Jovan Dimitrijević Dobrača ( sr, Јован Димитријевић Добрача) (1765–1839) was a merchant who helped the insurgents and revolutionaries financially during both the
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising ( sr, Prvi srpski ustanak, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; tr, Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1 ...
and the
Second Serbian Uprising as well as a troop commander in the latter.
Life
Jovan Dimitrijević was born in 1765 in
Dobrača
Dobrača ( sr, Добрача) is a village located in the city of Kragujevac
Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centr ...
, a village he was nicknamed after. He was a prosperous merchant of great repute who volunteered to help
Karadjordje when he was contemplating the first insurrection. Later, Dobrača prepared funds to build schools in Belgrade, modelled on the contemporary architecture of
Pest
Pest or The Pest may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns
** Weed, a plant considered undesirable
* Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection
** ...
and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. He was also in favour of building a bookstore. But he's best remembered as a revolutionary and financier of the freedom-fighters of the time.
Another Serbian uprising
He is recorded in history as a
voivode
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...
in the
Second Serbian Uprising.
He was one of the commanders of the Serbian army in the
Battle of Ljubić in 1815.
Immediately following the liberation of
Rudnik, Serbian Revolutionaries commanded by
Lazar Mutap-Čačanin began attacking Ottoman positions near Čačak. On 6 May 1815 the Ottomans responded to Serbian incursions by sending a force of 7,000-strong under Imšir Ćaja-paša to attack the rebels from the rear. The rebels quickly retreated to Ljubić hill, where they regrouped and were reinforced with
detachments commanded by
Miloš Obrenović and Jovan Dimitrijević Dobrača. The initial Serbian forces were 1,500
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...
and 200
cavalry, with additional reinforcements of 3,000 men. The battle ended with 6,700 Turks killed including their leader (Išmir Ćaja-paša and his immediate subordinate Kara-Mustafa) while the Serbs had 1,500 killed, including voivodes Lazar Mutap-Čačanin and
Tanasko Rajić
Atanasije Rajić ( sr-cyr, Атанасије Рајић; 31 January 1754 – 6 June 1815), known by his nickname Tanasko (Танаско), was a Serbian ''vojvoda'' (commander) and revolutionary, the ''barjaktar'' (flag-bearer) in the First Serbi ...
. The City of Čačak was liberated and so too other cities (
Kragujevac,
Jagodina,
Karanovac,
Batočina
Batočina ( sr, Баточина, ) is a town and municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a lan ...
, and
Požarevac) would followed suit .
Before the battle, Jovan Dimitrijević Dobrača personally made sure that his men had everything they needed. The
Knyaz
, or (Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...
of
Gruža as Jovan Dobrača was officially called, equipped his
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
of 500 fighters with weapons and food before arriving at the battle site with Milić Drinčić who brought a company of 200 men from Montenegro.
Next to them was
Raka Levajac
Raka Levajac (1777–1833 Serbian Cyrillic: Рако Левајац) was a Serbian '' Vojvoda'', a military commander of Serbian Revolutionary forces during both First Serbian Uprising and Second Serbian Uprising, the armed insurrections of the S ...
and his men.
Dobrača spent his entire earned wealth in wars, and Prince Miloš Obrenović gave him a small pension just before the end of his life. Jovan Dobrača before he died became blind and completely forgotten.
[name="светлана дорћол"] He was buried in
Drača
Drača ( sr, Драча) is a village in the municipality of Stanovo, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, ...
, nine kilometres from
Kragujevac, more precisely in front of the church gate of the Drača monastery.
Legacy
Streets in
Belgrade,
Čačak, Kragujevac and
Požarevac bear his name.
See also
*
List of Serbian Revolutionaries
This is a list of Serbian Revolutionaries, participants in the Serbian Revolution (1804–1817).
See also
* Serbian revolutionary organizations
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Serbian revolutionaries
*
Revolutionaries
Revolutionaries ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrijevic Dobraca, Jovan
1765 births
1839 deaths