Montenegrin Americans
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Montenegrin Americans are
Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
who are of Montenegrin origin. The figure includes all people affiliated with United States who claim Montenegrin ancestry, both those born in the country and naturalized citizens, as well as those with dual citizenship who affiliate themselves with both countries or cultures. The number of Montenegrin Americans in the United States is unknown, as the Montenegrin community has not been differentiated in the United States Censuses as different from closely related Serbian American and Yugoslav American groups; therefore Montenegrin Americans are likely to identify with those groups.


History


Early period

At the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, mass migration of Montenegrins into America occurred. It went in groups, but also individually. First of all, young people from the coastal part of Montenegro were leaving: Boka, Pastrovici, the surroundings of
Budva Budva ( cnr, Будва, or ) is a Montenegrin town on the Adriatic Sea. It has 19,218 inhabitants, and it is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budva riviera, is the center of Montenegrin tourism, kno ...
, then from
Crmnica Crmnica ( Serbian and Montenegrin: Црмница, ) is a historical region in southern Montenegro, one of the communes of the municipality of Bar. It is one of the four sub-regions of Old Montenegro. Geography & Demographics Crmnica is located ...
, Katun nahija, Gragova, Krivosija, Vilusa, so that in a few years the departure would be extended to the region of Niksic, Bjelopavlici,
Piva Piva may refer to: * Piva (river), a river in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina * Piva, Montenegro, a region in Montenegro and tribe * Piva River, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea * Piva Trail, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea ** Battle for Piva Tr ...
, Zabljak, Moraca and the whole northern part of Montenegro. The
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
authorities then helped to get as many Montenegrins as possible, especially young men, to go to America to leave as few soldiers as possible in Montenegro who could go to war. The number of emigrants has grown from year to year. According to the passport book, which was carefully conducted from 1864 to 1914 in the Kingdom of Montenegro, in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, according to
Pavel Rovinsky Pavel Apollonovich Rovinsky (Russian: Па́вел Аполло́нович Ровинский, 22 February 1831 — 15 January 1916) was Russian historian, Slavist, ethnologist and geographer. Early life and studies Pavel Apollonovich Rovinsky w ...
, there were 17 thousand young Montenegrins. This is stated in the "Glas Crnogorca", which was at that time in
Cetinje Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...
, as well as in the "Slobodna Misao" newspaper in Niksic. Interesting is the fact that in 1903, in the course of five months, from the beginning of August to the end of December, 621 Montenegrins went to America. With the departure of young people through
Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, spontaneously disappeared the first verses that best talked to the desire to get to the far rich country as soon as possible. Many Montenegrins sang a song: "Ameriko, rosno cvijeće/ nema toga ko te neće/ ni đeteta od tri ljeta/ niti starca od 100 ljeta…" Ili: "Ameriko zemljo kleta/ po tebi mi drago šeta/. Molim brata, molim kuma, /da mi zajme trista kruna/ da otidem u Čikago,/ pa da vidim moje drago/ kako radi i propada/ i daleko jade jada…" Ili: "Navijorče, vrći momke/ da s’ udaju Crnogorke…" "


Communities

Today, these Montenegrins mainly live in the
central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and eastern United States, much of which is concentrated in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, and to a lesser extent in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, and recent arrivals from former Yugoslavia in the
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
area. Montenegrin Americans are found throughout the state of
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. About a quarter of all known Montenegrin Americans live in
Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
. Their presence in Alaska dates back to the
gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
es of the early 20th century. A short-lived
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
entitled ''Servian Montenegrin'' was established at the beginning of 1905 in the town of
Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
, near
Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...
. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 9,486 ethnic Serbs born in "Other Eastern Europe" countries, overwhelmingly Montenegro. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 2,339 individuals whose first ancestry was Montenegrin, and 189 whose second ancestry was Montenegrin, 2,528 ethnic Montenegrins overall.


