Milorad Medaković

Milorad Medaković (Serbian: Милорад Медаковић; Gračac, Lika, Habsburg Empire, November 1824 - Belgrade, Serbia, 14 March 1897) was a Serbian historian, journalist, ethnologist and diplomat. Medaković was the secretary and duke of the prince Danilo, the biographer Petar II Petrović Njegoš, and the brother Danilo Medaković. Cite web | url = https: //www.sanu.ac.rs/Biblioteka/BiografskiRecnik.pdf | title = Arhivirana kopija | access-date = 07 September 2014 | archive-url = https: //web.archive.org/web/20160305013209/https: //www.sanu.ac.rs/Biblioteka/BiografskiRecnik.pdf# | archive-date = 05. 03. 2016 | url-status = dead | df =
==Biography==
Milorad was born on the border of Lika and Dalmatia, the youngest of the three brothers (the oldest being Danilo Medaković who is remembered as the secretary of Prince Mihailo and Prince Milošhttp://ubsm.bg.ac.rs/view.php?q=1092&p=0605&e=f&w=1280&h=899and Issac)to Georgije Medaković, a customs officer in the Military Frontier also known as Krajina.https://www.011info.com/ko-je-bio/njegosev-medo-milorad-medakovic-covek-po-kome-je-beogradski-medak-dobilo-ime
Milorad attended high school in Sremski Karlovci and Zadar. After completing his secondary education, he studied jurisprudence at the University of Vienna from 1838 to 1843, graduating with a degree of Doctor of Roman Law. He then went to Humboldt University of Berlin where he studied history with Theodor Mommsen. When Milorad came back from Berlin, the parish priest of Dubrovnik, Djordje Nikolajević, recommended that he go to Montenegro, and enter the service of Prince-Bishop Petar II Petrović-Njegoš.https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013843/http://www.sanu.ac.rs/Clanstvo/IstClan.aspx?arg=325,In Montenegro, Milorad collected folk songs and accompanied the bishop on his travels abroad. He was also in Vienna when Gorski Vijenac was handed over for printing. Milorad's job was to proofread the manuscript before it went to the printing shop.https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=763931
During the 1848–49 revolutions, Milorad and his brother Danilo Medaković were in Vojvodina, a site of a war between Serbs and Hungarians, due to the opposite national conceptions of these two peoples. At the May Assembly in Sremski Karlovci (13–15 May 1848), Serbs declared the constitution of the Serbian Voivodship (Serbian Duchy), a Serbian autonomous region within the Austrian Empire.
After that, Milorad went to Zagreb as a journalist, and in 1850 to Belgrade, where he edited Šumadinka until it was closed by the censors. Later, in Zemun, he launched his own paper Vojvodjanka, but it too met the same fate with censors. He started the "Southern Bee" in 1851 in Timisoara, which he then printed with his brother in Novi Sad until June 1852. He helped his brother in editing the "Serbian Diary", and he learned through experience how to negotiate with strict Austrian censors. At the beginning of 1855, he arrived in Cetinje, where he became the secretary of Prince Danilo II Petrović-Njegoš.https://www.011info.com/ko-je-bio/njegosev-medo-milorad-medakovic-covek-po-kome-je-beogradski-medak-dobilo-imeHis arrival was not to the liking of the Austrian authorities, who refused to issue him a passport, forcing Milorad to arrive in Cetinje in a clandestine manner without documents. Since he was previously Petar II Petrović-Njegoš's secretary, he thought that Prince Danilo would be amenable to discuss the organization of the state and society, national and foreign policy on an equal basis. Later on, of course, Milorad and the prince Danilo came to loggerheads on many foreign issues concerning Montenegro, Serbia and Russia. Milorad was distinctly pro-Russian and agreed on a lot with the President of the Senate, Đorđije Petrović-Njegoš.
