Jovan Grković ( sr-cyr, Јован Грковић; 1879 – 9 October 1912), nicknamed Gapon (Гапон) was a former Serbian Orthodox monk who joined the Serb guerrilla (

chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

) in the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. From 1904 to 1908 the conflict was p ...

(1902–1912).

Life

Grković was born in

Orahovac Orahovac may refer to: * Orahovac, Kosovo, a town and municipality in western Kosovo * Orahovac (liqueur), a Dalmatian walnut liqueur; see Croatian cuisine Croatian cuisine () is heterogeneous and is known as a cuisine of the regions, since eve ...

,Leskovac 2004 in the vicinity of

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

,Đurić-Mijović 1993, p. 113 at the time part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He finished grammar and theological school in Prizren, then became a monk, serving as

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

under the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan (''

vladika Vladika or Wladika (, ) is an informal Slavic title and address for bishops in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches, specifically the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and American Orthodox Churches. In Old Church Slavonic, th ...

'') of

Žiča The Žiča Monastery (, or ) is an early 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first monarch, King of Serbia, Stefan Prvovenčani, Stefan t ...

. He went to the

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

monastery of

Hilandar The Hilandar Monastery (, , , ) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian Orthodox monastery there. It was founded in 1198 by two Serbs from the Grand Principality of Serbia, Stefan Neman ...

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

, where he took the monastic name Jeremija (Јеремија). He stayed at Athos at the same time as

Vasilije Trbić Vasilije Trbić ( sr-Cyrl, Василије Трбић; 1881 – 1962) was a Serbian Chetnik commander in Macedonia who became a politician in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, first representing the People's Radical Party (NRS) in ...

, but as conflict arose with the Greek and Bulgarian monks, they left for Serbia together, sometime in 1902. They subsequently joined the cause of the Serbian guerrilla fighters ("

") against the Ottomans. Unusually combative and revolutionary for being a former monk, he was nicknamed "Gapon" after Russian Orthodox monk and working-class leader

Georgy Gapon Georgy Apollonovich Gapon ( –) was a Russian Orthodox priest of Ukrainian descent and a popular working-class leader before the 1905 Russian Revolution. Father Gapon is mainly remembered as the leader of peaceful crowds of protesters on Bloody ...

, by his fellow guerrilla fighters. When the Serbian Chetnik Assembly were to appoint the

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Skoplje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultural center of t ...

, Gapon suggested giving it to young veteran fighter

Kosta Pećanac Konstantin "Kosta" Milovanović Pećanac ( sr-cyrl, Константин "Коста" Миловановић Пећанац; 1879–1944) was a Serbian and Yugoslav Chetnik commander ('' vojvoda'') during the Balkan Wars, World War I and World ...

— all members agreed, and in a great meeting at Christmas 1904, Pećanac received the title at only 25 years old.Đurić-Mijović 1993, 92 Gapon fought in the units of

Doksim Mihailović Doksim Mihailović (; 20 February 1883 – 24 October 1912) was a Macedonian Serb ''voivode'' (military commander), originally a teacher, who joined the Serbian Chetnik Organization to fight in Ottoman Macedonia, and then the Balkan Wars (in the a ...

and then Kosta Pećanac, being an active Chetnik until his death. In 1907 or 1908, while Gapon was fighting in the Veles

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

, he sang the song "The Serb Trumpet Plays For Me" (Srpska mi truba zatrubi) at Drenovo, and also sang it during the Macedonian celebration in Belgrade (1909), from where it became popular across the country. He died on 9 October 1912, the same day the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

began, while fighting around

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...

, at Staro Nagoričane.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grkovic-Gapon, Jovan 1879 births 1912 deaths People from Rahovec People from Kosovo vilayet Kosovo Serbs Serbian Orthodox clergy 20th-century Serbian people Serbian rebels Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Serbian military personnel killed in action Ottoman period in the history of Kosovo Armed priests People from Staro Nagoričane Municipality People associated with Hilandar Monastery

Life

See also

References

Sources