Dragomir "Dejan" Popović Jekić (

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-Cyrl, Крушевац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina (river), Rasina river. According to the 202 ...

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 ...

, 1 September 1881 -

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

, 15 March 1913), known as "Voivode Dejan" during the struggle for

Old Serbia Old Serbia () is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the Serbian Empire in 1346–71. The term does ...

and

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 former administr ...

, was a chemist and Serbian Chetnik commander (vojvode). He was one of the earliest volunteers to join the

Serbian Chetnik Organization The Serbian Revolutionary Organization () or Serbian Chetnik Organization (Српска четничка организација / Srpska četnička organizacija) was a paramilitary revolutionary organization with the aim of liberation of Old Se ...

and in the struggle for the liberation of

and

from Ottoman oppression.

Biography

Dragomir's father was a wealthy businessman. He was educated abroad at the universities in Germany, England, and Switzerland where he earned a degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. After graduation, Dragomir returned to Serbia where a teaching post at a university awaited him as well as a job as a director of a match factory. He stayed at these positions for a while. But at the outbreak of hostilities in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and Macedonia, like many men of his generation, the patriotic enthusiastic about the war effort took hold. He left his teaching post as assistant professor at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

and the executive post at a match factory to join the Chetniks. In the time of the Young Turk Revolution and the Bosnian crisis, he and other Chetniks retreated to Serbia. Before the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

in 1912, he was in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

being treated for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. As soon as the war broke out, he came back to Serbia. There he collected a group of 100 volunteers and entered the Chetnik detachment of

Vojin Popović Vojin Popović, known as Vojvoda Vuk (; 9 December 1881 – 29 November 1916) was a Serbian ''voivode'' (military commander), who fought for the Macedonian Serb Chetniks (i.e. Komitadji, komiti) in the Struggle for Macedonia, and then the Serbia ...

, better known as Voivode Vuk. In the

Battle of Kumanovo The Battle of Kumanovo (Serbian: Кумановска битка / Kumanovska bitka, Turkish: Kumanova Muharebesi), on 23–24 October 1912, was a major battle of the First Balkan War. It was an important Serbian victory over the Ottoman army ...

Dragomir gained a reputation for fearless-bravery under fire. He often took impossible missions with scant regard for his own life; his men felt tremendous confidence in his presence, inspired by his personal courage. In one of the battles he was heavily wounded, and his poor health began to worsen. He died in 1913 in the liberated town of Ohrid. His post as chemistry assistant professor at the university remained vacant during the period he served his country. A street in Belgrade is named after him.

References

{{authority control 1881 births 1913 deaths People from Kruševac People from Ohrid Serbian Chetnik Organization Academic staff of the University of Belgrade Chetniks in the Balkan Wars

Biography

See also

References