The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous
South Slavic ethnic group native to the
Balkans in
Southeastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
, who share a common Serbian
ancestry
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
,
culture,
history and
language.
The majority of Serbs live in their
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
of
Serbia, as well as in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Croatia,
Montenegro, and
Kosovo. They also form significant minorities in
North Macedonia and
Slovenia. There is a large
Serb diaspora
Serb diaspora ( sr, Српска дијаспора/Srpska dijaspora) refers to the diaspora communities of ethnic Serbs. It is not to be confused with the Serbian diaspora, which refers to Human migration, migrants, regardless of ethnicity, from ...
in
Western Europe, and outside
Europe and there are significant communities in
North America and
Australia.
The Serbs share many cultural traits with the rest of the peoples of
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
. They are predominantly
Eastern Orthodox Christians by religion. The Serbian language (a standardized version of
Serbo-Croatian) is official in Serbia, co-official in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is spoken by the plurality in Montenegro.
Ethnology
The identity of Serbs is rooted in
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical" ...
and traditions. In the 19th century, the
Serbian national identity
Serbia is the nation state of the Serbs, who are Serbia's dominant ethnic group. Serbs are also dominant in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the 19th century, the Serbian national identity was manifested, with awareness o ...
was manifested, with awareness of history and tradition, medieval heritage, cultural unity, despite living under different empires. Three elements, together with the legacy of the
Nemanjić dynasty
The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal, and later imperial house produced twelve Serbian monarchs, who rule ...
, were crucial in forging identity and preservation during foreign domination: the
Serbian Orthodox Church, the
Serbian language, and the
Kosovo Myth
The Kosovo Myth ( sr, Косовски мит / ''Kosovski mit''), also known as the Kosovo Cult and the Kosovo Legend, is a Serbian national myth based on legends about events related to the Battle of Kosovo (1389). It has been a subject in Serb ...
. When the
Principality of Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, Orthodoxy became crucial in defining
the national identity, instead of language which was shared by other South Slavs (
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...
and
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...
).
The tradition of ''
slava'', the family saint feast day, is an important ethnic marker of Serb identity,
and is usually regarded their most significant and most solemn
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does ...
.
The origin of the
ethnonym is unclear. The most prominent theory considers it of Proto-Slavic origin. argued native Slavic provenance of the ethnonym,
claiming that the theory advances a conclusion that the ethnonym has a meaning of a family kinship or alliance, which was also argued by a number of other scholars.
Genetic origins
According to a triple analysis –
autosomal
An autosome is any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. The members of an autosome pair in a diploid cell have the same morphology, unlike those in allosomal (sex chromosome) pairs, which may have different structures. The DNA in autosomes ...
,
mitochondrial and
paternal
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
— of available data from large-scale studies on
Balto
Balto (1919 – March 14, 1933) was a Siberian Husky and sled dog belonging to musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala. He achieved fame when he reportedly led a team of sled dogs driven by Gunnar Kaasen on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nom ...
-Slavs and their proximal populations, the whole genome
SNP data situates Serbs with Montenegrins in between two Balkan clusters.
Y-DNA results show that haplogroups
I2a and
R1a together stand for the majority of the makeup, with more than 53 percent. The aforementioned Serbian Y-chromosomes belong to lineages believed to be pre-
Neolithic. Such significant levels are possibly the result of Neolithic migrations encroaching on Paleolithic populations against the Adriatic Sea.
According to several recent studies Serbia's people are among the tallest in the world, with an average
male height of .
History
Arrival of the Slavs
Early Slavs, especially
Sclaveni
The ' (in Latin) or ' (various forms in Greek, see below) were early Slavic tribes that raided, invaded and settled the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages and eventually became the progenitors of modern South Slavs. They were mentioned by early ...
and
Antae
The Antes, or Antae ( gr, Ἄνται), were an early East Slavic tribal polity of the 6th century CE. They lived on the lower Danube River, in the northwestern Black Sea region (present-day Moldova and central Ukraine), and in the regions ...
, including the
White Serbs
The Sorbs, also known as White Serbs in Serbian historiography, were an Early Slavic tribe settled between Saale-Elbe valley up to Lusatian Neisse (in present-day Saxony and Thuringia), and part of the Wends. In the 7th century, the tribe joine ...
, invaded and settled
Southeastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
in the 6th and 7th century. Up until the late 560s their activity was raiding, crossing from the Danube, though with limited Slavic settlement mainly through Byzantine ''
foederati'' colonies. The
Danube and
Sava frontier was overwhelmed by large-scale Slavic settlement in the late 6th and early 7th century. What is today
central Serbia
Central Serbia ( sr, централна Србија / centralna Srbija), also referred to as Serbia proper ( sr, link=no, ужа Србија / uža Srbija), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the nor ...
was an important geo-strategical province, through which the ''
Via Militaris
Via Militaris or Via Diagonalis was an ancient Roman road, starting from Singidunum (today the Serbian capital Belgrade), passing by Danube coast to Viminacium (modern Požarevac), through Naissus (modern Niš), Serdica (modern Sofia), Philippopo ...
'' crossed. This area was frequently intruded by
barbarians
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...
in the 5th and 6th centuries. The numerous Slavs mixed with and assimilated the descendants of the indigenous population (Illyrians, Thracians, Dacians, Romans, Celts). White Serbs from
White Serbia
White Serbia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Бела Србија, Bela Srbija; wen, Biеło Srbsko), called also Boiki ( grc, Βοΐκι, Boḯki; sr-Cyrl-Latn, link=no, Бојка, Bojka; wen, links=no, Boika), is the name applied to the assumed homeland of ...
came to
an area near Thessaloniki and then they settled area between Dinaric Alps and Adriatic coast. The region of "Rascia" (
Raška) was the center of Serb settlement and Serb tribes also occupied parts of modern-day
Herzegovina and
Montenegro. Prior to their arrival to the Balkans, Serbs were predominantly involved in agricalture, which is why they settled in areas which were cultivated even during Roman times.
Middle Ages
The first Serb states,
Raška and
Duklja
Duklja ( sh-Cyrl, Дукља; el, Διόκλεια, Diokleia; la, Dioclea) was a medieval South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana Riv ...
(825–1120), were formed chiefly under the
Vlastimirović and
Vojislavljević dynasties respectively.
The other Serb-inhabited lands, or principalities, that were mentioned included the "countries" of Paganija, Zahumlje, Travunija. With the decline of the Serbian state of Duklja in the late 11th century, Raška separated from it and replaced it as the most powerful Serbian state. Prince
Stefan Nemanja (r. 1169–96) conquered the neighbouring territories of
Kosovo,
Duklja
Duklja ( sh-Cyrl, Дукља; el, Διόκλεια, Diokleia; la, Dioclea) was a medieval South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana Riv ...
and
Zachlumia. The
Nemanjić dynasty
The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal, and later imperial house produced twelve Serbian monarchs, who rule ...
ruled over Serbia until the 14th century. Nemanja's older son,
Stefan Nemanjić
Stefan Nemanja II ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Немања II, ), or Stephen the First-Crowned ( sr, / , ; – 24 September 1228), was the Grand Prince of Serbia from 1196 and the King of Serbia from 1217 until his death in 1228. He was the first ...
, became Serbia's first recognized king, while his younger son, Rastko, founded the
Serbian Orthodox Church in the year 1219, and became known as
Saint Sava after his death. Parts of modern-day Montenegro,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
, and central Serbia would come under the control of Nemanjić.
Over the next 140 years, Serbia expanded its borders, from numerous smaller principalities, reaching to a unified
Serbian Empire. Its cultural model remained Byzantine, despite political ambitions directed against the empire. The medieval power and influence of Serbia culminated in the reign of
Stefan Dušan, who ruled the state from 1331 until his death in 1355. Ruling as Emperor from 1346, his territory included
Macedonia, northern Greece, Montenegro, and almost all of modern
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares la ...
. When Dušan died, his son
Stephen Uroš V
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
became Emperor.
