Matija Jovičić
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Matija Jovičić | |
|---|---|
 Illustration of the Orašac Assembly from Život i dela Kara-Đorđa (1903). | |
| Birth name | Matija (or Mateja) Jovičić |
| Nickname | Topolac |
| Born | 1755 |
| Died | after 1820 |
| Cause of death | Natural causes |
| Allegiance | Revolutionary Serbia (1804–1815) |
| Service years | 1804–1815 |
| Rank | knez |
| Unit | Kragujevac nahija army |
| Commands | Jasenica |
| Known for | knez (mayor) |
| Conflicts | First Serbian Uprising Second Serbian Uprising |
Matija Jovičić (Serbian: Матија Јовичић; 1755–1820) was a Serb village mayor (knez) and revolutionary that participated in the First Serbian Uprising, notably as a mayor of Jasenica. He was the father of politician Ranko Matejić.
Jovičić (a patronymic) was born in 1755[1] in Topola in the Kragujevac nahiya.[2] The village was part of the Jasenica knežina (Serb self-governing area) in the Šumadija region.[2] Jovičić was a hajduk (brigand) that joined the Serbian Free Corps and fought in the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791). At the end of the war, Jovičić was a member of a 15-man-band that continued fighting in Šumadija, among whom were also Austrian officer Karađorđe.[3] The hajduk band was dispersed some time in 1791, and Jovičić ended his career as a hajduk.[4]
He became the village knez (mayor) of Topola.[5] During the tyrannical rule of the renegade Janissaries known as the Dahije, the local Turk leader was Osman, while Jovičić was a representative of the local Serbs.[6] He participated at the Orašac Assembly (14 February 1804) where hundreds of influential Serbs met and decided on an uprising against the Dahije.[7] He was among those friends and trusted that Karađorđe collected in Topola on the way, prior to the meeting.[8] With Aleksa Dukić, Jovičić led men who burnt down inns in the area.[2] Jovičić rallied men of Topola, and then wider across Jasenica, into Karađorđe's rebel army.[9] He organized at least two armed bands.[1]
Jovičić accompanied Karađorđe at Rudnik, the mustering at Topola, and liberation of Jagodina in March–April 1804.[10] He then went with Karađorđe and rose up other regions.[10] At the Pećani Assembly (29 April 1805), Teodosije Marićević, the knez of Jasenica, started a fight by openly demanding Karađorđe to give over the supreme leadership to him; Teodosije drew his pistol to kill Karađorđe, who instead managed to shoot and kill Teodosije.[11] After expulsion of Turks from several nahijas in 1805,[10] Karađorđe appointed Jovičić the knez (or obor-knez) of the Jasenica knežina.[12] Jovičić stayed in Jasenica and governed the area, having more of a judicial office than military.[10] He was said to have been calm and gentle by nature, a good and just judge, respected among the people.[10] His son, Ranko Matejić, at a very young age became kapetan (captain) in 1812 and participated in battles.[13] With the suppression of the Serbian uprising in 1813, Jovičić and his son remained in Serbia, and he continued serving as a knez under the Ottoman government.[10] When the Second Serbian Uprising broke out in 1815, Jovičić and his son joined with the Kragujevac nahija.[14] At the request of vojvoda Miloš Obrenović, Jovičić gathered Topola.[1] Jovičić accompanied Miloš Obrenović, Avram Lukić and Otašević to Bosnia, meeting with Hurshid Pasha.[10] Jovičić and Miloš returned to Serbia, while Lukić and Otašević, held as hostages, were executed after Miloš refused to surrender.[10] After the Ottoman–Serbian peace reached between Miloš and Marashli Ali Pasha,[10] of which discussions Jovičić participated in,[1] Jovičić returned to Topola where he lived an ordinary life and died,[10] in 1820.[1]
His son Ranko served as a captain in Miloš's reign and a provincial mayor and politician under Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević.[15]
See also
