Rafailo Momčilović (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Рафаило Момчиловић; 23 April 1875 – 3 September 1941) was a

Serbian Orthodox 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 populat ...

cleric, abbot of the

Šišatovac Monastery Šišatovac () is a village located in the municipality of Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia. The village has a Serbs, Serb ethnic majority and its population numbers 211 people (as of 2011). Near the village is the Šišatovac monastery, one of 16 Serbi ...

, and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. He was murdered in the

Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia The Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Genocid nad Srbima u Nezavisnoj Državi Hrvatskoj, separator=" / ", Геноцид над Србима у Независној Држави Хрватској) was the sy ...

which took place during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Persecution of Serbs in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

began almost immediately after the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, 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" () h ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Ustasha units, administrative

commissars Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Ea ...

and Ustasha youth took up residence in all Serbian Orthodox monasteries throughout

Greater Croatia Greater Croatia () is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia. In the political sens ...

. The monks who had the opportunity to flee, most often fled to either

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 Croatia) or to

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

(from

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

), and those who were caught were sent to internment camps at Jasenovac or killed on the way. Momčilović was kidnapped by the Ustashe on 25 August 1941 and was tortured until his death on 3 September 1941 at Požega. His burial site has yet to be found. Today the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

venerates him as a martyr and saint on 3 September.

Legacy

The icons of the iconostasis of

Ružica Church Ružica Church ( sr-Cyr, Црква Ружица, Crkva Ružica, 'Little Rose Church') is a Serbian Orthodox church located in the Belgrade Fortress, in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The original church was built in the early 15th century. It ...

in Belgrade were painted by Rafailo Momčilović, who had gained his iconographic skills from Russian iconographers. It is significant to mention that Rafailo donated all his gain to the building of

Church of Saint Sava The Church of Saint Sava ( sr-Cyrl, Храм Светог Саве, Hram Svetog Save, lit='The Temple of Saint Sava') is a 79 m high Serbian Orthodox church, which sits on the Vračar plateau in Belgrade, Serbia. It was planned as the bishopric ...

in Belgrade, the work of which had started before World War II. Also, he painted the icons of the iconostasis in the Orthodox church of Gornji Kovilj. There is an art colony in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Momcilovic, Rafailo 1875 births 1941 deaths People from Odžaci Serbian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 20th-century Serbian painters Serbian torture victims Serb people who died in the Holocaust People executed by the Independent State of Croatia Serbian male painters 20th-century Serbian male artists

Legacy

See also

References