==The Code of Danilo==
Danilo used the Law of Petar I Petrović-Njegoš as an inspiration for his own General Law of the Land from 1855, known as Zakonik Danila (The Code of Danilo)). The Code of Danilo was based on the Montenegrin traditions and customs and it is considered to be the first national constitution in Montenegrin history.https://www.njegos.org/petrovics/danpower.htmIt also stated rules, protected privacy and banned warring on the Austrian Coast (Bay of Kotor). Prince Danilo himself prepared the Zakonik Danila from 1855, which he then presented to Milorad Medaković and Vuk Vrčević for their appraisal. Milorad was dissatisfied with some parts of the Code, but nevertheless, on the prince's order, he edited the text of the code to Danilo's wishes. 
==Crimean war==
During the Crimean War, Milorad tried unsuccessfully to convince Prince Danilo to start a war with the Turks and to move towards Herzegovina, in order to secure ties with Serbia. Danilo being influenced by the French foreign policy did not want anything of that nature. In fact, Danilo was hoping that France would intercede on behalf of Montenegro and influence the Sultan and the Porte to recognize Montenegro's independence and thus give Montenegro its international recognition. This shift in policy put Danilo in a precarious position both at home and in Russia.
In mid-1856, Prince Danilo sent Milorad to hand over the Montenegrin memorandum to the Austrian and Russian governments.However, the Russian government replied on Danilo's memorandum "that the Russian government has always recognized Montenegro's independence and will always do so regardless of the position of other great powers".
During the prince's stay in France at the beginning of 1857, together with Đorđije Petrović-Njegoš and with Russian support, Milorad organized a rebellion against Prince Danilo because of his then policy of relying too much on France. This Francophile attitude was detrimental to Danilo's relations with Russia, Austria and Serbia, who saw the good relations between Montenegro and France as a threat to their interests. At the same time, all major European powers worked to undermine Russian influence in Southeastern Europe, which was the strongest in Montenegro. Knowing the mood of his people, Danilo refused to compromise on the sovereignty of Montenegro averting to the extent the pressure from Europeans. At the same time, Russia was in no position to help Montenegro after suffering a defeat in the Crimean War in 1854. In the subsequent Congress of Paris in 1856, Russian government representatives did not have enough strength to support Montenegrin demands for independence and territorial enlargement.https://www.pobjeda.me/clanak/ruski-konzul-na-sve-nacine-nastojao-da-likvidira-knjaza
During the trip to France, Danilo received some financial help (200,000 francs annually) from France hoping that France would ensure the formal recognition of Montenegro's sovereignty. By the same token, Napoleon III hoped that this would bring Montenegro closer to French influence at the expense of Russia. This act of Danilo earned him many enemies since it was seen by many influential Montenegrins as a betrayal of Russia. As a result, Danilo's enemies grew in numbers and included Danilo's elder brother, Grand Voivode Mirko Petrović-Njegoš and even the president of the Senate
Đorđije Petrović-Njegoš who was, curiously enough, chosen to the post by Danilo himself.
The plans to organize the elimination of the Prince were coined by the Montenegrin emigration led by Stevan Perović Cuca and assisted by foreign powers. Danilo's supporters managed to assassinate Perović in Istanbul but the resistance to the Prince continued yet a while longer.https://www.pobjeda.me/clanak/ruski-konzul-na-sve-nacine-nastojao-da-likvidira-knjaza
After the conspiracy was discovered, Milorad Medaković was forced to Austria, where he accused Prince Danilo of being an authoritarian dictator that came as no surprise to anyone.
==Milorad's later successes==
In later years, according to records from 1876, during the time of the Russian Tsar Alexander III of Russia, Milorad Medaković was the head of the Montenegrin delegation. Since he took part in the fight for her independence, which was eventually achieved, the Russian tsar gave him a large sword.
A photograph was also taken, which is the work of our first photographer Anastas Jovanović and which was from a series of portraits of Serbian greats. In the same armchair in which Njegoš was photographed, Milorad Medaković was also photographed, sitting proudly with his sword.
Also, the Russian tsar, because of all his efforts for his people, awarded Milorad the Order of St. Anne of the first and highest degree.
