Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Marko Konstantinovich Ivelić (1740–1825) was a Serbian born

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

general from

Risan Risan ( Montenegrin: Рисан, ) is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It traces its origins to the ancient settlement of Rhizon, the oldest settlement in the Bay of Kotor. Lying in the innermost portion of the bay, the settlement was pro ...

who rose to prominence in Russian military service during the reign of Emperor

Nicholas I of Russia , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

and Prince-Bishop

Petar I Petrović-Njegoš Petar I Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар I Петровић Његош; 1748 – 31 October 1830) was the ruler of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro as the Metropolitan (''vladika'') of Cetinje, and Exarch (legate) of the Serbi ...

of Montenegro. He became a Russian general and count. In 1811 he was a diplomatic emissary to

Revolutionary Serbia Revolutionary Serbia ( sr, Устаничка Србија / Ustanička Srbija), or Karađorđe's Serbia ( sr, Карађорђева Србија / Karađorđeva Srbija), refers to the state established by the Serbian revolutionaries in Ottoman ...

Ivelich of Risan

An old Risan family, the first Ivelich, according to some sources, settled in

at the time of the

Nemanjić dynasty The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal, and later imperial house produced twelve Serbian monarchs, who rul ...

. Marko Ivelich had two brothers Ivan Konstantinovich Ivelich, the youngest who was a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in the Imperial Russian army, stationed at

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia. It is located i ...

Garrison Regiment from 1805 to 1810, before he retired; and Semyon Konstantinovich Ivelich, also a high-ranking military officer. His nephew Peter Ivelich fought in the Battle of Borodino and many other battles against

Napoleonic France The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

. The Ivelich family produced four high-ranking military officers in the Imperial Russian Army.

Military career

Marko's education and military career began in the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

. There he received the rank of lieutenant before he moved to Imperial Russia. Marko joined the Russian admiral Aleksei Grigoryevich Orlov in 1770 and participated in the fight against the Turks in

Boka Kotorska The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...

. He was a commander of a part of the Russian Mediterranean fleet. The Russian fleet was under the overall command of Chesmensky, an honorific surname given to Admiral Orlov by Catherine the Great after he defeated the Turkish fleet at the

Battle of Chesma The naval Battle of Chesme took place on 5–7 July 1770 during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) near and in Çeşme (Chesme or Chesma) Bay, in the area between the western tip of Anatolia and the island of Chios, which was the site of a numb ...

, not far from the island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...

. Marko Ivelić and over a hundred sailors from Boka Kotorska participated in that battle. When the war against the Turks began again in 1788, he was again sent to Montenegro and Herzegovina to stir up the local population; at the same time, he was assigned to form 12 battalions composed of Serbs and other Slavs and to act with them independently. Ivelich successfully completed the task assigned to him and repeatedly defeated the Turks. He became a General of the Russian army in 1800. In 1805, for the third time sent to Montenegro to induce people to participate in the war against the French. Arriving in the Kotor region after the unsuccessful

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz i ...

, when Venice and the Dalmatian coast were ceded to France by agreement, Ivelich nevertheless managed to arouse the population to resist, which contributed a lot to the success of further actions of Admiral

Dmitry Senyavin Dmitry Nikolayevich Senyavin or Seniavin (russian: Дми́трий Никола́евич Сеня́вин; – ) was a Russian admiral during the Napoleonic Wars. Service under Ushakov Senyavin belonged to a notable noble family of sea ...

's Second Archipelago Expedition. In 1812, Marko was sent with a diplomatic mission to

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

and then contributed to the conclusion of peace between the Turks and Serbs following the

Treaty of Bucharest (1812) The Treaty of Bucharest between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, was signed on 28 May 1812, in Manuc's Inn in Bucharest, and ratified on 5 July 1812, at the end of the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812. The Ottomans had done poorly in ...

, which in turn became very unpopular among the Serbs, since it failed to achieve any of the political aims of the

First Serbian uprising The First Serbian Uprising ( sr, Prvi srpski ustanak, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; tr, Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1 ...

. He secured for the Russian troops to enter Šabac and

Belgrade fortress The Belgrade Fortress ( sr-Cyrl, Београдска тврђава, Beogradska tvrđava), consists of the old citadel (Upper and Lower Town) and Kalemegdan Park (Large and Little Kalemegdan) on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, in a ...

, for which he had a falling out with

Karađorđe Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independ ...

, who also, as did Peter I of Montenegro earlier, accused him of being more a proponent of Russian interests than of his own compatriots In 1814, Ivelich became a senator and an officeholder in the

Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс� ...

References

* Portrait of Marko Ivelich by sea-painter Vasilije Ivanković: https://www.museummaritimum.com/elementi/slike/ivelic2.jpg Russian soldiers {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivelich, Marko 1740 births 1825 deaths

Ivelich of Risan

Military career

See also

References