Marko Miljanov
Encyclopedia
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...
. He led the Kuči
KUCI
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clan against the Turks in 1862 and distinguished himself in the War of 1876-78. He was also an accomplished writer who gained repute for his descriptions of Montenegrin life.
Biography
Marko Miljanov Popović Kuč was born into a distinguished family in the village of Medun, in PodgoricaPodgorica
Podgorica , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement...
municipality. He had a Orthodox Christian father (Kuči
KUCI
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clan) and Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
Catholic Christian
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
mother (Koja e Kuçit
Koja e Kuçit
Koja e Kuçit is considered one of the seven Northern Albanian tribes of Malësia. Koja is the Albanian Catholic tribe of Koja e Kuçit, the name derived from a combination of the Albanian Koja clan, within the Kuči mountain. The people of this tribe are said to be descendants of the tribe of Kelmend....
clan). Like all of his countrymen, in his youth, he took part in attacks on Turks.
In 1856, he came to the Montenegrin capital Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
and entered the service of Prince Danilo in his guards unit called perjanici. For his bravery and successes in raids on Turkish territory and as a man of confidence, he was awarded in 1862 the position of judge and head of Bratonožići clan. For his work on unification of Kuči with Montenegro in 1874, he had a price set on his head by the Turks. The same year saw his appointment to the Montenegrin Senate (from 1879 transformed into a State Council). In the 1876-78 war against the Turks, he victoriously commanded Montenegrin forces in the Battle of Fundina
Battle of Fundina
The Battle of Fundina took place on 2 August 1876 in Fundina, a village in Kuči, Principality of Montenegro.The Montenegrin Army was led by the two Montenegrin dukes, Ilija Plamenac and Marko Miljanov, who had about 5,000 people uder their direct command...
. After a fierce disagreement with Prince Nikola
Nicholas I of Montenegro
Nikola I Mirkov Petrović-Njegoš was the only king of Montenegro, reigning as king from 1910 to 1918 and as prince from 1860 to 1910. He was also a poet, notably penning "Onamo, 'namo!", a popular song from Montenegro.-Early life:Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the ancient home of the...
in 1882, he had to leave the State Council and decided to retire from public life to his native Medun.
Although he was 50 years old, Marko Miljanov, who was illiterate like the most of his countrymen, decided to learn to write. Though much younger than Petar II Petrović Njegoš, Marko Miljanov was closer to the people by virtue of his lack of learning, and thus he expressed more directly and in less altered form what he found among the people. He states explicitly that man is governed by higher powers of good and evil: This is not permitted by nature, this is not permitted by the blood which contains some divine force which rules over man's good will and bad. Putting quotations aside, Miljanov is lost in admiration for the good, for humanity and reason as the higher imperatives over man.
He explained his urge in a foreword to the lost manuscript of his epic songs with the words: Dear Serb brother, if you had the chance to see the heroes that I have seen, your heart would give you no peace until you have responded to the heroes who die merrily for their own and rights of all of us.
He died at Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants...
in 1901.
Works
Marko Miljanov died before any of his works were published. All works were originally published in Serbia, as Marko was a well known dissident to his contemporary Montenegrin king Nicholas.His most important work is The Examples of Humanity and Bravery , a collection of true anecdotes depicting practical examples of achieved ethical ideal Montenegrins of his time strived for. It is a lasting monument to the otherwise unsung heroes of the Montenegrin struggle for independence in the 19th century. The anecdotes describe common and humble people, their language and customs and their deeds that made other Montenegrins and Albanians admire them. Marko's language and phrase is plain and coarse, however, his message is resounding.
His second published book The Kuči Clan in Folk Stories and Poems is collection of a historical and ethnographical data from folklore.
Marko Miljanov had a high respect for Albanian Catholic tribes that were immediate neighbors of his tribe, Kuči, the Albanians of Koja e Kuçit
Koja e Kuçit
Koja e Kuçit is considered one of the seven Northern Albanian tribes of Malësia. Koja is the Albanian Catholic tribe of Koja e Kuçit, the name derived from a combination of the Albanian Koja clan, within the Kuči mountain. The people of this tribe are said to be descendants of the tribe of Kelmend....
; therefore his book: Life and the Customs of Albanians , describes and explains their daily life.
Amongst his other epic works are Serbian Haiduks , Something on Bratonožići and other.
Ethnicity
Miljanov wrote that during an attack by the Montenegrin Prince Danilo on the Kuči clanKUCI
KUCI is a college radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Licensed to Irvine, California, USA, the station serves the Orange County area...
(Miljanov's clan), the Kuči's shouted: "Do not attack your Serb brother, o Montenegrins, may your cheek be black, as it is if you act so against your brother!".
Message to the Austrian ambassador to Montenegro: "Tell that Austrian deputy, to tell his Emperor, should God turn him over to good, to then unite the Serbdom: Bosnia and 'Erzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, 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...
, 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 Old Serbia
Old Serbia
Old Serbia is a modern name for the territory which was the core of medieval Serbia. It included Raška , Kosovo and Metohija and the Macedonia...
, and to make that the Serb Kingdom."