With
Turkish invaders beginning their conquest of the Balkans in the 1350s, a major conflict ensued between them and the Serbs, the first major battle was the
Battle of Maritsa (1371), in which the Serbs were defeated. With the death of two important Serb leaders in the battle, and with the death of Stephen Uroš that same year, the
Serbian Empire broke up into several small Serbian domains. These states were ruled by feudal lords, with Zeta controlled by the
Balšić family, Raška,
Kosovo and northern Macedonia held by the
Branković family and
Lazar Hrebeljanović
Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-cyr, Лазар Хребељановић; ca. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empire. Lazar's state, ...
holding today's
Central Serbia
Central Serbia ( sr, централна Србија / centralna Srbija), also referred to as Serbia proper ( sr, link=no, ужа Србија / uža Srbija), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the nor ...
and a portion of Kosovo. Hrebeljanović was subsequently accepted as the titular leader of the Serbs because he was married to a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. In 1389, the Serbs faced the Ottomans at the
Battle of Kosovo
The Battle of Kosovo ( tr, Kosova Savaşı; sr, Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan ...
on the plain of
Kosovo Polje
Fushë Kosova ( sq-definite, Fushë Kosovë), or Kosovo Polje ( sr-Cyrl, Косово Поље, "Kosovo Field"), is a town and municipality located in the District of Pristina in central Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Fushë Ko ...
, near the town of
Priština. Both Lazar and
Sultan Murad I were killed in the fighting. The battle most likely ended in a stalemate, and afterwards Serbia enjoyed a short period of prosperity under despot
Stefan Lazarević and resisted falling to the Turks until 1459.
Early modern period
The Serbs had taken an active part in the wars fought in the Balkans against the Ottoman Empire, and also organized uprisings;
because of this, they suffered persecution and their territories were devastated – major migrations from Serbia into Habsburg territory ensued. After allied Christian forces
had captured Buda from the Ottoman Empire in 1686 during the
Great Turkish War, Serbs from
Pannonian Plain
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
(present-day
Hungary,
Slavonia region in present-day
Croatia,
Bačka
Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungar ...
and
Banat
Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of ...
regions in present-day
Serbia) joined the troops of the Habsburg monarchy as separate units known as
Serbian Militia
The Serbian (Rascian) Militia ( lat, Rascianica militia; sr, Рашка Милиција or ) was a military unit of the Habsburg-Austrian army consisting of Serbs, that existed in ca. 1686–1704.
During the Great Turkish War (1686–99)
Af ...
.
Serbs, as volunteers, massively joined the Austrian side.
Many Serbs were recruited during the
devshirme
Devshirme ( ota, دوشیرمه, devşirme, collecting, usually translated as "child levy"; hy, Մանկահավաք, Mankahavak′. or "blood tax"; hbs-Latn-Cyrl, Danak u krvi, Данак у крви, mk, Данок во крв, Danok vo krv ...
system, a form of
slavery in the Ottoman Empire
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire was a lawful institution and a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and traditional society. The main sources of slaves were wars and politically organized enslavement expeditions in the Caucasus, Easte ...
, in which boys from Balkan Christian families were
forcibly converted to
Islam and trained for infantry units of the
Ottoman army known as the
Janissaries
A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...
. A number of Serbs who converted to Islam occupied high-ranking positions within the
Ottoman Empire, such as
Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha ( ota, صوقوللى محمد پاشا, Ṣoḳollu Meḥmed Pașa, tr, Sokollu Mehmet Paşa; ; ; 1506 – 11 October 1579) was an Ottoman statesman most notable for being the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Born in ...
and
Minister of War field marshal Omar Pasha Latas
Omer Pasha, also known as Omer Pasha Latas ( tr, Ömer Lütfi Paşa, sr, Омер-паша Латас, Omer-paša Latas; 24 September 1806 – 18 April 1871) was an Ottoman field marshal and governor. Born in Austrian territory to Serbian Or ...
.
In 1688,
the Habsburg army took Belgrade and entered the territory of present-day
Central Serbia
Central Serbia ( sr, централна Србија / centralna Srbija), also referred to as Serbia proper ( sr, link=no, ужа Србија / uža Srbija), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the nor ...
.
Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden
Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden (german: links=no, Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden-Baden; 8 April 1655 – 4 January 1707) was the ruling Margrave of Baden-Baden in Germany and chief commander of the Imperial army. He was also known as ''Türkenl ...
called Serbian Patriarch
Arsenije III Čarnojević Arsenije ( sr-cyr, Арсеније; ) is a Serbian given name, a variant of the Greek name ''Arsenios''. Diminutives of the name include ''Arsen'', ''Arsa'' and '' Arso''. It may refer to:
*Arsenije Sremac (d. 1266), second Archbishop of the Serb ...
to raise arms against the Turks; the Patriarch accepted and returned to the liberated Peć. As Serbia fell under Habsburg control, Leopold I granted Arsenije nobility and the title of duke. In early November, Arsenije III met with Habsburg commander-in-chief,
General Enea Silvio Piccolomini in
Prizren
)
, settlement_type = Municipality and city
, image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg
, imagesize = 290px
, image_caption = View of Prizren
, image_alt = View of Prizren
, image_flag ...
; after this talk he sent a note to all Serb bishops to come to him and collaborate only with Habsburg forces.
A
Great Migration of the Serbs (1690) to Habsburg lands was undertaken by Patriarch Arsenije III. The large community of Serbs concentrated in Banat, southern Hungary and the Military Frontier included merchants and craftsmen in the cities, but mainly refugees that were peasants. Smaller groups of Serbs also migrated to the
Russian Empire, where they occupied high positions in the military circles.
The
Serbian Revolution
The Serbian Revolution ( sr, Српска револуција / ''Srpska revolucija'') was a national uprising and constitutional change in Serbia that took place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Ottoman pro ...
for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815. The revolution comprised two separate uprisings which gained autonomy from the Ottoman Empire that eventually evolved towards full independence (1835–1867).
During the
First Serbian Uprising, led by Duke
Karađorđe Petrović
Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independ ...
, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army was able to reoccupy the country. Shortly after this, the
Second Serbian Uprising began. Led by
Miloš Obrenović
Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to:
Given name
Sportsmen
* Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower
* Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer
* Miloš Budaković, Serbian ...
, it ended in 1815 with a compromise between Serbian revolutionaries and Ottoman authorities. Likewise, Serbia was one of the first nations in the Balkans to abolish
feudalism. Serbs are among the first ethnic groups in Europe to form a
nation and a clear sense of national identity.
Modern period
In the early 1830s, Serbia gained autonomy and its borders were recognized, with
Miloš Obrenović
Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to:
Given name
Sportsmen
* Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower
* Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer
* Miloš Budaković, Serbian ...
being recognized as its ruler. Serbia is the fourth modern-day European country, after France, Austria and the Netherlands, to have a codified legal system, as of 1844. The last Ottoman troops withdrew from Serbia in 1867, although Serbia's and Montenegro's independence was not recognized internationally until the
Congress of Berlin
The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at t ...
in 1878.
Serbia fought in the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...
of 1912–13, which forced the Ottomans out of the Balkans and doubled the territory and population of the
Kingdom of Serbia. In 1914, a young
Bosnian Serb
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...
student named
Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip ( sr-Cyrl, Гаврило Принцип, ; 25 July 189428 April 1918) was a Bosnian Serb student who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.
Prin ...
assassinated
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
...
, which directly contributed to the outbreak of
World War I. In the fighting that ensued, Serbia was invaded by
Austria-Hungary
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 1 ...
. Despite being outnumbered, the Serbs defeated the Austro-Hungarians at the
Battle of Cer
The Battle of Cer, ; german: Schlacht von Cer; hu, Ceri csata. Also known as the Battle of the Jadar River (Јадарска битка, ''Jadarska bitka''; ''Schlacht von Jadar''; ''Jadar csata''). was a military campaign fought between Austr ...
, which marked the first
Allied victory over the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...
in the war. Further victories at the battles of
Kolubara and the
Drina meant that Serbia remained unconquered as the war entered its second year. However, an invasion by the forces of
Germany,
Austria-Hungary
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 1 ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
overwhelmed the Serbs in the winter of 1915, and a subsequent withdrawal by the
Serbian Army through Albania took the lives of more than 240,000 Serbs. Serb forces spent the remaining years of the war fighting on the
Salonika front
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...
in Greece, before liberating Serbia from
Austro-Hungarian occupation in November 1918. Serbia suffered
the biggest casualty rate in World War I.
