Jovan Ilić Deretić ( sr-cyr, Јован Илић Деретић; 18 January 1939 – 6 June 2021) was a Serbian publicist and writer. Deretić was an engineer by training but was mainly noted for his pseudohistorical and conspiracy theories.Zivkovic, Marko (2001), ''Serbian stories of identity and destiny in the 1980s and 1990s,'' Chicago, University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, p. 127 He was the proponent of an alternative history of the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

that asserts a larger role in history than described by historians.

Personal life and biography

According to Deretić, prior to the conquests of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, there lived an even more-accomplished conqueror named Serbon Makeridov, who was "father of all nations" and that "all of his descendants, or rather all known peoples, have Serbian origin". Ancient peoples such as

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

and

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

are therefore claimed to be Serbian. Deretić asserted that existing historical research is evidence for these theories but his interpretations have been universally rejected and heavily criticized by professional historians. Deretić died on 6 June 2021, at the age of 82.

Political activity

Deretić organized a petition drive of

Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Serbs form the largest ethnic minority group in Kosovo (5–6%). The precise number of Kosovo Serbs is difficult to determine as they have boycotted national censuses. However, it is estimated that there are about 95,000 of them, nearly ...

requesting

Russian citizenship Russian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Russia. The primary law governing citizenship requirements is the federal law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation" (, ), which came into force on 1 July ...

: "Ethnic

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

would feel more protected, if

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

granted them citizenship."BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union,''Programme summary of Russian Ren TV "What's going on" 2030 gmt 27 Nov 11'', BBC Worldwide Limited, London, 29 November 2011 According to Deretić, Kosovo Serbs felt abandoned by the

Serbian government The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...

after the

Kumanovo Agreement The Military Technical Agreement, also known as the Kumanovo Agreement, signed between the International Security Force (KFOR) and the Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia, was an accord concluded on 9 June ...

ended the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

and they were attacked by the

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force and military of Kosovo. KFOR is the third security responder, after the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law (European ...

: "

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

peacekeepers attacked unarmed Serbs in

Kosovska Mitrovica Mitrovica (Albanian language, Albanian Definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Mitrovicë''; sr-Cyrl, Митровица, Mitrovica), also referred to as Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-Cyrl, Косовска Митр� ...

, and ethnic cleansing is taking place in Kosovo where many Serbs were killed, disappeared or exiled." Deretić said he gathered 72,500 signatures from Kosovo Serbs who wanted to adopt Russia as "a second Serbia" that would protect them against

anti-Serb Anti-Serb sentiment or Serbophobia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, србофобија, srbofobija, separator=" / ") is a generally negative view of Serbs as an ethnic group. Historically it has been a basis for the persecution of ethnic Serbs. A distinctiv ...

violence.

Works

*''History of Serbs'', I, Nice *''History of Serbs'', II, Nice *''Western Serbia'', Chicago *''Serb people and race'', New Vulgate, Chicago, *''Albanians in Serbia'' *''Ancient Serbia'' *''Serbs and Albanians'', *''Our Victory'' *''Invented immigration of Serbs'', *''Serbica'' *''Literacy before Cyril'' *''History of the Serbs and Russians'', I *''History of the Serbs and Russians'', II *''History of the Serbs and Russians'', III *''Paul's Cave''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deretic, Jovan 1939 births 2021 deaths People from Trebinje Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Pseudohistorians Historians of antiquity 20th-century Serbian historians Serbian nationalists Serbian conspiracy theorists