Jovan Cvetković ( sr-cyr, Јован Цветковић; 1860–1915), known as Jovan Dolgač (Јован Долгач), was a Serbian Chetnik commander in Macedonia, who also participated in 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 ...

and

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 ...

in the Chetnik detachments of the Serbian Army. In Bulgaria he is considered a Bulgarian renegade who switched sides, i.e. (sic) '' Serboman''.

Life

Dolgač was born in the village of Košino on the Babuna mountain. As a youngster, he smuggled weapons together with his brother Zmejko. The brothers subsequently joined the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...

(IMRO), in order to fight against the Turks and Albanian kachaks. Dolgač stayed with the IMRO until 1904, disappointed with the Bulgarian attacks within the organization against Serb villages around

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 ...

. Together with

Gligor Sokolović Gligor Sokolović ( sr-cyr, Глигор Соколовић; 17 or 5 January 1870 or 1872 – 30 July 1910]) was one of the supreme commanders (''Great Voivode'') of the Serbian Chetnik Organization, Serbian Chetnik Movement, that fought the Ot ...

he 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 ...

and became a commander (''vojvoda'') of a band active in Prilep. He killed his own brother Zmejko when he refused to join the Serbian Organization. He participated in the battles of Mukos (1905), Krapa (1906), which were in the region of the Chief Staff of Western Povardarje. He participated in 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 ...

where he distinguished himself in the battles of Kumanovo and the fighting on Mukos. In the work of

Grigorije Božović Grigorije Božović ( sr-Cyrl, Григорије Божовић}; 15 November 1880 Leposavić, Pridvorica, Ottoman Empire – 4 January 1945 in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia), was a writer, professor of the Prizren seminary, one of the leaders ...

, "Striko Dolgač" (Uncle Dolgač) was displayed as being a type of old Christian

hajduk A hajduk (, plural of ) is a type of Irregular military, irregular infantry found in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries, especially from Hajdú–Bihar Count ...

, who refused to believe that a Serb Muslim in his band could be a Serb and not a Turk; he became the embodiment of the Balkan understanding of religion as a divider of nations. Because of an attack on a Turkish wedding in 1913, he was arrested by the Serbian authorities but was eventually freed in order to fight in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

. In 1915, at an old age, he was appointed the village chief. He was murdered the same year by the IMRO.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolgac, Jovan 1860 births 1915 deaths People from Dolneni Municipality 20th-century Serbian people Serbian rebels Serbian military leaders People from the Kingdom of Serbia Assassinated revolutionaries Assassinated Serbian people People from the Ottoman Empire

Life

See also

References