Notable people


Arts and entertainment

* Marina Abramović, performance artist *
Enisa Nikaj Enisa Nikaj (; born March 5, 1996), known professionally as Enisa (stylized in all caps), is an American singer and songwriter. She began her music career in 2015 performing cover songs and began releasing original music in 2016. She signed to A ...
, pop singer, model and songwriter


Literature

* Elijah Monte Radlovic * Nikola Petanović, writer and philosopher


Film

*
Ivan Kraljevic Ivan Kraljevic is a Montenegrin film director. Early life Kraljevic was born in Kotor, Montenegro on August 13, 1975. He is the son of a Croatian sea captain and Montenegrin banker. He was raised by his maternal great-grandmother, Stana, while ...
, film director *
Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich; sr-Latn, Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; russian: Милица Богдановна Йовович; uk, Милиця Богданoвна Йовович ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovo ...
, actress


Politics

* Mark Brnovich, Arizona Attorney General * Michael Anthony Stepovich, former
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Alaska Territory The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the ...
, 1957-1958 (last appointed governor before statehood). * John Butrovich, former Alaska State Senator * John Dapcevich, former Mayor of
Sitka, Alaska russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...
*
Marko Dapcevich Marko Dapcevich (born 1969) is a former mayor of Sitka City and Borough, Alaska, Sitka, Alaska. He is an "Honored Member" of a United Nations group, signed the Climate change in the United States#U.S. Mayors.27 Climate Protection Agreement, US Mayor ...
, most recent former Mayor of
Sitka, Alaska russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...
* Susan Marie Brnovich, Arizona Superior Court Judge * George Perazich, humanitarian


Sports

*
Justin Cobbs Justin Cobbs (Serbian Cyrillic: Џастин Кобс; born March 16, 1991) is an American-born Montenegrin professional basketball player for Alvark Tokyo of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of Minnesota then ...
, basketball player * Nicholas Delpopolo, Olympic athlete - judo * Gregg Popovich, basketball coach * Mirsad Huseinovic, soccer player *
Novo Bojovic Novo Bojovic (born November 2, 1959) is a Yugoslav-born American former placekicker. Bojovic played college football at Central Michigan before embarking on a career in professional football which lasted nine years. Bojovic graduated from Centr ...
, football player *
Žarko Čabarkapa Žarko Čabarkapa ( sr-cyrl, Жарко Чабаркапа, ; born 21 May 1981) is a Montenegrin–Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who is Player personnel director at Fenerbahçe Basketball. Standing at , he played ...
, NBA player *
Predrag Drobnjak Peja Drobnjak (born 27 October 1975) is a Montenegrin professional basketball scout and former player. At , he played at the power forward and center positions. Throughout his nineteen-year career, Drobnjak has spent three full seasons playing in ...
, NBA player *
Slavko Vraneš Slavko Vraneš ( cg, Славко Вранеш, ; born 30 January 1983) is a Montenegrin former professional basketball player. He also represented the Montenegrin national basketball team in the international competitions. Standing at , he was o ...
, NBA player *
Nikola Mirotić Nikola Mirotić ( sr-cyrl, Никола Миротић; born 11 February 1991) is a Montenegrin-Spanish professional basketball player for FC Barcelona of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. The power forward is a four-time All-EuroLeague Team memb ...
, NBA player *
Nikola Peković Nikola Peković (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Пековић; born 3 January 1986) is a Montenegrin businessman, basketball executive and former professional player who is the current president of the Basketball Federation of Montenegro. He beg ...
, NBA player *
Nikola Vučević Nikola Vučević (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Вучевић, ; born 24 October 1990) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the USC ...
, NBA player *
Halil Kanacević Halil Kanacević (born October 23, 1991) is an American-born Montenegrin professional basketball player for Trikala Aries of the Greek Basket League. Previously, he played basketball with Saint Joseph's University, where he helped lead the team t ...
, basketball player in Europe


Fictional

*
Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in Ne ...


See also

* Montenegro–United States relations


References


External links


Montenegrins in AlaskaMontenegrin Americans celebrating Montenegrin Independence in ChicagoHow Montenegrin Citizens Helped U.S. SoldiersMontenegrin Ohioans
{{European Americans
Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
European-American society Slavic-American society