Mihailo Gavrilović (

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: Михаило Гавриловић), (

Aleksinac Aleksinac ( sr-Cyrl, Алексинац) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of Southern and Eastern Serbia, southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 43,258 inhabitants. History Preh ...

, May 8, 1868 –

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, November 1, 1924), was a

historian and diplomat.

Early life

Mihailo Gavrilović was born at

in central

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 ...

on May 8, 1868 (

Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...

). He completed high school in Niš and graduated from the department of Philosophy at 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 ...

before embarking on an academic career. From 1900 to 1910, he was the Director of the Serbian State Archives.

Scholarly career

Gavrilović studied history at the ''Velika škola'', the institution that was later to become the

. He graduated in 1891, and defended his thesis on medieval history at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

- Sorbonne in 1899. During his years 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 ...

(1893–1900) Gavrilović prepared a huge volume of French documents concerning 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 ...

, under

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 ...

(1804–1813), that was published in the French language in a single volume in 1904 (''Ispisi iz pariskih arhiva. Građa za istoriju srpskog ustanka''), 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 ...

by the

Serbian Royal Academy The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel laureates Ivo ...

. After returning to

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 ...

from

, Gavrilović was appointed Director of the Archives of Serbia and contributed greatly to its organization as a modern archival institution. Gavrilović researched nineteenth-century Serbian history and wrote extensively on the main political figures of the time (i.e.

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 ...

), Franco-Serbian relations during the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and history of Europe, Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly (French Revoluti ...

and the

Serbian revolution The Serbian Revolution ( / ') was a national uprising and constitutional change in Serbia that took place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Sanjak of Smederevo, Ottoman province into a Revolutionary Serbia, reb ...

(1804–1813) and Serbo-British relations in the 1840s and 1850s, as well as on international relations concerning the Serbian question. His three-volume biography of Prince

is a standard in Serbian historiography. The work is particularly valuable for its treatment of the diplomatic relations of Serbia with the European Powers. It carries the story of Prince Miloš down to 1835, and a fourth volume was to have dealt with the close of his first reign, his exile and his triumphant return in 1858. But unhappily the material which Gavrilović had amassed during the years of study and which would have enabled him to complete the work without much further effort, was irretrievably lost in a trunk which accompanied him during the painful retreat of the Serbian Army through Albania in the

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 ...

(1915–1916), now remembered as the epic ”Albanian Golgotha“. Using Austrian and Russian sources as well, Gavrilović, renowned for his methodical analysis and wider perspective on general historical developments, was considered the leading Serbian expert for diplomatic history. Gavrilović was elected a member of the Serbian Royal Academy in 1914.

Diplomatic career

Gavrilović was Serbian envoy to

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

(1910–1914), and was reassigned in 1914 as Serbian Envoy to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. During his stay in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, he searched the archives of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, collecting documents concerning Serbian history. In 1917, while the Serbian government-in-exile was located at

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(1916–1918), Gavrilović was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and, later on, served as acting Minister of Foreign Affairs (March 10 to November 3, 1918). After the Yugoslav unification in December 1918, Gavrilović was appointed as Envoy of

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

. As a diplomat Gavrilović was equally successful as in his scholarly pursuits, developing an important network of ties with officials in states where he represented the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

and its successor, The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1919–1924). He was awarded the

Order of Saint Sava The Order of St. Sava () is an ecclesiastic decoration conferred by the Serbian Orthodox Church and a dynastic order presented by the house of Karađorđević. It was previously a Order (distinction), state order awarded by both the Kingdom of S ...

for his work.

Selected works

*''Étude sur le traité de Paris de 1259, entre Louis IX, roi de France, et Henri III, roi d’Angleterre'', Librairie Émile Bouillon, Paris 1899. *''Spoljašnja politika Srbije u XIX veku'', Belgrade, 1901. *''Srpski pokret i rusko-francuski odnosi 1804-1807'', Belgrade, 1901. *''Ispisi iz pariskih arhiva (Građa za istoriju srpskog ustanka)'', Serbian Royal Academy, Belgrade, 1904. *''Miloš Obrenović'', vol. I-III, ol. I (1813–1820), vol. II (1821–1826), vol. 3 (1827–1835) Nova štamparija Davidović, Izdanje Zadužbine I. M. Kolarca, Belgrade, 1908-1912 (reprinted by Slovo Ljubve, Belgrade 1978 and 1992), 579+758+661 pp. *''Iz nove srpske istorije'', Srpska književna zadruga, Belgrade 1926, 209 p. (Introduction by Slobodan Jovanović)

Early life

Scholarly career

Diplomatic career

Selected works

References

Further reading