Following the victory in WWI Serbs subsequently formed the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes with other
South Slavic peoples. The country was later renamed the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
, and was led from 1921 to 1934 by King
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of A ...
of the Serbian
Karađorđević dynasty. During
World War II, Yugoslavia was invaded by the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were N ...
in April 1941. The country was subsequently divided into many pieces, with Serbia being directly occupied by the Germans. Serbs in the
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...
(NDH) were targeted for extermination as part of
genocide by the Croatian ultra-nationalist, fascist
Ustaše. The Ustaše view of national and racial identity, as well as the theory of Serbs as an
inferior race, was under the influence of
Croatian nationalists
Croatian nationalism is nationalism that asserts the nationality of Croats and promotes the cultural unity of Croats.
Modern Croatian nationalism first arose in the 19th century after Budapest exerted increasing pressure for Magyarization of Cro ...
and intellectuals from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
Jasenovac camp was notorious for the barbaric practices which occurred in it.
Sisak and
Jastrebarsko concentration camp
The Jastrebarsko children's camp held Serb children who had been brought there from various areas of the Axis puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH), during World War II. The children had been cap ...
were specially
formed for children.
Serbs in the NDH suffered among the highest casualty rates in Europe during the World War II, while the NDH was one of the most lethal regimes in the 20th century.
Diana Budisavljević
Diana Budisavljević (; 15 January 1891 – 20 August 1978) was an Austrian humanitarian who led a major relief effort in Yugoslavia during World War II. From October 1941, on her initiative and involving many co-workers, she organized and prov ...
, a humanitarian of Austrian descent, carried out rescue operations from Ustaše camps and saved more than 15,000 children, mostly Serbs.
More than half a million Serbs were killed in the territory of Yugoslavia during World War II. Serbs in occupied Yugoslavia subsequently formed a resistance movement known as the
Yugoslav Army in the Homeland
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian national ...
, or the Chetniks. The Chetniks had the official support of the
Allies until 1943, when Allied support shifted to the Communist
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобо� ...
, a multi-ethnic force, formed in 1941, which also had a large majority of Serbs in its ranks in the first two years of war. Over the entirety of the war, the ethnic composition of the Partisans was 53 percent Serb. During the entire course of the WWII in Yugoslavia, 64.1% of all Bosnian Partisans were Serbs.
Later, after the fall of Italy in September 1943, other ethnic groups joined Partisans in larger numbers.
At the end of the war, the Partisans, led by
Josip Broz Tito, emerged victorious. Yugoslavia subsequently became a Communist state. Tito died in 1980, and his death saw
Yugoslavia plunge into economic turmoil. Yugoslavia
disintegrated in the early 1990s, and a
series of wars resulted in the creation of five new states. The heaviest fighting occurred in
Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
, whose Serb populations rebelled and declared independence. The
war in Croatia ended in August 1995, with a Croatian military offensive known as
Operation Storm put a stop to the
Croatian Serb
The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...
rebellion and causing as many as 200,000 Serbs to flee the country. The
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
ended that same year, with the
Dayton Agreement dividing the country along ethnic lines. In 1998–99, a
conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
in Kosovo between the Yugoslav Army and Albanians seeking independence erupted into full-out war, resulting in a 78-day-long
NATO bombing campaign
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two Nor ...
which effectively drove Yugoslav security forces from Kosovo. Subsequently, more than 200,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians fled the province. On 5 October 2000, Yugoslav
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Slobodan Milosević
Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović ...
was overthrown in a bloodless revolt after he refused to admit defeat in the
2000 Yugoslav general election
General elections were held in Yugoslavia on 24 September 2000.Dieter Nohlen & Philip StöverP (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1678 They included the presidential election, which was held using the two-round system, with a secon ...
.
Demographics
Modern demographic distribution of ethnic Serbs throughout homeland and native regions, as well as in
Serbian ethnic diaspora, represents an outcome of several historical and demographic processes, shaped both by
economic migrations and
forced displacements during the recent
Yugoslav Wars (1991–1999).
Balkans
There are nearly 8 million Serbs living in their native homelands, within the geographical borders of former
Yugoslavia. In Serbia itself, around 6 million people identify themselves as ethnic Serbs, and constitute about 83% of the population. More than a million live in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
(predominantly in the
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
), where they are one of the three
constituent ethnic groups. Serbs in
Croatia and
Montenegro also have recognized collective rights, and number some 186,000 and 178,000 people, respectively, while another estimated 96,000 live in the disputed area of
Kosovo.
Smaller minorities exist in
Slovenia and
North Macedonia, some 36,000 and 39,000 people, respectively.
Outside of the former Yugoslavia, but within their historical and migratory areal, Serbs are officially recognized as national minority in
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares la ...
,
Romania (18,000),
Hungary (7,000), as well as in the
Czech Republic and
Slovakia.
Diaspora
There are over 2 million Serbs in
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews afte ...
throughout the world; some sources put that figure as high as 4 million. There is a large diaspora in Western Europe, particularly in
Germany,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
,
Switzerland,
France,
Italy,
Sweden and
United Kingdom. Outside Europe, there are significant Serb communities in the
United States,
Canada,
Australia,
South America and
Southern Africa. The existence of a large diaspora is mainly a consequence of either economic or political (
coercion
Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...
or expulsions) reasons. There were several waves of Serb emigration:
* The first wave took place since the end of the 19th century and lasted until
World War II and was caused by economic reasons; particularly large numbers of Serbs (mainly from peripheral ethnic areas such as
Herzegovina,
Montenegro,
Dalmatia, and
Lika) emigrated to the United States.
* The second wave took place after the end of
World War II. At this time, members of royalist
Chetniks
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royali ...
and other political opponents of communist regime fled the country mainly going overseas (
United States and
Australia) and, to a lesser degree,
United Kingdom.
* The third wave, by far the largest, consisted of economic emigration beginning in the 1960s when several Western European countries signed bilateral agreements with Yugoslavia, allowing the recruitment of industrial workers to those countries; this lasted until the end of the 1980s. The major destinations for migrants were
West Germany,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
, and
Switzerland, and to a lesser extent
France and
Sweden. That generation of diaspora is collectively known as ''gastarbajteri'', after German ''
gastarbeiter'' ("guest-worker"), since most of the emigrants headed for German-speaking countries. These migrations left some parts of Serbia sparsely populated.
* Later emigration took place during the 1990s, and was caused by both political and economic reasons. The
Yugoslav wars caused many Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to leave their countries in the first half of the 1990s. The
economic sanctions
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they ...
imposed on Serbia caused an economic collapse with an estimated 300,000 people leaving Serbia during that period, 20% of which had a higher education.
Language
Serbs speak Serbian, a member of the
South Slavic group of languages, specifically the Southwestern group. Standard Serbian is a standardized
variety of
Serbo-Croatian, and therefore
mutually intelligible
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as a ...
with Standard
Croatian, Standard
Montenegrin, and Standard
Bosnian (see
Differences in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian
Standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian are different national variants and official registers of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language.
History
In socialist Yugoslavia, the language was approached as a pluricentric lan ...
), which are all based on the
Shtokavian dialect
Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. I ...
.
Serbian is an official language in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and is a recognized minority language in Montenegro (although spoken by a plurality of population), Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Older forms of literary Serbian are
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
of the Serbian recension, which is still used for ecclesiastical purposes, and
Slavonic-Serbian
Slavonic-Serbian (славяносербскій, ''slavjanoserbskij''), Slavo-Serbian, or Slaveno-Serbian (славено-сербскiй, ''slaveno-serbskij''; sr, славеносрпски''/slavenosrpski'') was a literary language used by ...
—a mixture of Serbian,
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
and
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
* Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
used from the mid-18th century to the first decades of the 19th century.
Serbian has active
digraphia
In sociolinguistics, digraphia refers to the use of more than one writing system for the same language. Synchronic digraphia is the coexistence of two or more writing systems for the same language, while diachronic digraphia (or sequential digra ...
, using both
Cyrillic
, bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця
, fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs
, fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic
, fam3 = Phoenician
, fam4 = Gr ...
and
Latin alphabets.
Serbian Cyrillic was devised in 1814 by Serbian linguist
Vuk Karadžić, who created the alphabet on phonemic principles. Serbian Latin was created by
Ljudevit Gaj and published in 1830. His alphabet mapped completely on Serbian Cyrillic which had been standardized by
Vuk Karadžić a few years before.
