Svetislav Simić (; 4 March 1865 — 8 March 1911) was a Serbian diplomat and journalist who was one of the most deserving civil servants for helping and organizing 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) ...

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

Early life and education

Simić was born on 4 March 1865 in Užice, at the time part of the Principality of Serbia. He attended middle school in Užice and

Knjaževac Knjaževac ( sr-cyr, Књажевац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of the eastern Serbia. As of 2011, the municipality has a population of 31,491 inhabitants, while the town has 18,404 inhabitants. The town is si ...

, and high school in

Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čačalica (208m). As of 2011, ...

and

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 ...

. Simić graduated at the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

at the University of Belgrade and spent one year studying in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Diplomatic career

He worked as a teacher for several years and in 1894 he became secretary of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

of the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

, and in 1898 was named a

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in Priština, at the time still part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Along with

Jovan Jovanović Pižon Jovan Jovanović Pižon (; 3 September 1869 — 20 June 1939) was a Serbian diplomat, politician and writer who served as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Serbia), Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Serbia from 18 June 1912 to 27 August ...

, he was one of the most deserving civil servants for helping and organizing the

.Биљана Вучетић, Историјски часопис, LVII (2008), 413-426 He helped

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 ...

make better contact with the

Serbian government The Government of Serbia ( sr, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Government ( sr, � ...

. In July 1904, he became a diplomatic agent in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. After the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence in 1908, he became an ambassador in Sofia and remained in that position until he went to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

for treatment. He died on 8 March 1911 in

Leysin Leysin is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in the Aigle district of Switzerland. It is first mentioned around 1231–32 as ''Leissins'', in 1352 as ''Leisins''. Located in the Vaud Alps, Leysin is a sunny alpine resort village at the easter ...

, Switzerland.

Journalism career

He was active in journalism all his life. He founded and edited ''Constitutional Serbia'', and also participated in the founding of the

Serbian Literary Herald The ''Serbian Literary Herald'' ( sr, Српски књижевни гласник, Srpski književni glasnik) was a Belgrade-based literary journal published in the first half of the 20th century. It was founded in February 1901, following the merg ...

. He was the founder of ''Delo'' and the editor and contributor to many newspapers: ''Odjek'', ''Dnevni List'', ''Javor'', ''Zora'', ''Nastavnik'' and ''Prosvetni Glasnik''. He printed many treatises and pamphlets including; Macedonian Question, Radicals and Our National Policy, Serbs and Albanians, Old Serbia and Albanians. He usually signed himself under the pseudonym ''Pavle Orlović''.

Selected works

References

1865 births People from Užice Serbian diplomats Serbian Chetnik Organization 1911 deaths University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy alumni Serbian journalists People from the Kingdom of Serbia {{DEFAULTSORT:Simić, Svetislav