Andra Gavrilović (; 11 July 1864, in

Svilajnac Svilajnac ( sr-cyr, Свилајнац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 8,593 inhabitants, while the municipality has 20,141 inhabitants (2022 census). It is locate ...

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

– 24 February 1929, in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

) was a Serbian historian, historian of literature, writer and diplomat. While Gavrilović started as a poet, he is best known for historical biographies and novels. His historical novels are largely inspired by medieval Serbia. ''Despotova vlastela'', initially published in 1896, is about Lazarević and Branković noble families, set in the era after the

Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middl ...

and

Battle of Ankara The Battle of Ankara or Angora () was fought on 28 July 1402, at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the emir of the Timurid Empire, Timur. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to ...

. In 1900, he wrote a biography of

Saint Sava Saint Sava (, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; Glagolitic: ; ; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbs, Serbian prince and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, abbot of Studenica Monastery, Studeni ...

. In 1901-04, he published ''Notable Serbs of 19th Century'', in three volumes, covering 216 biographies of authors, artists, scientists, philanthropies, politicians, and others. He also specialized in works of

Dositej Obradović Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић, ; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist and the first minister of education of Se ...

. Gavrilović disagreed with opinion of

Jovan Tomić Jovan Tomić (9 May 1869 in Nova Varoš – 22 July 1932 in Belgrade) was a Serbian historian, academic and the former director of the National Library of Serbia from 1903 to 1927. Biography Tomić was born in Nova Varoš in the Zlatibor Distric ...

that figure of

Djemo the Mountaineer Djemo the Mountaineer ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ђемо Брђанин, Đemo Brđanin) is a popular legendary hero of Serbian epic poetry who is depicted as enemy of Prince Marko, Kraljević Marko and brother of Musa Kesedžija. His figure might be based on ...

was based on Jegen Osman Pasha. In his polemic work 'Who wasn't Djemo the Mountaineer, correction of someone's literary-historical mistake' (). he emphasized that Djemo was in fact

Albanian nobleman The Albanian nobility was an elite hereditary ruling class in Albania, parts of the western Balkans and later in parts of the Ottoman world. The Albanian nobility was composed of landowners of vast areas, often in allegiance to states like the By ...

Gjin Muzaki because he assumed that

Serbian epic poetry Serbian epic poetry () is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centu ...

about struggle between Marko Kraljević and Djemo the Mountaneer was based on real struggles between Prince Marko and

Muzaka family The Muzaka family was an noble Albanian family that ruled over the region of Myzeqe ( southern Albania) in the Late Middle Ages. The Muzaka are also referred to by some authors as a tribe or a clan. The earliest historical document that mentions ...

from

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. According to Andra Gavrilović the figure of Vuča General is based on Tanush Dukagjin, a member of Dukagjini noble family from Albania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavrilovic, Andra 20th-century Serbian historians 1864 births 1929 deaths People from the Kingdom of Serbia