General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Milivoje Petrović Blaznavac (16 May 1824, in Blaznava – 5 April 1873, in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

) was Serbian soldier and politician who served as the president of the ministry of Serbia from 1872 to 1873.

Biography

Milivoje Petrović Blaznavac finished

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and a painting craft school in his native village of Blaznava. His father, Petar, was a rural merchant and shopkeeper from Blaznava, although a story circulated that he was an illegitimate son of Prince Miloš Obrenović and a lady of Miloš's household, whom Miloš married off to one of his guards retired as a village storekeeper, before the birth of Blaznavac in 1824. Upon graduation, he immediately joined the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and later the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

force under Prince Miloš. During his stormy career Blaznavac was almost killed for treachery by

Jevrem Obrenović Prince Jevrem Teodorović Obrenović (18 March 1790 - 20 September 1856) was a Serbian politician and revolutionary. He was the younger brother of Prince Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia, the founder of the Obrenović dynasty. Early life Jevrem' ...

, Miloš's brother, and later by Prince Alexander Karađorđević, who succeeded Miloš on the throne of Serbia in 1842. Jevrem gave him his life, but only after having Blaznavac flogged almost to death, which became later the best proof of his devotion to the

Karađorđević dynasty The Karađorđević dynasty ( sr-Cyrl, Динасија Карађорђевић, Dinasija Karađorđević, Карађорђевићи / Karađorđevići, ) or House of Karađorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Кућа Карађорђевић, Kuća Karađ ...

. As Blaznavac stood on the side of opponents of Prince Mihailo Obrenović – ''Ustavobranioci'' (Defenders of the Constitution), led by

Toma Vučić Perišić ''Prince'' Toma Vučić Perišić (Serbian Cyrillic: Тома Вучић Перишић; 1787 – 13 July 1859) was a Serbian politician, military leader during the Serbian Revolution, Freemason and one of the most powerful and influential individ ...

, he was rewarded with transfer to

, where in 1848, as a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he became in a very short time aide de camp of Prince Prince Alexander Karađorđević. After leaving the duty of adjutant, Blaznavac crossed into

Serbian Vojvodina The Serbian Vojvodina ( sr, Српска Војводина / ) was a short-lived self-proclaimed Serbs, Serb autonomous province within the Austrian Empire during the Revolutions of 1848, which existed until 1849 when it was transformed into the ...

, where he fought alongside

Stevan Knićanin Stevan Petrović, Military Order of Maria Theresa, KCMT ( sr-cyr, Стеван Петровић), known as Stevan Knićanin (Стеван Книћанин, ''Stevan of Knić''; 15 February 1807 – 14 May 1855) was a Serbian ''voivode'' (comman ...

. Upon his return to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, he was granted further military training in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

. At the end of 1854, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Blaznavac was appointed Chief of the military departments, and was promoted to the rank of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1858. When the Obrenović dynasty came back to Serbia in 1858, Blaznavac was immediately arrested and expelled to his native village of Blaznava and deprived of all titles. Through various court intrigues, connected with the plans of Prince Mihailo Obrenović to marry the daughter of his cousin

Katarina Konstantinović Katarina Konstantinović (Serbian Cyrillic; Катарина Константиновић; 1848–1910) was a Serbian noblewoman and a descendant of the Obrenović dynasty as the daughter of Princess Anka Obrenović. She was also the first cousin ...

, however, Blaznavac won favor of the prince. During the second reign of Prince Mihailo, Blaznavac was reactivated, appointed in 1861 administrator of a cannon factory in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...

, and four years later he was named

minister of war A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

After the assassination of Prince Mihailo on 29 May 1868, the government's theory was that election of the new ruler could be made by the ''Visoka Narodna Skupština'' (the Grand National Council). Mihailo's minister of war (Blaznavac), however, took matters into his own hands and with the support of a Belgrade garrison staged a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

, and proclaimed as Prince of Serbia, Milan Obrenović, the fourteen-year-old son of Miloš, whose father Jevrem was the brother of Prince Miloš, the founder of the Obrenović dynasty. Until the age of majority of Milan (1872), Blaznavac was, together with

Jovan Ristić Jovan Ristić ( sr-Cyr, Јован Ристић; 16 January 1831 – 4 September 1899) was a Serbian politician, diplomat and historian. Biography Born at Kragujevac, he was educated at Belgrade, Heidelberg, Berlin and Paris. After failing to o ...

and Jovan Gavrilović, a member of the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

, and after Prince Milan come of age, Blaznavac became his Prime Minister, being previously promoted to the rank of

. Blaznavac was married to

, former

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

of Prince Mihailo Obrenović. Blaznavac himself was a suitor for Katarina's hand before Prince Mihailo began to show an interest in her. He died suddenly of a heart attack on 5 April 1873 and was buried in the family tomb of Jevrem Obrenović in Rakovica.

Legacy

He is remembered as one of those who first inculcated the views of

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

administration and its responsibilities, which in his last years he saw as accepted by the bulk of his countrymen.

References

External links

Biography of Milivoje Petrović Blaznavac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaznavac, Milivoje Petrovic 1824 births 1873 deaths People from Topola Serbian generals Prime Ministers of Serbia Regents of Serbia 19th-century Serbian people Royal Serbian Army soldiers People of Serbian Vojvodina People from the Principality of Serbia Serbian prisoners and detainees Defence ministers of Serbia Construction ministers of Serbia

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

External links