gerasim 1752 births 1838 deaths Serbs of Croatia People of the Serbian Revolution 18th-century Eastern Orthodox clergy 19th-century Eastern Orthodox clergy 18th-century Serbian people 19th-century Serbian people Serbian writers Serbian diplomats Serbian Orthodox clergy Serb priests Habsburg Serbs Burials at Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches