Vasilije Jovanović ( sr, Василије Јовановић; February 1874 – 31 December 1970), also known as Vasa Makedonac ("Vasa the Macedonian;" sr, Васа Македонац), was a Serbian lawyer, politician, founder of the Chetnik movement and a founding member of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

Early years and education

Faced with ethnic Albanian violence, Jovanović's family fled the village of

Kožlje Kožlje is a village in the municipality of Ilijaš, 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 cr ...

. They found refuge in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, Macedonia, where Vasilije was born. After his primary education, the family moved to

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 ...

where young Jovanović finished high school and Law Faculty. He rounded out his education with a PhD 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 ...

Founding of the Chetnik movement

As a lawyer in Belgrade he was a member of a

masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

lodge ''Pobratimstvo'' where he was acquainted with Luka Ćelović and Milorad Gođevac who already kept touch with Serbs in Macedonia, especially those acting within

VMRO The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

. In September 1903 the group formed a Serb revolutionary and guerrilla committee for Macedonia – ''Glavni odbor četničke akcije''. Jovanović became its secretary and one of its leaders until 1905. After the Young Turk revolution in 1908 when affairs in Macedonia seemed to be going towards a political solution, Jovanović took part in the First Conference of Serbs of Old Serbia and Macedonia (12-15 August 1908) in

. He was elected as a member of the Central Committee of the newly founded

Serb Democratic League The Serb Democratic League in the Ottoman Empire ( sr, Српска демократска лига у Отоманској царевини) was an Ottoman Serb political organisation established on August 13, 1908, at the First Serb Conferenc ...

(political party of Serbs living in 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) ...

). Jovanović also took part as a member of the Assembly of Serbs in

, which first met in February 1909 and was active until the end of that year when it was banned by the Young Turks.В. Крестић, Р. Љушић, Програми и статути српских политичких странака до 1918, Београд 1991, стр. 407, 410

WW1 and later political career

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was mobilized and later on was sent to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

by Serbian government. After the War he was in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

as a Yugoslav member of the

. In

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

he took active role in politics and acted as a Minister of Transport in several governments.

Notes

References

S. Simić, Srpska revolucionarna organizacija, komitsko četovanje u Staroj Srbiji 1903-1912, Beograd 1998, pp. 22, 38-43 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanovic, Vasa 1874 births 1970 deaths Politicians from Skopje Serbs of North Macedonia Diplomats from Skopje People from the Kingdom of Serbia 20th-century Serbian people Serbian Chetnik Organization Date of birth missing Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Serbia

Early years and education

Founding of the Chetnik movement

WW1 and later political career

See also

Notes

References