Nedeljko Čabrinović (1895 – 23 January 1916) was a member of the nationalist Young Bosnia

Young Bosnia

Young Bosnia was a revolutionary movement active before World War I, the members were predominantly school students who were ethnic Serbs, but included Bosniaks...

 movement, and one of a group of seven who intended to assassinate

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six Bosnian Serb assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić...

 Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria during his announced visit to Sarajevo.

Born in Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, Čabrinović spent many of his post-school years as a handyman, before moving to Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 and working in a print shop, becoming familiar with anarchist literature. In 1912 he joined the Black Hand

Black Hand

Unification or Death , unofficially known as the Black Hand , was a secret military society formed by members of the Serbian army in the Kingdom of Serbia, which was founded on September 6, 1901. It was intent on uniting all of the territories containing significant Serb populations annexed by...

, and two years later participated in the assassination plot against Franz Ferdinand.

The assassination attempt

Note that many different versions of the assassination exist, owing mainly to contradictory reports by witnesses of the time. This version attempts to reconcile as many facts as possible, but is not guaranteed to be totally accurate.

On 28 June 1914, seven assassins lined up on Appel Quay, the main road in Sarajevo, following the instructions of Danilo Ilić

Danilo Ilic

Danilo Ilić was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1891 and died in 1915. He attended the State Teachers' College in Sarajevo and for a while taught at a school in Bosnia. In 1913 Ilic moved to Belgrade where he became a journalist and a member of the Black Hand secret society.Ilic returned to...

. Čabrinović hid in an alleyway

Alley

An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane found in urban areas, often for pedestrians only, which usually runs between or behind buildings. In older cities and towns in Europe, alleys are often what is left of a medieval street network, or a right of way or ancient footpath in an urban setting...

, and as soon as Ferdinand drove past, he threw his bomb at Ferdinand's car, but forgot about the ten second delay. The bomb destroyed a following car, wounding its passengers and several crowd members. Čabrinović then swallowed his cyanide and jumped into a nearby river. The cyanide was weak and only made him violently sick, and the river was shallow (about 4 inches deep), so he was dragged from the river and apprehended by the authorities. As he was taken away, he supposedly was heard saying "I am a Serb hero."

This failed attempt on Ferdinand's life proved to be a key part in the assassination as Ferdinand insisted on visiting the bomb victims at the local hospital. An error by his driver took them past Gavrilo Princip

Gavrilo Princip

Gavrilo Princip was the Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914...

, who wasted no time in shooting Ferdinand and his wife.

Čabrinović confessed to his crimes, but believed himself a Serbian

Serbs

The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

 hero and true nationalist. As he was still a minor, he was not executed, but was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died in 1916 of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

.