Đorđe Mihailović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Михаиловић; 1 May 1928 – 2 July 2023) was a keeper of the Serbian Military Cemetery at Zeitenlik, in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

.Čuvar Zejtinlika Plačem kad me niko ne vidi ("Novosti", 18. oktobar 2013)
/ref> For more than half a century Mihailović welcomed and sent off the descendants of Serbian soldiers who died on the Salonika front during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The first keeper of the graveyard was Đorđe's grandfather, Serbian military volunteer Savo Mihailović, a Serb from Grbalj, near

Boka Kotorska The Bay of Kotor ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Boka kotorska, Бока которска, separator=" / ", ), also known as the Boka ( sh-Cyrl, Бока), is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated a ...

. Savo collected the bodies of his dead friends and comrades, and then protected and guarded the cemetery until his death in 1928. After his death, his remains were also buried in Zeitenlik. Savo was succeeded by his son Đuro Mihailović (Đorđe's father), who succeeded in preserving the cemetery and relics from

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

looting during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Đuro died in 1961 and was buried along with his father in Zeitenlik. The duty to guard the cemetery was given to Đorđe, the last male descendant of the Mihailović line.Poslednji čuvar srpskog grobalja ("Blic", 29. jul 2013)
/ref> In 2020 he was awarded Serbian citizenship. Đorđe Mihailović lived in the keeper's house with his wife and daughter. He died on 2 July 2023 in Thessaloniki, Greece, at the age of 95.

Other

Raša Perić dedicated a song to the keeper of Zeitenlik, Đorđe Mihailović: "Marching all night". A documentary about Mihailović titled "The Last Guardian" was filmed in 2013.

Awards

Order of the Serbian Flag (2014) * Mother Serbia (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mihailovic, Dorde 1928 births 2023 deaths Greek people of Serbian descent People from Thessaloniki 20th-century Serbian people Serbia in World War I Serbian people of Montenegrin descent