Dušan T. Batakovic
Encyclopedia
Dušan T. Bataković is a Serbia
n historian
and diplomat
. His specialty is modern and contemporary Serbian and Balkan history. He holds the post of Assistant Professor at the University of Belgrade
and was a researcher at the Institute for History and the Institute for Balkan Studies at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
.
from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy
in 1982. He holds an M.A. in history from the same institution (1988). He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne
in 1997 with the thesis La France et la formation de la démocratie parlementaire en Serbie 1830-1914 (France and the formation of parliamentary democracy in Serbia, 1830-1914).
He is a specialist for nineteenth- and twentieth-century Balkan history. He has written and published extensively on the modern and contemporary history of Serbia, in particular Kosovo
and Serbia
n-Albania
n relations, focusing on nationalism
, and the origins of religious and ethnic strife. Another area of his research is the impact of communism
on the contemporary history of Serbia
, Yugoslavia
and the Balkans
. Bataković writes in Serbian, English and French and his bibliography includes dozens of historical monographs, edited volumes and more than a hundred articles published in various languages.
Bataković is also the author of the historical TV documentary
Crveno doba (The Red Epoch), which aired on Serbia's public broadcaster, RTS
, in 2004. Combining testimonies of witnesses with historic narrative the film was the first to open the question of the crimes of the communist Yugoslav authorities (the "red terror
") against their political and class enemies in post-World War II
Serbia
and Montenegro
(1944-1947).
In October 2005 he became Director of the Institute for Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
and editor-in-chief of the Institute’s annual Balcanica journal as well as of its Special editions. In September 2008, Bataković was appointed Vice-Director of the Institute for Balkan Studies and elected president of the Serbian Committee of AIESEE (Association Internationale d'Etudes du Sud-Est Europeen).
Parallel to his academic life, Dušan T. Bataković has also pursued a career in politics and diplomacy. As the president of the Council for Democratic Changes in Serbia (a pro-democracy NGO), he campaigned against the Milosevic regime in the late 1990s. From 2001 to 2005 he served as Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro
) to the Hellenic Republic. In July 2005 he became Advisor for political issues to the President of Serbia
Boris Tadić
. In that capacity he became a member, in November 2005, of the Serbian negotiating team at the UN-sponsored talks on the future status of the province of Kosovo
in Vienna
.
He was appointed Ambassador of Serbia to Canada
in July 2007 and Ambassador of Serbia in Paris, France
in January 2009.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n historian
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 race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. His specialty is modern and contemporary Serbian and Balkan history. He holds the post of Assistant Professor at the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
and was a researcher at the Institute for History and the Institute for Balkan Studies at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
.
Biography
Bataković graduated with a degree in historyHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy
University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy
The University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Serbia, founded in the early 19th century within the Belgrade Higher School...
in 1982. He holds an M.A. in history from the same institution (1988). He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne
University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne
Paris-Sorbonne University is a public research university in Paris, France. The 1968 cultural revolution, commonly known as the French May, resulted in the division of the world's second oldest academic institution, the University of Paris, into thirteen autonomous universities...
in 1997 with the thesis La France et la formation de la démocratie parlementaire en Serbie 1830-1914 (France and the formation of parliamentary democracy in Serbia, 1830-1914).
He is a specialist for nineteenth- and twentieth-century Balkan history. He has written and published extensively on the modern and contemporary history of Serbia, in particular Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n-Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
n relations, focusing on nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, and the origins of religious and ethnic strife. Another area of his research is the impact of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
on the contemporary history of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. Bataković writes in Serbian, English and French and his bibliography includes dozens of historical monographs, edited volumes and more than a hundred articles published in various languages.
Bataković is also the author of the historical TV documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Crveno doba (The Red Epoch), which aired on Serbia's public broadcaster, RTS
Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia or Serbian Broadcasting Corporation is the public broadcaster in Serbia. It broadcasts and produces a variety of news, drama, and sports programming through radio, television and the Internet. RTS is, since July 2001, a member of the European Broadcasting Union. RTS is...
, in 2004. Combining testimonies of witnesses with historic narrative the film was the first to open the question of the crimes of the communist Yugoslav authorities (the "red terror
Red Terror
The Red Terror in Soviet Russia was the campaign of mass arrests and executions conducted by the Bolshevik government. In Soviet historiography, the Red Terror is described as having been officially announced on September 2, 1918 by Yakov Sverdlov and ended about October 1918...
