Dušan Popović (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Душан Поповић; 6 January 1885 – 8 November 1918) was a

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 ...

n journalist, publicist and politician. He was secretary of the Serbian Social Democratic Party (SSDP). In England, he was often styled Doushan Popovitch.

Early life

Dušan A. Popović was born on in the village of Volujak (now part of Dragovo) in the

Levač Levač ( sr-Cyrl, Левач) is a historical region in central Serbia. It is located between Juhor mountain on east and Gledićke planine on west.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 ...

, was orphaned during the Hungarian Revolution and was adopted as a three-year-old by the Avakumović family 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 1848. He went on to become a teacher, and taught in several places, stationed in Volujak at the time of Dušan's birth. Dušan was the seventh child of Aleksa and Jevica (Mileva) Popović. Dušan spent his childhood in Volujak, where he attended elementary school from 1891 to 1895. Popović attended the first two grades of lower gymnasium in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

, and the third and fourth in a private school in

Jagodina Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...

. He passed his finals in Kragujevac. When his older brother Mirko became a substitute teacher at the Užice Gymnasium, Dušan moved in with him and there he attended fifth, sixth and eighth grade. The entire family moved to

Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2022 census, the city proper has a popu ...

soon after, and Dušan often returned to his family home in the town later during his life. He attended seventh grade and passed his finals in Belgrade.

Early activism

During his fifth or sixth grade at the Užice Gymnasium, Popović joined the Student group "Progress" ( Serbian: Đačka družina "Napredak") in 1901. The group was started several years earlier, but came to be known as Radovan's Socialist School, notably led by Radovan Dragović. There, he first met his future companion

Dimitrije Tucović Dimitrije "Mita" Tucović ( sr-Cyrl, Димитрије Туцовић, ; 13 May 1881 – November 1914) was a Serbian theorist of the socialist movement, politician, writer and publisher. He was founder of the Serbian Social Democratic Par ...

. After graduating from gymnasium in the fall of 1903, Dušan enrolled at the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

. During his second year, he started writing in the ''Worker's Journal'' ( Serbian: Radničke novine), the official newspaper of the Serbian Social Democratic Party (SSDP). He was active in the Socialist Students' Club of the Belgrade Higher School (a

grande école A (; ) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Morocco and Tunisia. are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream List of public universities in Franc ...

, today 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 joined the SSDP soon after, in 1905.

Activities in the SSDP

From 1908 to 1912, Popović was a lecturer at a party school in

. Alongside

, he launched the ''Borba'' newspaper, which was a fortnightly journal of the SSDP, which was published between 1910 and 1914. Popović emigrated from occupied Serbia in the summer of 1917. He disagreed with the committee of the SSDP in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, who supported the Entente in

World War I 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 ...

. He wrote to the committee in August 1918, claiming the war was fought with imperialist goals on both sides. Popović supported the ongoing

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, as "the best guarantee for world peace" and the "embryo of a new International".

Death

After many years active in the international socialist movement, Popović died on 8 November 1918.'Doushan Popovitch: A Personal Memoir', '' Workers' Dreadnought'', Vol V No.34 16 November 1919 p 1122 He was buried at

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

next to the grave of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

but in December 1959, his remains were moved to Belgrade and re-interred in the Alley of Greats at the Belgrade New Cemetery.

Publications

Popović D. A. & Katslerovic T. (1918)
Memorandum by the Serbian Socialist Party upon the conditions in occupied Serbia
' Washington, D.C.: Serbian Press Bureau

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Dusan 1885 births 1919 deaths Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Politicians from Jagodina Serbian socialists Socialism in the Kingdom of Serbia 20th-century Serbian journalists Immigrants to the United Kingdom Serbian expatriates