Jovan "Jovo" Kurtović and/or Giovanni Curtovich (1718 in

Začula Začula ( sr-cyrl, Зачула) is a village in the municipality of Ravno, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the 1991 census it had 23 inhabitants, all of them being Serbs. Prior to the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina it belonged to the Trebinje municip ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

– 12 August 1809 in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

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) was a Serbian shipping magnate in the eighteenth century who lived and worked in

. He is credited, together with Johann I. de Verpoorten, a Flemish merchant, for establishing maritime trade with the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, few months after the British surrender in October 1781. He became one of the most famous shipping tycoons of his time with several homes to his name and a fleet of merchant ships which sailed the

seven seas "The Seven Seas" is a figurative term for all the seas of the known world. The phrase is used in reference to sailors and pirates in the arts and popular culture and can be associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Seven Seas east of Af ...

Biography

Jovo Kurtović was already a prominent merchant in

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of the Trebišnjica river in the region of East Her ...

Hercegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It presently does not have strictly de ...

before he came to settle indefinitely in Trieste in 1737. Shortly after arriving in Trieste, he soon brought three of his brothers over from

getting one to set up a branch of the business in western Turkey at

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, the other in

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and the third one in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. They were in a way Jovo's trading ambassadors, through whom, for a short while, they gained a lot of wealth with more of their shops appearing around town and several residential buildings.

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (; ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer who was born in the Republic of Venice and travelled extensively throughout Europe. He is chiefly remembered for his autobiography, written in French and pu ...

was commissioned by the Venetian government to investigate and report on Kurtović's economic progress in Trieste. In 1782 Kurtović sent a ship from Trieste to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, then America's largest port. The Kurtović vessel was one of the first to begin to trade with the new republic which then was only a year old, and the ship was a sensation for Philadelphians who never received a foreign vessel like it before. Jovo Kurtović who lived to the age of 91 and died in Trieste, then part of the Napoleonic empire, in 1809, was ''kum'' (

godparent Within Christianity, a godparent or sponsor is someone who bears witness to a child's baptism (christening) and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelong spiritual formation. In both religious and civil views, ...

) to numerous Serbs of Trieste: Cvetko Jovanović, Antonia Kvekić, Josif Miletić, Jovan Nikolić, Dimitrije Rajović, Stefan Riznić (father of Jovan Riznic, Dragutin Teodorović, and Petar Teodorović. Jovo was the first Serbian president of the Greco-Illyrian (Serbian) Saint Spyridon Church parish, and benefactor of the two communities and one of the founding fathers of commercial trade in Trieste. Although he was married three times and had many children, none survived him. He bequeathed his wealth to his nephew Maksim Kurtović while he was still alive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtović, Jovo Serbian merchants 1718 births 1809 deaths People from Trebinje Merchants from the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century merchants

Biography

See also

References