Matija Nenadović ( sr-cyrl, Матија Ненадовић, or Mateja Nenadović sr-cyr, Матеја Ненадовић; 26 February 1777 – 11 December 1854), also known as Prota Mateja, was a Serbian archpriest, writer, and politician who served as the first

prime minister of Serbia The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијер Србије, premijer Srbije; feminine gender, feminine: премијерка/premijerka), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председн ...

from 1805 to 1807. He was a notable leader in the

First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...

Life

At the age of sixteen he was ordained priest, and a few years later was promoted to an archpriest (), colloquially ''prota'' () of

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...

. His father,

Aleksa Nenadović Aleksa Nenadović (1749 Brankovina, Sanjak of Smederevo — 4 February 1804, Valjevo, Sanjak of Smederevo) was ober knyaz of Tamnava—Posavina district of Valjevo nahiyah of the Belgrade Pashaluk. Family Aleksa Nenadović was a member of the ...

, Knez (chief magistrate) of the district of Valjevo, was one of the most popular and respected public men among the Serbs at the beginning of the 19th century. When the four leaders of the

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

of the

Sanjak of Smederevo The Sanjak of Smederevo (, ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade (, ), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak) centered on Smederevo, that existed between the 15th and the outset of the 19th centuries. It ...

(the so-called Dahias) thought that the only way to prevent a general rising of the Serbs was to intimidate them by murdering all their principal men, Aleksa Nenadović (1749–1804) was one of the first victims. The policy of the Dahias, instead of preventing, did actually and immediately provoke a general insurrection of the Serbs against the Turks. Prota Mateja became the deputy-commander of the insurgents of the Valjevo district (1804), but did not hold the post for long, as

Karađorđe Đorđe Petrović (; ; – ), known by the sobriquet Karađorđe (; ), was a Serbian revolutionary leader who led a struggle against the Ottoman Empire during the First Serbian Uprising. He held the title of Grand Vožd of Serbia from 14 ...

sent him in 1805 on a secret mission to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, and afterwards employed him almost constantly as Serbia's diplomatic envoy to Russia, Austria,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. After the fall of Karadjordje (1813), the new leader of the Serbs,

Miloš Obrenović Miloš Obrenović (; ; 18 March 1780 or 1783 – 26 September 1860) born Miloš Teodorović (; ), also known as Miloš the Great () was the Prince of Serbia twice, from 1815 to 1839, and from 1858 to 1860. He was an eminent figure of the Firs ...

, sent Prota Mateja as representative of Serbia to the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

(1814–1815), where he pleaded the Serbian cause indefatigably. During that mission he often saw

Lord Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Irish-born British st ...

, and for the first time the Serbian national interests were brought to the knowledge of British statesmen. Prota Mateja's memoirs (''Memoari Prote Mateje Nenadovića'') are the most valuable authority for the history of the first and

Second Serbian uprising The Second Serbian Uprising ( / ''Drugi srpski ustanak'', ) was the second phase of the Serbian Revolution against the Ottoman Empire, which erupted shortly after the re-annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire in 1813. The occupation was ...

against the Turks. He had a brother,

Sima Sima or SIMA may refer to: People * Sima (Chinese surname) * Sima (Persian given name), a Persian feminine name in use in Iran and Turkey * Sima (Indian given name), an Indian feminine name used in South Asia * Sima (surname) * Sima (born 1 ...

, a ''voivode''. His paternal uncle,

Jakov Nenadović Jakov Nenadović ( sr-cyr, Јаков Ненадовић; 1765–1836) was a Serbian voivode and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 31 December 1810 to 22 January 1811. He was the first Serbian in ...

, had an equally important role in Serbia, as the first Interior Minister. Mateja Nenadović had a son, Ljubomir Nenadović. Nenadović was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Works

He is best known for his work ''The Memoirs of Prota Nenadović''. He also authored other memoirs and documentary literature.

Legacy

He is included in the book ''

The 100 most prominent Serbs ''The 100 most prominent Serbs'' () is a book containing the biographies of the hundred most important Serbs as compiled by a committee of academicians at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The committee members were Sava Vuković (bishop) ...

''.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nenadovic, Mateja People of the First Serbian Uprising Prime ministers of Serbia 19th-century Serbian historians Serbian male writers Serbian Orthodox clergy Mateja Writers from Valjevo 1777 births 1854 deaths Ambassadors to the Russian Empire Armed priests Politicians from Valjevo Clergy from Valjevo Serbian Freemasons

Life

Works

Legacy

See also

References

Sources