Milan St. Protić ( sr-cyr, Милан Ст. Протић; born 28 July 1957) is a Serbian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who served as the

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

of the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

to the United States, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He was also the

Mayor of Belgrade The mayor of Belgrade () is the head of the City of Belgrade (the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia). The mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an Executive (government), executive function in th ...

in 2000/01.

Early life and education

He was born in a prominent Serbian family of politicians and intellectuals. His great grandfather

Stojan Protić Stojan Protić ( sr-cyrl, Стојан Протић; 28 January 1857 – 28 October 1923) was a Serbian politician and writer. He served as the prime minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes between 1918 and 1919, and again in 1920 ...

was Serbian statesman and the

Prime Minister of Yugoslavia The prime minister of Yugoslavia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Премијер Југославије, Premijer Jugoslavije) was the head of government of the Yugoslav state, from the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 until the ...

(1918–1920). His grandfather Milan St. Protić was the Governor of the Yugoslav Central Bank (1939–1940) and was the member of the Yugoslav cabinet (1941). His father was a renowned Yugoslav sportswriter and

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

official. Protić 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 ...

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

in 1980, but was not allowed to pursue an academic career for political reasons. Leaving the country, he continued graduate studies in the History department at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

where he received M.A. (1982) and Ph.D. (1987). Upon his return to Yugoslavia, Milan St. Protić entered the Institute for Balkan Studies as a Research Fellow. He was a visiting professor at UC Santa Barbara (1991–1992). He also gave lectures at universities in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Paris,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, London, Harvard, Washington, D.C., and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. He is the author of several books about Serbian and Yugoslav 19th and 20th century history.

Political career

From 1991, St. Protić took an active part in the opposition movement against the regime of Slobodan Milošević. He became one of the leading figures of the opposition movement and a member of its leadership in 1998. On October 5, 2000, he was elected

as the first official-elect of the new democratic government. In February 2001, Milan St. Protić was appointed

Ambassador to the United States The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, , sorted by the representative country or organization. See also *Ambassadors of the United States Notes {{reflist, 30em External linksCurrent and former Ambassadors to the United Sta ...

, but was recalled after six months due to public criticism of the Yugoslav President

Vojislav Koštunica Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...

and his policies. In following years he was the Deputy Chairman of the

Christian Democratic Party of Serbia The Christian Democratic Party of Serbia (; abbr. ДХСС, DHSS) was a List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. History The party was founded in 1997 by Vladan Batić after leaving the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), fo ...

(DHSS). In January 2009, Protić was appointed Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Personal life

Milan St. Protić is married and father of three daughters. He is a self-described

Serbian nationalist Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, ...

and

Serbian Orthodox Christian The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populatio ...

References

External links

Interview: Milan St. Protić (14 September 2000)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protic, Milan St. 1957 births Living people Diplomats from Belgrade Christian Democratic Party of Serbia politicians Mayors of Belgrade University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni 20th-century Serbian historians Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia Ambassadors of Serbia and Montenegro to the United States Ambassadors of Serbia to Liechtenstein Ambassadors of Serbia to Switzerland