Loanwords in the Serbian language besides common internationalisms are mostly from
Greek, German
[Лексикон страних речи и израза / Милан Вујаклија, Просвета, Београд (1954) ] and Italian, while words of
Hungarian origin are present mostly in the north. There are some Turkish loanwords used (but mostly in rural areas) and they are mostly related to food. A considerable number of those words are actually Persian in origin but entered Serbian through Ottomans and are therefore considered ''Turkisms''. There is considerable usage of French words as well, especially in military related terms.
One Serbian word that is used in many of the world's languages is "
vampire" (''vampir'').
Culture
Literature,
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...
painting, music, dance and medieval architecture are the artistic forms for which Serbia is best known. Traditional
Serbian visual art (specifically
frescoes, and to some extent
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...
s), as well as ecclesiastical architecture, are highly reflective of Byzantine traditions, with some Mediterranean and Western influence.
Many Serbian monuments and works of art have been lost forever due to various wars and peacetime marginalizations.
In modern times (since the 19th century) Serbs also have a noteworthy
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
and works of philosophy. Notable philosophers include
Svetozar Marković
Svetozar Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Марковић, ; 9 September 1846 – 26 February 1875) was a Serbian political activist, literary critic and socialist philosopher. He developed an activistic anthropological philosophy wi ...
,
Branislav Petronijević,
Ksenija Atanasijević,
Radomir Konstantinović,
Nikola Milošević,
Mihailo Marković
Mihailo Marković, PhD ( sr-cyr, Михаило Марковић; 24 February 1923 – 7 February 2010) was a Serbian philosopher who gained prominence in the 1960s and 1970s as a proponent of the Praxis School, a Marxist humanist movement that ...
,
Justin Popović and
Mihailo Đurić
Mihailo Đurić (Serbian Cyrillic: Михаило Ђурић; 22 August 1925 – 25 November 2011) was one of Serbia's most prominent philosophers. He was a professor at the University of Belgrade's Law School and member of the Serbian Academy ...
.
Art, music, theatre, and cinema
During the 12th and 13th centuries, many icons, wall paintings and manuscript miniatures came into existence, as many Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches such as
Hilandar,
Žiča
The Žiča Monastery ( sr, Манастир Жича, Manastir Žiča, or ) is an early 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first King o ...
,
Studenica,
Sopoćani,
Mileševa,
Gračanica and
Visoki Dečani
The Visoki Dečani Monastery ( sr, Манастир Високи Дечани, Manastir Visoki Dečani, sq, Manastiri i Deçanit) is a medieval Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery located near Deçan, Kosovo. It was founded in the first half ...
were built. The architecture of some of these monasteries is world-famous. Prominent architectural styles in the Middle Ages were
Raška architectural school
Raška architectural school ( sr, Рашка школа архитeктуре), also known as the Raška style (Рашки стил, ''Raški stil''), or simply as the Raška school, is an ecclesiastical architectural style that flourished in the ...
,
Morava architectural school Morava architectural school ( sr, Моравска школа архитeктуре/Moravska škola arhitekture), also known as the Morava style (Моравски стил/Moravski stil), or simply as the Morava school (Моравска школа/M ...
and
Serbo-Byzantin architectural style. During the same period
UNESCO protected
Stećak monumental medieval tombstones were built. The Independence of Serbia in the 19th century was soon followed with
Serbo-Byzantine Revival
The Modern Serbo-Byzantine architectural style, Neo-Byzantine architectural style or Serbian national architectural style is the style in Serbian architecture which lasted from the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th ce ...
in architecture.
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
and
rococo trends in Serbian art emerged in the 18th century and are mostly represented in icon painting and portraits. Most of the Baroque authors were from the territory of
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, such as
Nikola Nešković
Nikola Nešković (c. 1729 – 1785) was a Serbian religious painter of the 18th century. He is the author of over a thousand works, including many icons, frescos, and portraits. He is the grandfather of Jovan Sterija Popović.
Biography
Neško ...
,
Teodor Kračun
Teodor Dimitrijević ( sr-cyr, Теодор Димитријевић; 1730–10 April 1781), known as Teodor Kračun (Теодор Крачун) was a Serbian icon and altar painter.
Biography
He was born at Sremska Kamenica in 1730. His origin ...
,
Teodor Ilić Češljar
Teodor Ilić Češljar ( sr-cyr, Теодор Илић Чешљар) was a Serbian late baroque painter from Vojvodina (then part of the Austrian Empire) best known for being the creator of the ''Royal Doors'' from Ostojićevo.
Biography
Češlj ...
,
Zaharije Orfelin
Zaharije Orfelin ( sr-Cyrl, Захаријe Орфелин; 1726 – 19 January 1785) was a Serbian polymath who lived and worked in the Austrian Monarchy and Venice.
Works
*''Pesan novosadelanuje za gradjanku gospodicnu Femku'', between ...
and
Jakov Orfelin
Jakov Orfelin (Cyrillic Serbian: Јаков Орфелин, born in Vukovar or Sremski Karlovci, Habsburg monarchy, c. mid-eighteenth century – Arad, Habsburg Monarchy, 20 October 1803) was a Serbian Baroque painter.
He made iconostasis fo ...
. Serbian painting showed the influence of
Biedermeier
The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...
and
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. ...
as seen in works by
Konstantin Danil and
Pavel Đurković. Many painters followed the artistic trends set in the 19th century Romanticism, notably
Đura Jakšić
Georgije "Đura" Jakšić ( sr-Cyrl, Георгије Ђура Јакшић; 27 July 1832 – 16 November 1878) was a Serbian poet, painter, writer, dramatist and bohemian.
Biography
Đura Jakšić was born as Georgije Jakšić in Srpska Crnja ...
,
Stevan Todorović
Stevan "Steva" Todorović ( sr-cyr, Стеван-Стева Тодоровић; Novi Sad, 1832–Belgrade, 1925) was a Serbian painter and the founder of modern fencing and Sokol movement in Yugoslavia.
Biography
Todorović was born in Novi Sad ...
,
Katarina Ivanović and
Novak Radonić. Since the mid-1800s, Serbia has produced a number of famous painters who are representative of general European artistic trends. One of the most prominent of these was
Paja Jovanović
Pavle "Paja" Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Павле "Паја" Јовановић; ; 16 June 1859 – 30 November 1957) was a Serbian painter who painted more than 1,100 works including: '' The Wounded Montenegrin'' (1882), '' Decorating of the Bride'' ...
, who painted massive canvases on historical themes such as the ''
Migration of the Serbs'' (1896). Painter
Uroš Predić
Uroš Predić ( sr-Cyrl, Урош Предић, ; Orlovat, 7 December 1857 – Belgrade, 12 February 1953) was a Serbian Realist painter. Predić is perhaps best known for his early works depicting ordinary people, as well as his many portrai ...
was also prominent in the field of Serbian art, painting the ''
Kosovo Maiden'' and ''
Happy Brothers''. While Jovanović and Predić were both
realist painters, artist
Nadežda Petrović was an
impressionist and
fauvist
Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...
and
Sava Šumanović
Sava Šumanović ( sr-Cyrl, Сава Шумановић; 22 January 1896 – 30 August 1942) was a Serbian painter. He is considered to be one of the most important Serbian painters of the 20th century. Šumanović's opus includes around 800 pa ...
was an accomplished
Cubist
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
. Painters
Petar Lubarda
Petar Lubarda (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Лубарда); 27 July 1907 – 13 February 1974) was a Montenegrin painter born in Cetinje.
Biography
He was born in Ljubotinj, near Cetinje, Principality of Montenegro. Lubarda's father was an of ...
,
Vladimir Veličković
Vladimir Veličković ( sr-cyr, Владимир Величковић; 11 August 1935 – 29 August 2019) was a Serbian painter who spent much of his adult life in Paris.
Biography
Veličković graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at Bel ...
and
Ljubomir Popović were famous for their
surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
.
Marina Abramović is a world-renowned
performance artist, writer, and
art film
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily ...
maker.
Traditional Serbian music includes various kinds of
bagpipes
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...
,
flutes,
horns,
trumpets
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...
,
lutes,
psalteries
A psaltery ( el, ψαλτήρι) (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and dulcimer; the harp, virginal, harpsichord and clavichord were also inspired by ...
