Andrija Radenić (; Andrija Steigenberg; 1913–2012) was a Serbian historian and writer.

Early life and education

Andrija Steigenberg was born on April 4, 1913, in a poor Jewish family in the village of Boka in

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

(at that time in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

), as the son of a poor merchant Alexander Steigenberg and Jelisaveta Miller. He finished high school in Petrovgrad (today's

Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city urban area has a population of 67,129 inh ...

) in 1932, and the

Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb ( Croatian: ''Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu'') is one of the faculties of the University of Zagreb. History The Faculty of Philosophy is the oldes ...

in 1939. He studied history,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

Career

After completing his studies, he taught history at a private high school in Zagreb. The

April war The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in "Füh ...

in 1941. found him serving his military service in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. He was captured after fighting with the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre 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 situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, and spent the war in German captivity, as a translator in a hospital for prisoners of war. He was liberated by the units of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

at the end of April 1945. His parents, two younger brothers and a sister were killed in 1941 in a

German concentration camp German concentration camps may refer to different camps which were operated by German states: *Concentration camps during the Herero and Namaqua genocide **Shark Island concentration camp * Cottbus-Sielow concentration camp in Cottbus interning Jewi ...

. He was admitted to the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

in 1947ː on the form for admission to the party, he declared himself a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

. During the 50s, after the first published works, he changed his surname to Radenić. After the war, he worked as an official in the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Committee for Science and Culture (1945–1946), as a history teacher in a high school (1947), as an official in the Federation of Trade Unions of Yugoslavia (1948), and in 1949 in the presidency of

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel Prize, Nobel la ...

. After 1950, he worked at the Institute of History in Belgrade. He obtained the doctorate of historical sciences in 1956 with the dissertation "''The position and struggle of the peasantry in Srem from the end of the 19th century to 1914''". At the Institute of History, he dedicated his work to the history of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

from 1848 to 1918, and he wrote and published a number of books and scientific papers on that matter between 1955 and 2006. In the period from 1992 to 1997, he published several works on the history of

Jews in Serbia The history of the Jews in Serbia is some two thousand years old. The Jews first arrived in the region during Roman times. The Jewish communities of the Balkans remained small until the late 15th century, when Jews fleeing the Spanish and Port ...

Death

He died 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 ...

in 2012, age 98.

Selected works

* ''Persecution of political opponents in the regime of

Aleksandar Obrenović Alexander I (; 14 August 187611 June 1903) was King of Serbia from 1889 until his death in 1903, when he and his wife, Draga Mašin, were assassinated by a group of Royal Serbian Army officers, led by Captain Dragutin Dimitrijević. Accessio ...

1893-1903'' (), printed in 1973 in Belgrade. * ''The Radical Party and the Timok Rebellion'' (), printed in 1988 in

Zaječar Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city administrative area had a population of 48,621 inhabitants. Zaječar is widely ...

. A book about the early history of the Serbian

People's Radical Party The People's Radical Party (, abbr. NRS) was a populist political party in Serbia and later Yugoslavia. Led by Nikola Pašić for most of its existence, its ideological profile has significantly changed throughout its history, shifting from ...

(1881–1883) and

Timok Rebellion The Timok Rebellion ( sr-cyr, Тимочка буна, Timočka buna) was a popular uprising that began in eastern Serbia (now the region of the Timok Valley) on 28 September 1883, led by the People's Radical Party. It has been called the most imp ...

(1883) of the Serbian peasants against king Milan Obrenović. * ''Serbia's foreign policy in controversial historiography: from

Načertanije The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia () describes the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology of the creation of a Serb state which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group, includi ...

in 1844 to the

creation of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia was a State (polity), state concept among the South Slavs, South Slavic intelligentsia and later popular masses from the 19th to early 20th centuries that culminated in its realization after the 1918 collapse of Austria-Hungary at th ...

in 1914-1918'' (), printed in 2006 in Belgrade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radenić, Andrija 1913 births 2012 deaths Serbian historians People from Sečanj