Milorad loved Russia very much and often travelled there when he started to deal more intensively with politics. Because of all that, he came to Belgrade where he worked for a long time as an official of the Russian embassy.https://www.alo.rs/vesti/drustvo/voleo-je-rusiju-i-bavio-se-politikom-gradani-medakovica-da-li-znate-po-kome-je-naselje-dobilo-ime/261030/vest
==All property for one municipality==
Milorad Medaković fought all his life for the liberation of the Serbian people and was very proud to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Serbia. During his life, he gained great wealth. He was the owner of several houses in Belgrade, as well as the founder of two endowments, which, unfortunately, disappeared over time.
As he was single and without descendants,https://www.alo.rs/vesti/drustvo/voleo-je-rusiju-i-bavio-se-politikom-gradani-medakovica-da-li-znate-po-kome-je-naselje-dobilo-ime/261030/vesthe left all the property he acquired to the Belgrade municipality, which is part of today's Voždovac municipality.https://www.011info.com/ko-je-bio/njegosev-medo-milorad-medakovic-covek-po-kome-je-beogradski-medak-dobilo-ime
In later years, the municipality fathers thanked him by naming a street after him, and then the entire settlement was named after him - Medaković.
In the years that followed, it expanded more and more and practically became a small town within a city. Today, in addition to the settlements of Medaković I, there are also the settlements of Medaković II, Medaković III and Medaković padina.
Milorad Medaković died at the age of 74, on 14 March 1897 in Belgrade. He was buried in the Belgrade New Cemetery.https://www.alo.rs/vesti/drustvo/voleo-je-rusiju-i-bavio-se-politikom-gradani-medakovica-da-li-znate-po-kome-je-naselje-dobilo-ime/261030/vest
==Literary work==
He was quite a successful writer, journalist and historian.All his works were written in a mixture of two languages ​​-- Slavonic-Serbian-- and more in a political-journalistic tone common at the time.
His most important works include:https://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-nr92008671/
* The Law of Montenegro and the Brotherhood, 1850,
* History of Montenegro, 1851,
* Life and Customs of Montenegrins, 1860,
* About the Union in Dalmatia, 1864,
* Montenegro and an outline about it (Црна Гора и нека обясњавања о њой, Novi Sad, 1868)
* Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, 1882,
* Christians on the Balkan Peninsula and their destiny, 1885,
* Tin in the East, 1887,
* The first Serbian uprising and its sad end, 1893,
* Cetinje: Capital of Montenegro, 1894
* Montenegrin Uskoks near the end of the 19th century.... (Crnogorskim uskocima pri kraju devetnajestog vijeka...., 1895)
* Bishop Danilo, 1896.
==Member of the academy==
Medaković was a regular member of the Society of Serbian Lettershttp://srpskaenciklopedija.org/doku.php?id=%D0%B4%D1%80%D1%83%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE_%D1%81%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8since January 1863. He was an honorary member of the Serbian Academic Societyhttp://srpskaenciklopedija.org/doku.php?id=%D1%81%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%B8_%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8&redirect=1since the summer of 1864. He was also an honorary member of the Serbian Royal Academyhttp://srpskaenciklopedija.org/doku.php?id=%D1%81%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%B8_%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8&redirect=1since November 1892.https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013843/http://www.sanu.ac.rs/Clanstvo/IstClan.aspx?arg=325,
==Literature==
* Branko Pavićević, Danilo I Petrović Njegoš, Književne novine, Belgrade, 1990.
* Narodna enciklopedija srpsko – hrvatsko – slovenačka, Beograd, 1924.2 (N. Radojčić).
* Homeland 9 (1882) 595-614
* В. Aleksijević: Contemporaries and Consequences of Dositej Obradovic and Vuk Stef. Karadzic: bio-bibliographic material. The manuscript is kept in the Department of Special Funds of the National Library in Belgrade. Ρ 425/6 (V. Aleksijević).
* Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Zagreb, 1955–1971. 6
* Enciklopedija srpske historiografije, S. Ćirković and R. Mihalčić, Belgrade, 1997. 494 (P. Krestić).
== References ==
==External links==
* The Indigenous Lens?: Early Photography in the Near and Middle East
Category:1824 births
Category:1897 deaths
Category:Serbian historians
Category:Serbian journalists
Category:Serbian people
Category:Serbian diplomats
Category:University of Vienna alumni
Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni