Doksim Mihailović (; 20 February 1883 – 24 October 1912) was a Macedonian Serb ''voivode'' (military commander), originally a teacher, who joined 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 ...

to fight in Ottoman Macedonia, and then the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

(in the army of the

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 ...

). Originally a teacher, he fought against the Ottomans army and later Bulgarian guerrilla bands in the Kosovo Vilayet.

Life

Doksim was born in Galičnik, a Mijak village. He finished the theological school in

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

, and was a teacher in his home region until 1904, when he joined the

. In January 1905, vojvoda Gligor Sokolović sent Stefan Nedić-Ćela from Babuna to

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 55,214 while the city administrative area has 74,381 inhabitan ...

to bring new Chetniks and Doksim. He was one of many teachers who were voivodes. He participated in the Battle of Čelopek (1905), which had been glorified as a great victory. In 1906 he lost his teacher wage. After the guerrilla war, he went to

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

, where he worked as the estate manager of the

Hilandar The Hilandar Monastery (, , , ) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian Orthodox monastery there. It was founded in 1198 by two Serbs from the Grand Principality of Serbia, Stefan Neman ...

. He returned to Macedonia and married, then worked as a principal at Serbian schools in

Gevgelija Gevgelija (; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point which links the motorway f ...

. After that, he went to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and worked in trade; Doksim spoke

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Turkish since youth, and later taught himself

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. When 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 ...

started, he immediately took up arms and founded his own band, and joined ''vojvoda'' Vojin Popović-Vuk, at the front of the

Serbian Army The Serbian Army () is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. Its organization, composition, weapons and equipment are adapted to the assigned missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces, primarily for operatio ...

. Prior to the start of the First Balkan War, Chetniks gathered in Vranje from several regions: 160 in Vranje and 30 on the Kozjak with the voivodes Babunski, Ćela, Dolgač, Trpko, Dane, Vanđel, Doksim and Cakić; there were also 60 Chetniks which readied for Poreče, led by Vojvoda Vuk. These bands were the first to have crossed the border, cleaned the ground, built bridges and prepared important positions such as Kozjak, Stracin, and others. Doksim fought the Ottomans at Kozjak. The bands were also accompanied by armed peasants, thus numbering four groups of around 250 men. The Chetniks were the first to enter

Prilep Prilep ( ) is the List of cities in North Macedonia, fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. Name The name of Prilep appeared first as ''Πρίλαπος'' in Greek (''Prilapos'') in 1 ...

, then fought in the front lines in the battles for Bitola and Kičevo. Doksim died on the second day of 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 ...

. He was buried on a hill above the village of Mlado Nagoričane.

References

Sources

;Books * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mihailovic, Doksim 1883 births 1912 deaths People from Galičnik People from Manastir vilayet 20th-century Serbian people Serbian military leaders Serbian rebels Serbs of North Macedonia Serbian military personnel killed in action People from the Ottoman Empire

Life

See also

References

Sources