,
drums and
cymbals
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
. The
kolo
Kolo may refer to:
Places Poland
*Koło
* Koło, Łódź Voivodeship
* Koło, Lublin Voivodeship
* Koło, Lubusz Voivodeship
Other places
* Kolo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Kolo, Central African Republic
* Kolo (Tanzanian ward), Kondoa district, Do ...
is the traditional collective folk dance, which has a number of varieties throughout the regions. The first Serbian composers started working in the 14th and 15th century, like
Kir Stefan the Serb. Composer and
musicologist Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac is considered one of the most important founders of modern Serbian music. Other noted classical composers include
Kornelije Stanković,
Stanislav Binički
Stanislav Binički ( sr-cyr, Станислав Бинички, ; 27 July 1872 – 15 February 1942) was a Serbian composer, conductor, and pedagogue. A student of German composer Josef Rheinberger, he became the first director of the Oper ...
,
Petar Konjović
Petar Konjović ( sr-cyr, Петар Коњовић, , 5 May 1883 – 1 October 1970) was a Serbian composer and academic. Education and career
While a pedagogy student in Čurug, Konjović self-taught himself the art of compositure and conductin ...
,
Miloje Milojević,
Stevan Hristić
Stevan Hristić ( sr-cyr, Стеван Христић; 19 June 1885 – 21 August 1958) was Serbian composer, conductor, pedagogue, and music writer. A prominent representative of the late romanticist style in Serbian music of the first half o ...
,
Josif Marinković
Josif Marinković ( Serbian Cyrillic: Јосиф Маринковић; Vranjevo, near Novi Bečej, 15 September 1851 – Belgrade, 13 May 1931) was a Serbian composer and choral director. Like his younger contemporary Stevan St. Mokranjac, he was ...
,
Luigi von Kunits,
Ljubica Marić
Ljubica Marić (Љубица Марић , 18 March 1909 – 17 September 2003) was a composer from Yugoslavia. She was a pupil of Josip Štolcer-Slavenski. She was known for being inspired by Byzantine Orthodox church music. She was professor at ...
and
Vasilije Mokranjac
Vasilije Mokranjac (Belgrade, 11 September 1923 – Belgrade, 27 May 1984) was a Serbian composer, professor of composition at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was one of the most prom ...
. Well-known musicians include
Zdravko Čolić
Zdravko Čolić (, ; born 30 May 1951) is a Bosnian Serb singer and is widely considered one of the greatest vocalists and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia. Dubbed the " Tom Jones of the Balkans", he has garnered fame in Southeastern Europ ...
,
Arsen Dedić
Arsenije "Arsen" Dedić ( sr-Cyrl, Арсеније "Арсен" Дедић, ; 28 July 1938 – 17 August 2015) was a Croatian singer-songwriter. He wrote and performed chansons, as well as film music. He was also an award-winning poet, and was o ...
,
Predrag Gojković-Cune
Predrag ( sr-cyr, Предраг) is a Slavic masculine given name, predominantly borne by ethnic Slavs, derived from ''pre-'' ("very, much") and ''-drag'' ("dear, beloved"), both common in Slavic dithematic names. It roughly means "very beloved". ...
,
Toma Zdravković,
Milan Mladenović
Milan Mladenović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Младеновић; 21 September 1958 – 5 November 1994) was a Serbian and Yugoslavian musician best known as the frontman of the Yugoslav art rock band Ekatarina Velika.
Early life
Born to Serbian f ...
,
Radomir Mihailović Točak,
Bora Đorđević
Borisav "Bora" Đorđević ( sr-cyr, Борисав, Бора Ђорђевић; born 1 November 1952), also known as Bora Čorba ( sr-cyr, Бора Чорба), is a Serbian singer, songwriter, and poet. He is best known as the frontman of the ...
,
Momčilo Bajagić Bajaga,
Đorđe Balašević
Đorđe Balašević ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Балашевић; 11 May 1953 – 19 February 2021) was a Serbian and Yugoslav singer and songwriter, writer, poet and director. He began his career in the late 1970s as a member of the band Rani Mraz ...
,
Ceca and others.
Serbia has produced many talented filmmakers, the most famous of whom are
Slavko Vorkapić,
Dušan Makavejev
Dušan Makavejev ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Макавејев, ; 13 October 1932 – 25 January 2019) was a Serbian film director and screenwriter, famous for his groundbreaking films of Yugoslav cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s—many of wh ...
,
Živojin Pavlović
Živojin "Žika" Pavlović (15 April 1933 – 29 November 1998) was a Yugoslav and Serbian film director, writer, painter and professor. In his films and novels, Pavlović depicted the cruel reality of small, poor and abandoned people living i ...
,
Slobodan Šijan
Slobodan Šijan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Шијан, ; born November 16, 1946) is a Serbian film director.
Biography
Šijan was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југослав� ...
,
Goran Marković
Goran Marković ( sr-cyr, Горан Марковић, ) (born 24 August 1946) is a Serbian film and theatre director, screenwriter, writer, and playwright. He has directed approximately 50 documentaries, 13 feature films, and 3 theatre plays. ...
,
Goran Paskaljević
Goran Paskaljević ( sr-cyr, Горан Паскаљевић; ; 22 April 1947 – 25 September 2020) was a Serbian and former Yugoslav film director.
Biography
Born in Belgrade, he was raised by his grandparents in Niš in southern Serbia, foll ...
,
Emir Kusturica,
Želimir Žilnik,
Srđan Dragojević
Srđan Dragojević ( sr-cyr, Срђан Драгојевић, , born 1 January 1963) is a Serbian film director and screenwriter, who emerged in the 1990s as a significant figure in Serbian cinema.
From 2010 until 2017, he was affiliated with the ...
,
Srdan Golubović
Srdan Golubović ( sr-cyr, Срдан Голубовић; born August 24, 1972) is a Serbian film director.
Biography
Golubović's father was a film director Predrag Golubović. His first feature film ''Absolute 100'' participated in main progr ...
and
Mila Turajlić. Žilnik and
Stefan Arsenijević
Stefan Arsenijević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Арсенијевић; born 11 March 1977 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian film director and scriptwriter.
Biography
He is a graduate of the Ninth Belgrade Gymnasium. He studied p ...
won the
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The win ...
award at
Berlinale
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...
, while Mila Turajlić won the main award at
IDFA. Kusturica became world-renowned after winning the
Palme d'Or twice at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, numerous other prizes, and is a
UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia. Several Americans of Serb origin have been featured prominently in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
. The most notable of these are Academy Award winners
Karl Malden
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor. He was primarily a character actor, who according to Robert Berkvist, "for more than 60 years brought an intelligent intensity and a homespun aut ...
,
Steve Tesich,
Peter Bogdanovich,
Tony-winning theatre director
Darko Tresnjak
Darko Tresnjak ( sr-cyr, Дарко Трешњак, Darko Trešnjak) is a director of plays, musicals, and opera, and winner of several awards, including the Tony Award. He was the artistic director of the Hartford Stage in Connecticut, United S ...
,
Emmy-winning director
Marina Zenovich and actors
Iván Petrovich
Iván Petrovich ( sr, Иван Петровић, Ivan Petrović; 1 January 1894 – 18 October 1962) was a Serbian film actor and singer.
He was the first actor from Yugoslavia to have a successful international movie career. Petrovich mainly ...
,
Brad Dexter
Brad Dexter (born Boris Michel Soso; April 9, 1917 – December 12, 2002) was an American actor and film producer. He is known for tough-guy and western roles, including the 1960 film '' The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), and producing several fi ...
,
Lolita Davidovich
Lolita Davidovich ( sr-Latn, Lolita Davidović, italic=unset; born July 15, 1961) is a Canadian-born film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film '' Blaze'', for which she received a Chicago Film Critics As ...
,
Milla Jovovich and
Stana Katic.
Literature
Most literature written by early Serbs was about religious themes. The founders of the
Serbian Orthodox Church wrote various
gospels,
psalters,
menologies,
hagiographies
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
, along with essays and sermons. At the end of the 12th century, two of the most important pieces of Serbian medieval literature were created– the
Miroslav Gospels and the
Vukan Gospels
Vukan's Gospel ( Vukanovo jevanđelje) is a 13th-century Serbian illuminated manuscript (Gospel Book) in Serbian recension of Church Slavonic. It is one of the oldest preserved Serbian medieval books, with more than 189 pages.
It was produced ...
