Lazar Sočica ( sr-cyr, Лазар Сочица; 1838 – 1910) was

Piva Piva may refer to: * Piva (river), a river in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina * Piva, Montenegro, a region in Montenegro and tribe * Piva River, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea * Piva Trail, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea ** Battle for Piva Tr ...

chieftain, Montenegrin vojvoda, military commander and political leader, from the

Old Herzegovina Old Herzegovina ( sr, Стара Херцеговина, Stara Hercegovina) is a historical region, covering the eastern parts of historical Herzegovina, outside the scope of modern Herzegovina. A large section of ''Old Herzegovina'' belongs to ...

region. Lazar's father Risto died in 1848, and his mother then remarried to vojvoda Šćepan Lješević in

Drobnjaci Drobnjaci (, ) are historical tribe and region, Drobnjak, in Old Herzegovina in Montenegro (municipalities from Nikšić to Šavnik, Žabljak and Pljevlja). Its unofficial centre is in Šavnik. The Serb Orthodox families have St. George (''Đu ...

clan. Lazar's uncle, Abbot Teodosije, then took Lazar as an orphan and accepted him into the

Piva Monastery The Piva Monastery ( sr, Манастир Пивски, Manastir Pivski), also known as the Church of Sv. Bogorodica or the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, is located in Piva, Montenegro near the source of the Piva River in nort ...

with the intention of teaching him literacy. From the age of 14, he took part in all the main battles against the Turks, starting in 1850s. During the battles between 1858 and 1862, Lazar met the Montenegrin

Prince Danilo Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyr, Данило I Петровић-Његош; 25 May 1826 – 13 August 1860) was the ruling Prince of Montenegro from 1851 to 1860. The beginning of his reign marked the transition of Montenegro from an archai ...

Cetinje Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...

. Later, he opened the first stores in his hometown of

Plužine Plužine (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Плужине, ) is a town in northwestern Montenegro. In 2011 it has a population of 1,341. Location Town is located near the Piva lake (Pivsko) in the northwestern mountainous region of Montenegro, close to the ...

, procured goods from

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

and

Gacko Gacko ( sr-cyrl, Гацко) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the region of East Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,784 inhabitants, while the m ...

traders, also organizing the export of cattle. He soon became the richest man and chieftain in Piva region, which enabled him to be independent in his military activities, even from Prince Nikola I, who proclaimed him vojvoda. Lazar Sočica was one of the most prominent leaders of the Herzegovinian uprising of 1875–77. When the area of Piva officially belonged to Montenegro by the decision of the

Berlin Congress The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at th ...

in 1878, Lazar Sočica remained the most influential military and political figure in the region. Sočica was also one of the founders of People's Party (1906), the first political party in Montenegrin history. When the first

Constitution of Montenegro The current Constitution of Montenegro was ratified and adopted by the Constitutional Parliament of Montenegro on 19 October 2007 in an extraordinary session by achieving the required two-thirds supermajority of votes. It was officially proclaimed ...

was proclaimed in 1905, Lazar, along with the Montenegrin political and military elite, supported the democratization of Montenegro, opposing the absolutist rule of Prince Nikola I, for which he was suspected and prosecuted, and was even sentenced to prison by the

's Higher Court in 1908. Sočica fell ill during his imprisonment. He died in 1910 in his hometown of

. He had 17 children, but most died during the wars, young-aged. His son Risto "Mujo" Sočica was also an influential political figure and the Ban of the

Zeta banovina The Zeta Banovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zetska banovina, Зетска бановина), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of all of present-day Montenegro as well as ...

during the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

.Jovan Ćalasan: ''Znameniti ljudi Pive'', Novi Sad 2003

References

1838 births 1910 deaths People from Plužine People from the Principality of Montenegro Serbs of Montenegro Dukes of Montenegro Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–1878) {{Montenegro-bio-stub