Prokopije Čokorilo (born ''Procopius Tchokorilo''; 1802–1866) was a Serbian Orthodox priest from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

who wrote several works in Serbian, Russian and Greek, his most well-known work being ''The Chronicles of Herzegovina''.

Early life

Petar Čokorilo was born in 1802 in

Plana, Bileća Plana ( sr-cyrl, Плана) is a village in the municipality of Bileća, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known infor ...

, then part of the

Sanjak of Herzegovina The Sanjak of Herzegovina ( tr, Hersek Sancağı; sh, Hercegovački sandžak) was an Ottoman administrative unit established in 1470. The seat was in Foča until 1572 when it was moved to Taşlıca (Pljevlja). The sanjak was initially part of ...

, Ottoman Empire (now

). After graduating from a seminary he chose to become a monk, thus changing his first name to Prokopije. His ancestral name, however, is Milićević, though in the eighteenth century it was fashionable to call people's last name from the area where they came from. Hence, the Milićević name changed in time to Čokorilo, named after a valley called Čokorilovom Dolu in Prodoli, Herzegovina, where the family once lived and worked. He received a good education in Sarajevo and Mostar, and the intellectual and altruistic interests of his later life are attested by his classical study and his membership in the Russian Royal Society. The important events in his life are reflected in his writings, which mark his shifts in religion and politics of the period. As a monk, he gained a considerable reputation as a traveller who raised funds for Serbian Orthodox Church, and Serbian schools for women and children in Bosnian schools in Herzegovina before he achieved the beginning of his real fame as a chronicler and historian. Prokopije Čokorilo, the rector of the Orthodox Church and Seminary in

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

, had personal and literary links with

Alexander Hilferding Alexander Hilferding also spelled Aleksandar Fedorovich Giljferding (russian: Александр Фёдорович Гильферди́нг; 14 July 1831 in Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland – 2 July 1872 in Kargopol, Olonets Governorate, Russian Empir ...

, the first Russian consul in Sarajevo (1856-1859). His contemporaries were

Joanikije Pamučina Joanikije Pamučina (13 December 1810 in Zagradinje - 9 September 1870 in Mostar) was a Serbian writer, ethnologist, and spiritual leader of his people in Bosnia and Hercegovina. His seat was at the Metropolitanate of Zahumlije-Herzegovina in Mo ...

(1810-1870),

Nićifor Dučić Archimandrite Nićifor Dučić ( sr-cyr, Нићифор Дучић; 1832–1900), was a Bosnian Serb theologian, historian, philologist, archimandrite, writer and academic. As Archimandrite of Herzegovina Nićifor Dučić founded the Orthodox ...

Vasa Pelagić Vasilije "Vasa" Pelagić (Serbian Cyrillic: Василије "Васа" Пелагић; 1833 – 25 January 1899) was a Bosnian Serb writer, physician, educator, clergyman, nationalist and a proponent of utopian socialism among the Serbs in the ...

Staka Skenderova Staka Skenderova (1831 – 26 May 1891) was a Bosnian teacher, social worker, writer and folklorist. She is credited with establishing Sarajevo's first school for girls on 19 October 1858. The following year, she became the first published woman ...

, and many others. He died at Mostar in 1866.

Work

Father Procopius left many books that are written in Serbian, Russian and Greek. He is better known for "The Chronicles of Herzegovina"., and a dictionary of Turkish expressions in Serbian. He also contributed articles for the ''Srbsko-dalmatinski Magazin''. There, he wrote how Christians were forced to pay disproportionately higher taxes than Muslims, including the intentionally degrading non-Muslim poll-tax. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Prokopije Čokorilo wrote that his contemporary, the vizier (and all but unlimited ruler) Ali-paša Rizvanbegović of Herzegovina "taxed the dead for six years after their demise" and that his tax collectors "ran their fingers over the bellies of pregnant women, saying 'you will probably have a boy, so you have to pay the poll tax right away'". A folk saying from Bosnia well revels how taxes were exacted: "He's as fat as if he'd been tax collecting in Bosnia."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cokorilo, Prokopije 1802 births 1866 deaths Bosnia and Herzegovina writers Serbian Orthodox clergy Serbian writers Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina People from Bileća 19th-century Serbian people