, which combined handwritten Biblical texts with painted initials and small pictures. The
Crnojević printing house was the first printing house in Southeastern Europe and is considered an important part of Serbian cultural history.
Notable
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
-influenced authors were
Andrija Zmajević
Andrija Zmajević ( cyrl, Андрија Змајевић; 6 June 1628 - 7 September 1694) was a Baroque poet, the Archbishop of Antivari and a theologian.
Biography
Zmajević was born in Perast, in the Bay of Kotor, at the time part of the Republ ...
,
Gavril Stefanović Venclović,
Jovan Rajić
Jovan Rajić ( sr-cyr, Јован Рајић; September 21, 1726 – December 22, 1801) was a Serbian writer, historian, theologian, and pedagogue, considered one of the greatest Serbian academics of the 18th century. He was one of the most nota ...
,
Zaharije Orfelin
Zaharije Orfelin ( sr-Cyrl, Захаријe Орфелин; 1726 – 19 January 1785) was a Serbian polymath who lived and worked in the Austrian Monarchy and Venice.
Works
*''Pesan novosadelanuje za gradjanku gospodicnu Femku'', between ...
and others.
Dositej Obradović was the most prominent figure of the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, while the most notable Classicist writer was
Jovan Sterija Popović
Jovan Sterija Popović (; sr-cyr, Јован Стерија Поповић; 13 January 1806 – 10 March 1856) was a Serbian playwright, poet, lawyer, philosopher and pedagogue who taught at the Belgrade Higher School. Sterija was recognized b ...
, although his works also contained elements of Romanticism. Modern Serbian literature began with
Vuk Karadžić's collections of
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
s in the 19th century, and the writings of
Njegoš and
Branko Radičević
Aleksije "Branko" Radičević ( sr-Cyrl, Алексије Бранко Радичевић, ; 28 March 1824 – 1 July 1853) was a Serbian poet who wrote in the period of Romanticism.
Biography
Branko Radičević was born in Slavonski Brod on 1 ...
. The first prominent representative of Serbian literature in the 20th century was
Jovan Skerlić
Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as one ...
, who wrote in pre–World War I
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
and helped introduce Serbian writers to literary modernism. The most important Serbian writer in the
inter-war period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...
was
Miloš Crnjanski
Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-cyr, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat.
Biography
Crnjanski was born in Csongrád (mod ...
.
The first Serb authors who appeared after World War II were
Mihailo Lalić
Mihailo Lalić ( sr-cyr, Михаило Лалић, ; 7 October 1914 – 30 December 1992) was a Montenegrin and Serbian writer.
Biography
He was born in Trepča (Andrijevica municipality) village in north-eastern Montenegro in 1914. His most imp ...
and
Dobrica Ćosić
Dobrica Ćosić ( sr, Добрица Ћосић, ; 29 December 1921 – 18 May 2014) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician, writer, and political theorist.
Ćosić was twice awarded the prestigious NIN award for literature and Medal of Pushkin ...
. Other notable post-war Yugoslav authors such as
Ivo Andrić
Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in ...
and
Meša Selimović
Mehmed "Meša" Selimović (; ; 26 April 1910 – 11 July 1982) was a Yugoslav writer, whose novel '' Death and the Dervish'' is one of the most important literary works in post- World War II Yugoslavia. Some of the main themes in his works are the ...
were assimilated to Serbian culture, and both identified as Serbs. Andrić went on to win the
Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961.
Danilo Kiš
Danilo Kiš (; born Dániel Kiss; 22 February 1935 – 15 October 1989) was a Yugoslav novelist, short story writer, essayist and translator. His best known works include ''Hourglass'', '' A Tomb for Boris Davidovich'' and '' The Encyclopedia o ...
, another popular Serbian writer, was known for writing ''
A Tomb for Boris Davidovich'', as well as several acclaimed novels. Amongst contemporary Serbian writers,
Milorad Pavić
Milorad Pavić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Павић, ; 15 October 1929 – 30 November 2009) was a Serbian novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary historian. Born in Belgrade in 1929, he published a number of poems, short stories ...
stands out as being the most critically acclaimed, with his novels ''
Dictionary of the Khazars
''Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel'' ( sr-cyrl, Хазарски речник, rtl=yes, ) is the first novel by Serbian writer Milorad Pavić, published in 1984. Originally written in Serbian, the novel has been translated into many l ...
'', ''Landscape Painted with Tea'' and ''The Inner Side of the Wind'' bringing him international recognition. Highly revered in Europe and in
South America, Pavić is considered one of the most intriguing writers from the beginning of the 21st century.
Charles Simic
Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; born May 9, 1938), known as Charles Simic, is a Serbian American poet and former co-poetry editor of the ''Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for ''The World Doesn' ...
is a notable contemporary Serbian-American poet, former
United States Poet Laureate and a
Pulitzer Prize winner. Contemporary writer
Zoran Živković authored more than 20 prose books and is best-known for his
SF works which have been published in 23 countries.
Education and science
Many Serbs have contributed to the field of science and technology. There are more Serbian scientists and scholars working abroad than in the Balkans. At least 7000 Serbs who have a PhD are working abroad.
Serbian American
Serbian Americans ( sr, / ) or American Serbs (), are Americans of Serb ethnic ancestry. As of 2013, there were about 190,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry. However, the number may be significantly higher, as there w ...
scientist, inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer
Nikola Tesla is regarded as one of the most important inventors in history. He is renowned for his contributions to the discipline of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th century. Seven Serbian American engineers and scientists known as ''Serbo 7'' took part in construction of the
Apollo spaceship. Physicist and physical chemist
Mihajlo Pupin is best known for his landmark theory of modern electrical filters as well as for his numerous patents, while
Milutin Milanković is best known for his theory of long-term
climate change caused by changes in the position of the Earth in comparison to the Sun, now known as
Milankovitch cycles.
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic ( sr-cyr, Гордана Вуњак Новаковић) is a Serbian American biomedical engineer and university professor. She is a University Professor at Columbia University, as well as the Mikati Foundation Professor o ...
is a Serbian American biomedical engineer focusing on engineering human tissues for
regenerative medicine,
stem cell
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...
research and modeling of disease. She is one of the most highly cited scientists of all times.
Notable Serb mathematicians include
Mihailo Petrović
Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) or Mihajlo () is a Serbian masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name '' Michael''. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname. It may refer to:
* Mihailo Vojislavljević (fl. 1050–d ...
,
Jovan Karamata and
Đuro Kurepa
Đuro Kurepa (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђуро Курепа, ; 16 August 1907 – 2 November 1993) was a Yugoslav mathematician.
Throughout his life, Kurepa published over 700 articles, books, papers, and reviews and over 1,000 scientific reviews. He l ...
. Mihailo Petrović is known for having contributed significantly to differential equations and phenomenology, as well as inventing one of the first prototypes of an analog computer.
Roger Joseph Boscovich
Roger Joseph Boscovich ( hr, Ruđer Josip Bošković; ; it, Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich; la, Rogerius (Iosephus) Boscovicius; sr, Руђер Јосип Бошковић; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a physicist, astronomer, ...
was a Ragusan physicist, astronomer, mathematician and polymath of paternal Serbian origin
(although there are competing claims for Bošković's nationality) who produced a precursor of
atomic theory
Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. Atomic theory traces its origins to an ancient philosophical tradition known as atomism. According to this idea, if one were to take a lump of matter ...
and made many contributions to
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...
and also discovered the
absence of atmosphere on the
Moon.
Jovan Cvijić
Jovan Cvijić ( sr-cyr, Јован Цвијић, ; 1865 – 16 January 1927) was a Serbian geographer and ethnologist, president of the Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences and rector of the University of Belgrade. Cvijić is considered the ...
founded modern geography in Serbia and made pioneering research on the geography of the
Balkan Peninsula
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whol ...
,
Dinaric race
The Dinaric race, also known as the Adriatic race, were terms used by certain physical anthropologists in the early to mid-20th century to describe the perceived predominant phenotype of the contemporary ethnic groups of southeast Europe (a sub- ...
and
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ...
.
Josif Pančić
Josif Pančić ( sr-cyr, Јосиф Панчић; April 17, 1814 – February 25, 1888) was a Serbian botanist, a doctor of medicine, a lecturer at the Great School (the future University of Belgrade), and the first president of the Serbian Roya ...
made contributions to
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
and discovered a number of new floral species including the
Serbian spruce
''Picea omorika'', common name Pančić spruce or Serbian spruce ( sr, Панчићева оморика, Pančićeva omorika, ), is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the Drina River valley in western Serbia, and eastern Bosnia and Herzego ...
