Ljubomir S. Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Љубомир С. Јовановић, 1877–25 June 1913), known as Ljuba Čupa (Љуба Чупа), was a Serbian guerilla fighter, member of the

Black Hand Black Hand or The Black Hand may refer to: Extortionists and underground groups * Black Hand (anarchism) (''La Mano Negra''), a presumed secret, anarchist organization based in the Andalusian region of Spain during the early 1880s * Black Hand ...

, soldier in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, and journalist.

Life

He was born in Brezova, Principality of Serbia. He attended primary school in his hometown and high school in Belgrade. He was enrolled in law school but his studies were disrupted by his political interest. A Serbian nationalist, he participated in the March Demonstrations (1903) in Belgrade against King

Aleksandar Obrenović Alexander I ( sr-cyr, Александар Обреновић, Aleksandar Obrenović; 14 August 187611 June 1903) reigned as the king of Serbia from 1889 to 1903 when he and his wife, Draga Mašin, were assassinated by a group of Royal Serbian ...

, and was accused of being the leader of

Greater Serbia The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia ( sr, Велика Србија, Velika Srbija) describes the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology of the creation of a Serb state which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to S ...

-demonstrations and an associate of the rivaling officers; he was forced to flee by boat to

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...

, at the time part of the

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. He moved to Vienna, and then returned to Serbia following the May Coup. As many nationalistic youths he was inspired by the

Serbian Chetnik Organization Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation) ...

. In February 1905 he joined the unit of Aksentije Bacetović-Baceta and operated in the Kozjak area, participating in several operations. After the death of Baceta in 1905, he returned to Belgrade where he finished his law studies. At this time he began working in journalism. He spent some time in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. As a student, he was a founder and editor of the ''Slovenski jug'' magazine, and when he was unable to pay the rent for his apartment he slept in the office. In 1911, Ljuba Jovanović with two colleagues, Branko Božović and

Bogdan Radenković Bogdan Radenković ( sr-cyr, Богдан Раденковић; Srbovac, Ottoman Empire, 1874 – Thessaloniki, Greece, 30 July 1917) was a Serb activist, an organizer of the Serbian Chetnik Organization and one of the founders of the Black Hand ...

, started a daily called ''Pijemont'' that had among its contributors well-known critics, poets, and writers, including Jovan Skerlić

Milutin Bojić Milutin Bojić ( sr-Cyrl, Милутин Бојић; – ) was a Serbian war poet, theatre critic, playwright, and soldier. A native of Belgrade, he began writing poetry at an early age and published a number of literary reviews under a p ...

Milan Rakić Milan Rakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Ракић; 18 September 1876 – 30 June 1938) was a Serbian poet-diplomat and academic. He focused on dodecasyllable and hendecasyllable verse, which allowed him to achieve beautiful rhythm and rhyme ...

, Jovan Dučić, and others. Apart from tirelessly campaigning for pan-Serb unification, ''Pijemont'' offered a variety of political ideas, targeting corruption and discord in Serbia. Ljuba was one of initiators of the establishment of the

(1911), and one of the founding members. Together with

and

Vojislav Tankosić Vojislav Tankosić ( sr-cyr, Војислав Танкосић, 20 September 1880 – 2 November 1915) was a Serbian military officer, ''vojvoda'' of the Serbian Chetnik Organization, major of the Serbian Army, and member of the Black Hand, who p ...

he wrote the constitution of the organization. The constitution was modeled after similar German secret nationalist associations and the Italian Carbonari. He founded the ''Pijemont'' magazine in August 1911. He was mobilized in the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

and fought as a reserve officer. He participated in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

against Bulgaria in the summer of 1913 and was wounded in the knee in fighting around Veles. He was transported for treatment in Skopje, but the hospital was infected with

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

, from which he died on 25 June 1913. He was buried in Skopje, but the location of his remains is unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cupa, Ljuba 20th-century Serbian people Serbian nationalists People from the Kingdom of Serbia Chetniks of the Macedonian Struggle Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Deaths from cholera 1877 births 1913 deaths People from Ivanjica Serbian journalists Black Hand (Serbia) Yugoslavism Writers from the Kingdom of Serbia