") against their political and class enemies in post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
(1944-1947).
In October 2005 he became Director of the Institute for Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
and editor-in-chief of the Institute’s annual Balcanica journal as well as of its Special editions. In September 2008, Bataković was appointed Vice-Director of the Institute for Balkan Studies and elected president of the Serbian Committee of AIESEE (Association Internationale d'Etudes du Sud-Est Europeen).
Parallel to his academic life, Dušan T. Bataković has also pursued a career in politics and diplomacy. As the president of the Council for Democratic Changes in Serbia (a pro-democracy NGO), he campaigned against the Milosevic regime in the late 1990s. From 2001 to 2005 he served as Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
) to the Hellenic Republic. In July 2005 he became Advisor for political issues to the President of Serbia
President of Serbia
The President of Serbia is the head of state of Serbia. Presently serving as the head of state is Boris Tadić. He was elected with a narrow majority of 50.31% in the 2008 Serbian presidential elections.-Authority, legal and constitutional rights:...
Boris Tadić
Boris Tadic
Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February...
. In that capacity he became a member, in November 2005, of the Serbian negotiating team at the UN-sponsored talks on the future status of the province of Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
He was appointed Ambassador of Serbia to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in July 2007 and Ambassador of Serbia in Paris, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in January 2009.
Works
- Dečansko pitanje (The Dečani Question), Belgrade: Historical Institute-Prosveta 1989. (second updated edition: Belgrade: Čigoja štampa 2007) ISBN 978-86-7558-450-6
- Savremenici o Kosovu i Metohiji 1850-1912 (Contemporaries on Kosovo and Metohija 1850-1912), Belgrade: Srpska književna zadruga 1989.
- Kolubarska bitka (The Battle of Kolubara 1914), Belgrade: Litera 1989 (with N. B. Popović).
- Kosovo i Metohija u srpskoj istoriji (Kosovo and Metohia in Serbian History), Belgrade: Srpska književna zadruga 1989, (co-author); German translation: Kosovo und Metochien in der serbischen Geschichte, Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme 1989 (co-author; four chapters); French translation: Le Kosovo-Metohija dans l'histoire serbe, Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme 1990 (co-author, four chapters). ISBN 2-8251-0139-7
- Kosovo i Metohija u srpsko-arbanaškim odnosima (Kosovo and Metohija in Serb-Albanian Relations), Priština: Jedinstvo 1991. ISBN 86-7019-071-0. (2nd updated edition: Čigoja štampa, Belgrade 2006.)
- The Kosovo Chronicles, Belgrade: Plato Books 1992, ISBN 86-447-0006-5; Romanian translation: Cronica de la Kosovo, Bucuresti: Editura Biblioteca Bucurestilor 1999. ISBN 973-99243-0-1
- Kosovo. La spirale de la haine, Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme 1993 (2nd Edition 1998).
- La Yougoslavie : nations, religions, idéologies, Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme 1994. ISBN 9-782825-105344
- The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina. History and Politics, Paris: Dialogue 1996. ISBN 2-911527-10-0
- Kosovo i Metohija. Istorija i ideologija, (Kosovo and Metohija: History and Ideology), Belgrade: Hrišćanska misao 1998. (2nd updated edition: Belgrade: Čigoja štampa 2006).
- Нова историја српског народа (A New History of the Serbian People), Beograd: Naš Dom 2000 (co-authors: A. Fotić, M. St. Protić, N. Samardžić); Second updated edition: Belgrade 2002, ISBN 86-7268-015-4; Korean translation: Seoul 2001, ISBN 89-89205-20-4; French translation: Histoire du peuple serbe, Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme 2005. ISBN 2-8251-1958-X
- Kosovo. Un conflit sans fin? Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme 2008. ISBN 978-2-8251-3875-5
Sources
- Zeljan Šuster, Historical Dictionary of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, The Scarecrow Press, Landham & London 1999, p. 43
- Sima M. Ćirković, Rade Mihaljčić (ed.), Enciklopedija srpske istoriografije, Knowledge, Belgrade 1997, p. 273
- Slobodan Georgijev, ”Dusan Batakovic: A Historian of the Present”, BalkanInsight, Dec. 2009
External links
- Dušan T. Bataković, historian - personal website
- Нова историја српског народа
- Dusan T. Batakovic at IMDb
- The Kosovo Chronicles (full text)
- The Institute for Balkan Studies at SASA official website