. Biologist and physiologist
Ivan Đaja performed research in the role of the
adrenal glands
The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer cortex whic ...
in
thermoregulation, as well as pioneering work in
hypothermia.
Valtazar Bogišić is considered to be a pioneer in the
sociology of law and sociological jurisprudence.
Names
There are several different layers of Serbian names. Serbian given names largely originate from
Slavic roots:
e.g.,
Vuk,
Bojan
Bojan (Serbian Cyrillic and Macedonian: Бојан; Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian Cyrillic: Боян, transcribed ''Boyan'') is a Slavic given name, derived from the Slavic noun ''boj'' "battle." The ending ''-an'' is a suffix frequently fo ...
,
Goran,
Zoran,
Dragan
Dragan (, sr-Cyrl, Драган) is a popular Serbo-Croatian masculine given name derived from the common Slavic element ''drag'' meaning "dear, beloved". The feminine form is Dragana.
People named Dragan include:
Politicians and office holder ...
,
Milan,
Miroslav,
Vladimir,
Slobodan
Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović ...
,
Dušan
Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Душан) is a Slavic given name primarily used in countries of Yugoslavia; and among Slovaks and Czechs. The name is derived from the Slavic noun ''duša'' "soul".
Occurrence
In Serbia, it was the 29th most popular nam ...
,
Milica,
Nevena,
Vesna
Vesna (Cyrillic: Весна) was a mythological female character associated with youth and springtime in early Slavic mythology, particularly within Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Slovenia. Along with her male companion Vesnik, she was ...
,
Radmila Radmila is a popular given female name in Serbia. It is derived from the Slavic words ''rada'' (the feminine of ''rade'' meaning "happiness") and ''mila'' ("sweet").
Nicknames
Rada, Radka, Radushka, Radica, Lala, Mila, Mi
Famous bearers
*Radm ...
. Other names are of Christian origin, originating from the bible (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, through Greek), such as
Lazar,
Mihailo
Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) or Mihajlo () is a Serbian masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name '' Michael''. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name ...
,
Ivan
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...
,
Jovan,
Ilija,
Marija
Marija is a feminine given name, a variation of the name Maria, which was in turn a Latin form of the Greek names Μαριαμ, or Mariam, and Μαρια, or Maria, found in the New Testament. Depending on phonological rules concerning consecutiv ...
,
Ana,
Ivana
Ivana ( sr, Ивана) is a feminine given name of Slavic origin that is also popular in southern Ireland, France, French-speaking Canada, the Mediterranean and Latin America. It is the feminine form of the name Ivan, which are both the Slav ...
. Along similar lines of non-Slavic Christian names are
Greek ones such as:
Stefan,
Nikola,
Aleksandar
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
,
Filip Filip () is a masculine given name and a surname, cognate to Philip.
In Croatia, the name Filip was among the most common masculine given names in the 2000s.
Notable people with the name include:
; Given name
* Filip Barović (born 1990), Montene ...
,
Đorđe Đorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе;transliterated Djordje) is a Serbian given name, a Serbian variant, derived from Greek ''Georgios'' ('' George'' in English). Other variants include: Đurđe, Đurađ, Đura, Đuro, Georgije. It may refer to:
* Đ ...
,
Andrej
Andrey, Andrej or Andrei (in Cyrillic script: Андрей, Андреј or Андрэй) is a form of Andreas/ Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include:
*Andrei of Polotsk ( – 1399), Lithuanian nobleman
* ...
,
Jelena,
Katarina,
Vasilije Vasilije () is a South Slavic masculine given name, a variant of Greek given name '' Vassilios'' ("Basil"). It may refer to:
* Vasilije, Serbian Patriarch (), Serbian cleric born Vasilije Jovanović-Brkić
* Vasilije Calasan (born 1981), French ra ...
,
Todor, while those of
Latin origin include:
Marko,
Antonije Antonije is a Serbian given name. Notable people with this name include the following:
*Antonije Abramović (1919–1996), Montenegrin Eastern Orthodox priest
*Antonije Bagaš (fl. 1366 – 1385), Serbian nobleman
*Antonije Isaković (1923–2002) ...
,
Srđan Srđan (Срђан); ; ; ) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name, usually written as ''Srdjan'' when the letter đ is unavailable.
It is usually considered to be a form of the name Sergius (name), Sergius, honoring the Christian martyr and sain ...
,
Marina,
Petar Petar ( sr, Петар, bg, Петър) is a South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros cognate to Peter.
Derivative forms include Pero, Pejo, Pera, Perica, Petrica, Periša. Feminine equivalent is Petra
...
,
Pavle Pavle ( Macedonian and sr-cyr, Павле; ka, პავლე) is a Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian and Georgian male given name corresponding to English Paul; the name is of biblical origin (cf. Saint Paul).
People known mononymously as Pavle inc ...
,
Natalija,
Igor
Igor may refer to:
People
* Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name
* Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler
* Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling
* ...
(through Russian).
Most Serbian surnames are paternal, maternal, occupational or derived from personal traits. It is estimated that over two thirds of all Serbian surnames have the suffix ''
-ić'' (-ић) (), a Slavic diminutive, originally functioning to create patronymics. Thus the surname
Petrović Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Петровић, ;) is a South Slavic language patronymic surname literally meaning ''Peter's son'', equivalent to the English last name of Peterson. In Eastern Slavic naming customs its counterpart is "Petrovich".
The surna ...
means the "son of Petar" (from a male progenitor, the root is extended with possessive ''-ov'' or ''-ev''). Due to limited use of international typewriters and unicode computer encoding, the suffix may be simplified to ''-ic'', historically transcribed with a phonetic ending, ''-ich'' or ''-itch'' in foreign languages. Other common surname suffixes found among Serbian surnames are ''-
ov'', ''-
ev'', ''-
in'' and ''-
ski'' (without ''-ić'') which is the Slavic
possessive case suffix, thus Nikola's son becomes Nikolin, Petar's son Petrov, and Jovan's son Jovanov. Other, less common suffices are ''-alj/olj/elj'', ''-ija'', ''-ica'', ''-ar/ac/an''. The ten most common surnames in Serbia, in order, are
Jovanović,
Petrović Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Петровић, ;) is a South Slavic language patronymic surname literally meaning ''Peter's son'', equivalent to the English last name of Peterson. In Eastern Slavic naming customs its counterpart is "Petrovich".
The surna ...
,
Nikolić Nikolić (), meaning "son of Nikola", is a common South Slavic surname and is found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Austria and Serbia. Nikolić is the third most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with ...
,
Marković Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Марковић, ) is a common family name in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Austria and Serbia. It is a patronym of '' Marko'', the local variant of the common European name "Marcus" or "Mark".
Marković is the ...
,
Đorđević
Đorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђевић, ; also transliterated Djordjevic) is a Serbian surname, a patronymic derived from the given name ''Đorđe'' ("''George''", from Ancient Greek ''Georgios'' meaning "farmer"). It is predominantly worn by e ...
,
Stojanović Stojanović ( sr-Cyrl, Cтojaнoвић, ) is a South Slavic surname derived from the South Slavic masculine given name Stojan. Stojanović is the sixth most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 2,798 carriers (2011 censu ...
,
Ilić
Ilić is a surname derived from the South Slavic languages, South Slavic masculine given name Ilija (given name), Ilija (itself derived from biblical Elijah). Ilić is the seventh most frequent surname in Serbia. Notable people with the surname in ...
,
Stanković
Stanković ( sr-cyr, Станковић, ) is a common surname derived from the South Slavic masculine given name Stanko. Stanković is the eighth most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 2,842 carriers (2011 census). ...
,
Pavlović and
Milošević.
Religion
Serbs are predominantly
Orthodox Christians. The
autocephaly
Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Ort ...
of the
Serbian Orthodox Church, was established in 1219, as an Archbishopric, and raised to the
Patriarchate in 1346. It is led by the
Serbian Patriarch
This article lists the heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church, since the establishment of the church as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219 to today's patriarchate. The list includes all the archbishops and patriarchs that led the Serbian Ortho ...
