Jovan Šević or Ivan Šević ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Шевић, ; died ) was an 18th-century military officer of

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

origin. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Serb militia forces in the Pomorišje region, then in the

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...

of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. When it became obvious that privileges granted to Serb militiamen would be reduced or completely revoked after Pomorišje and Potisje lost their frontier status, Šević left Habsburg military service in 1750 and moved to

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 ...

. At the end of 1752, he led the second wave of colonists who migrated from Pomorišje, Potisje and Slavonia to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(modern-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) where they settled the newly established administrative region of

Slavo-Serbia Slavo-Serbia or Slaveno-Serbia was a territory of Imperial Russia from 1753 to 1764. It was located to the south of the Donets River, between the Bakhmutka River and Luhan River. This area today is located within present-day Luhansk Oblast a ...

at the beginning of 1753. To enable him to recruit more of his fellow officers, Šević was promoted to the rank of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

by the Russian Empress, Elizabeth. He commanded a Serb Hussar Regiment consisting of the colonists he brought to Russia. After Šević's death, Slavo-Serbia was disestablished, and many of his descendants became notable military officers in the Russian Imperial Army. Over time, all the Serb colonists became assimilated. Miloš Crnjanski described the migration led by Šević in his most notable work, the novel ''Migrations'' ().

Family

Jovan Šević was born into a Serbian noble family that had migrated from Ottoman-occupied Serbia to the territory of the

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...

in Hungary in the first half of the 16th century. In some accounts, he is referred to as Ivan or Živan. Šević's grandfather was named Radoslav. Šević's father was Georgije, better known as Đurka Šević, who was an ''oberkapitän'' (upper captain) in the Serb militia in the Pomorišje military frontier (near Arad). Đurka succeeded Jovan Tekelija in this position in the first half of 18th century, while at that time, his son was an ''oberkapitän'' in Čanad (modern-day

Magyarcsanád Magyarcsanád (; ) is a multi-ethnic village located in Csongrád-Csanád County, southeastern Hungary, near the Mureș () River. The river Maros forms the border between southern Hungary and Romania. The village has an outskirt called Bökén ...

). By the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, many of Šević's descendants had become successful officers in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. Šević had a son named Petar, who was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the Moriš Brigade before the migration to Russia, where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. Another one of Šević's sons, Ivan, was a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, and his son Georgije later reached the rank of General in the Imperial Russian Army. Georgije's son, Ivan (Šević's great-grandson) also became a Russian General. In 1812, he was decorated for bravery at the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. ...

, during

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's invasion of Russia. Šević's daughter was married to Stevan Petrović (formerly Šarović), who had moved from

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

Pomorišje Military Frontier

Šević was firmly opposed to the plans to disestablish

in Pomorišje. When it was obvious that Pomorišje and Potisje would lose their frontier status, Šević decided to migrate to Russia. In the November 1750

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

, he was the first higher-ranking officer who left the Habsburg army; he applied to be regular citizen and requested a passport to emigrate to Russia. To avoid issuing the passport to Šević, the government officials staged a trial against him and arrested him, but eventually lost the case because of the lack of evidence for their accusations. When Šević was in prison, the prosecution canvassed his rival, ambitious Jovan Horvat, who additionally accused Šević to support their case. When the prosecution lost their case because of the lack of evidence, Horvat left their side and became one of the most ardent supporters of migration to Russia. On 19 October 1751, Šević's passport was issued, but he did not travel to Russia immediately after he received it. He gradually sold his property and secretly tried to convince other military officers to join him and migrate to Russia. To prevent emigration of a larger number of Serbs to Russia, Habsburg Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

issued a special decree () on 19 June 1752. People who would try to convince citizens of the Habsburg monarchy to move to another country and serve another empire would be executed. The Russian empress Elizabeth promoted Šević to the rank of General with the right to appoint other subordinated military officers who would join him to migrate to Russia. In September 1752, about a year after he received his passport, Šević led the second group of Serb colonists to Russian Empire.

Slavo-Serbia

Šević was among the Serbian military officers who led about 3,000 Serb families that emigrated to the region along river

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...

. The group led by Šević was the second group of Serb emigrants to the Russian Empire. The first group settled the region which was referred to as New Serbia for some time. The second group, led by Šević, settled the territory which they named

. This name was initially proposed by Šević. They left Pomorišje in September 1752 and reached

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in December 1752. There, they were instructed to settle New Serbia governed by Jovan Horvat. They refused to do so and Šević accompanied by Rajko Preradović, a Colonel of the Slavonian Hussar Regiment, went to St. Petersburg where they submitted an application to the

Governing Senate From 1711 to 1917, the Governing Senate was the highest legislative, judicial, and executive body subordinate to the Russian emperors. The senate was instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the R ...

to allow them to settle another territory, separated from New Serbia. On 17 May 1753, Russian empress Elizabeth signed a decision to allow colonists from Pomorišje led by Šević to populate the territory between

Bakhmut Bakhmut is a city in eastern Ukraine. It is officially the administrative center of Bakhmut urban hromada and Bakhmut Raion in Donetsk Oblast. The city is located on the Bakhmutka River, about north of Donetsk, the administrative center ...

and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

. The New Serbia was established and populated by

colonists, while colonists to the Slavo-Serbia, besides the Serb majority, include people of other ethnicity, such as

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

and

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

. Horvat tried to convince people brought by Šević to Slavo-Serbia to move to his New Serbia, but his attempts failed and only a small number of people moved using small boats to float downstream on the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

Šević and his men were included in the Serb Hussar Regiment. During wartime, they fought in the army of the Russian Empire while in peacetime, they cultivated the land. The Serb Hussar Regiment participated in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, together with regiments from New Serbia, under the command of Stepan Fyodorovich Apraksin. Cossacks did not accept new settlers as well as their government did. It was recorded that they made raids into New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia and that in one of those raids, they stole the horses of Jovan Šević. According to contemporary accounts, the land settled by Šević and other Serb military officers was cultivated and flourished. Slavo-Serbia was disestablished in 1764, which according to some authors happened soon after Šević's death.

Legacy

Miloš Crnjanski described the migration to Russia in 1752 in his novel ''Migrations'' (). The territory of former Slavo-Serbia administrative region today belongs to the modern Ukrainian territories of

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

and

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. A town in

(

Slovianoserbsk Slovianoserbsk (; or Slavianoserbsk, ) is a Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement in Zymohiria urban hromada, Alchevsk Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district), Luhansk Oblast (oblast, region), Ukraine, on the Donets river. ...

) was developed from the village populated by one rota of Serb colonists. In its center, there is an impressive monument which depict Serb and Russian Hussars and Ukrainian Cossack. It was erected in 2003 to commemorate 250 years of Serb migration to this region. The inscription on Serbian, Ukrainian and

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

which says, "There Are No Holier Ties Than Brotherhood Bonds".

References

Sources