Jovan Avakumović (1 January 1841 – 3 August 1928) was a Serbian lawyer, criminologist, statesman, and Prime Minister of Serbia.

Biography

Born 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 ...

, a descendant of a respected Serbian merchant family of Baba-Dudići, Avakumović was a nephew of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and Royal

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

Jovan Belimarković. He graduated from 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 ...

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 ...

, and studied law and state science (1862–1868) in Germany, France, and Switzerland. He was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. In 1873 he was appointed the First Secretary of Cassation, and in 1875 mayor of Belgrade, then head of the police department of the Ministry of the Interior in the Liberal government of Stevča Mihailović until 1880. That year he briefly became a justice minister in the cabinet of Jovan Ristić, but already in October the same year, the government fell and he was replaced by the Progressive Milan Piroćanac. In 1881–1887 he was a judge in the

Court of cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

. In 1887 he was briefly Minister of Justice in Liberal-Radikal coalition government but resigned from the end of the year when the radicals formed a cabinet. Avakumović became operational head of the Liberal party and the opposition leader. Liberals then used tactics to oppose the ruling Radicals. When on 9 August 1892 the Radical fell Avakumović became the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. The government was dominated by young liberals. All government actions were aimed at the parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 February 1893. After fierce fighting, in which the government used dubious methods, the result was a draw, and on 1 April 1893 King Aleksandar I Obrenović dismissed the Avakumović government and gave the mandate to Radicals. The Radical majority in the Assembly organized a political trial of Avakumović and some members of his government but they were granted an amnesty by the king before the verdict. Avakumović became Prime Minister again immediately after the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of King Aleksandar Obrenovic and Queen Draga Mašin on 29 May 1903. Peter Karađorđević became the Serbian king and the Constitution of 1888 was restored. During

First World War 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 ...

the Austrian occupation forces captured him in 1915 and interned him in the camp

Cegléd Cegléd (; ) is a city in Pest County, Pest county, Hungary, approximately southeast of the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Name The name of the town is of disputed origin. The name may be derived from the word "szeglet" (meaning "corner") due to i ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and then

Hietzing Hietzing () is the 13th Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna (). It is located west of the central districts, west of Meidling. Hietzing is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings, but also contains large areas of the Vi ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

where he stayed until the end of the war. After returning from the captivity he withdrew from politics. Avakumović was one of the best attorneys in Belgrade, especially in the field of

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

. He has written many papers, and his most important works are: ''The theory of criminal law'' (1887–1891). Avakumović became a regular member of the Serbian Royal Academy in 1893. He died in Rogaška Slatina, aged 87. Avakumović was awarded Order of the Cross of Takovo.

Legacy

In 1902

Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

for theft and other property, crimes were abolished by law. This amendment to the Penal Code was necessary because the 1901 Constitution had enumerated all capital crimes, excluding property crimes from that list. For many decades the main proponent of this reform was Jovan Avakumović.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avakumovic, Jovan 1841 births 1928 deaths Lawyers from Belgrade People from the Principality of Serbia Liberal Party (Kingdom of Serbia) politicians Prime ministers of Serbia Politicians from Belgrade University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Foreign ministers of Serbia Justice ministers of Serbia 19th-century Serbian lawyers

Biography

Legacy

See also

References