, and consists of three archbishoprics, six metropolitanates and thirty-one eparchies, having around 10 million adherents. Followers of the church form the largest religious group in Serbia and Montenegro, and the second-largest in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
and
Croatia. The church has an archbishopric in
North Macedonia and dioceses in Western Europe, North America, South America and Australia.
The identity of ethnic Serbs was historically largely based on Orthodox Christianity and on the Serbian Church in particular. The conversion of the South Slavs from paganism to Christianity took place before the
Great Schism. After the Schism, those who lived under the Orthodox sphere of influence became Orthodox and those who lived under the Catholic sphere of influence became Catholic.
With the arrival of the
Ottoman Empire, some Serbs converted to
Islam. This was particularly, but not wholly, the case in
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. Since the second half of the 19th century, a small number of Serbs converted to Protestantism, while historically some Serbs were Catholics (especially in
Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the h ...
and
Dalmatia; e.g.
Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik The Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Дубровачки србокатолички покрет, Dubrovački srbokatolički pokret) was a cultural and political movement of people from Dubrovnik who, while Cath ...
).
In a personal correspondence with author and critic dr. Milan Šević in 1932,
Marko Murat
Marko Murat ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Мурат; December 30, 1864 – October 14, 1944) was a Serbian painter from Dubrovnik who spent 20 years of his life in Belgrade, becoming a leading member of the Serbian and Yugoslav art scene at the time, be ...
complained that Orthodox Serbs are not acknowledging the Catholic Serb community on the basis of their faith. The remainder of Serbs remain predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christians.
Symbols
Among the most notable national and ethnic symbols are the
flag of Serbia
The flag of Serbia ( sr, Застава Србије, Zastava Srbije), also known as the Tricolour ( sr, тробојка, ''trobojka''), is a tricolour (flag), tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands, red on the top, blue in the mi ...
and the
coat of arms of Serbia
The coat of arms of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the coat of arms determined by the Law on the Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Serbia of June 16, 1882. It was officially readopted by the National Assembly in 2004 and later slightly redes ...
. The flag consists of a red-blue-white
tricolour
A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland wer ...
, rooted in
Pan-Slavism, and has been used since the 19th century. Apart from being the national flag, it is also used officially in
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
(by Bosnian Serbs) and as the official ethnic
Flag of Serbs of Croatia. The coat of arms, which includes both the
Serbian eagle and
Serbian cross, has also been officially used since the 19th century, its elements dating back to the Middle Ages, showing Byzantine and Christian heritage. These symbols are used by various Serb organisations, political parties and institutions. The
Three-finger salute Three-finger salute may refer to:
*Three-finger salute (Serbian), a salute used by Serbs
*Three-finger salute (Sicilian), a salute used by Sicilian nationalists and separatists
*Three-finger salute (pro-democracy), a gesture originally from the Hun ...
, also called the "Serb salute", is a popular expression for ethnic Serbs and Serbia, originally expressing
Serbian Orthodoxy and today simply being a symbol for ethnic Serbs and the Serbian nation, made by extending the thumb, index, and middle fingers of one or both hands.
Traditions and customs
Traditional clothing varies due to diverse geography and climate of the territory inhabited by the Serbs. The traditional footwear, ''
opanci
Opanci are traditional peasant shoes worn in Southeastern Europe (specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and also Romania and Albania). The attributes of the opanci (name in plural) are a cons ...
'', is worn throughout the Balkans. The most common
folk costume of Serbia is that of
Šumadija, a region in central Serbia,
which includes the national hat, the
Šajkača. Older villagers still wear their traditional costumes.
[ The traditional dance is the ]circle dance
Circle dance, or chain dance, is a style of social dance done in a circle, semicircle or a curved line to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing, and is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of part ...
, called ''kolo
Kolo may refer to:
Places Poland
*Koło
* Koło, Łódź Voivodeship
* Koło, Lublin Voivodeship
* Koło, Lubusz Voivodeship
Other places
* Kolo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Kolo, Central African Republic
* Kolo (Tanzanian ward), Kondoa district, Do ...
''. Zmijanje embroidery
Zmijanje embroidery ( sr, Змијањски вез / ''Zmijanjski vez'') is a specific technique of embroidery practised by the women of villages in the area of Zmijanje on mountain Manjača, near Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 2014 it ...
is a specific technique of embroidery practised by the women of villages in area Zmijanje on mountain Manjača
Manjača ( sr-cyrl, Мањача) is a name of a mountain located 22 km south of the city Banja Luka, in northern part of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its highest peak is high peak ''Velika Manjača''.
History
The region was a ...
and as such is a part of the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Pirot carpet
Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative are ...
is a variety of flat tapestry woven rug traditionally produced in Pirot
Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative are ...
, a town in southeastern Serbia.
'' Slava'' is the family's annual ceremony and veneration of their patron saint, a social event in which the family is together at the house of the patriarch. The tradition is an important ethnic marker of Serb identity. Serbs usually regard the Slava as their most significant and most solemn feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does ...
.
Serbs have their own customs regarding Christmas, which includes the sacral tree, the '' badnjak'', a young oak. On Orthodox Easter, Serbs have the tradition of Slavic Egg decorating. Čuvari Hristovog groba is a religious/cultural practice of guarding a representation of Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
's grave on Good Friday in the Church of St. Nicholas by the Serbian Orthodox inhabitants in the town of Vrlika.
Cuisine
Serbian cuisine is largely heterogeneous, with heavy Oriental, Central European and Mediterranean influences. Despite this, it has evolved and achieved its own culinary identity. Food is very important in Serbian social life, particularly during religious holidays such as Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
, Easter and feast days, i.e., ''slava''. Staples of the Serbian diet include bread, meat, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Traditionally, three meals are consumed per day. Breakfast generally consists of eggs, meat and bread. Lunch is considered the main meal, and is normally eaten in the afternoon. Traditionally, Domestic or turkish coffee is prepared after a meal, and is served in small cups. Bread is the basis of all Serbian meals, and it plays an important role in Serbian cuisine and can be found in religious rituals. A traditional Serbian welcome is to offer bread and salt to guests, and also '' slatko'' (fruit preserve). Meat is widely consumed, as is fish. Serbian specialties include ''kajmak
Kaymak, sarshir, or qashta/ashta ( fa, سَرشیر ) ( ar, قشطة or ar, قيمر ) is a creamy dairy food similar to clotted cream, made from the milk of water buffalo, cows, sheep, or goats in Central Asia, some Balkan countries, som ...
'' (a dairy product similar to clotted cream
Clotted cream ( kw, dehen molys, sometimes called scalded, clouted, Devonshire or Cornish cream) is a thick cream made by heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this t ...
), ''proja
Proja (Cyrillic: ''Проја'', ) is a Serbian dish made of corn flour, baking powder, sunflower oil, sparkling water and salt. Proya is an alternative name used in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It has been popular in times of widespread poverty, mo ...
'' (cornbread), ''kačamak
Kačamak is a kind of maize porridge made in parts of Western Asia and Southeastern Europe. Its name is derived from the Turkish word ''kaçamak'', meaning escapade. It is also known as bakrdan (бакрдан) in North Macedonia.
History
The dis ...
'' (corn-flour porridge), and '' gibanica'' (cheese and kajmak pie). Ćevapčići, caseless grilled and seasoned sausages made of minced meat, is the national dish
A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons:
* It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...
of Serbia.
Šljivovica (Slivovitz) is the national drink of Serbia in domestic production for centuries, and plum is the national fruit. The international name ''Slivovitz'' is derived from Serbian. Plum and its products are of great importance to Serbs and part of numerous customs. A Serbian meal usually starts or ends with plum products and Šljivovica is served as an aperitif.[ A saying goes that the best place to build a house is where a plum tree grows best.][ Traditionally, Šljivovica (commonly referred to as " rakija") is connected to Serbian culture as a drink used at all important rites of passage (birth, baptism, military service, marriage, death, etc.), and in the Serbian Orthodox patron saint celebration (''slava'').][ It is used in numerous folk remedies, and is given certain degree of respect above all other alcoholic drinks. The fertile region of Šumadija in central Serbia is particularly known for its plums and Šljivovica. Serbia is the largest exporter of Slivovitz in the world, and second largest plum producer in the world. Winemaking tradition in modern-day Serbia dates back to the Roman times in the 3rd century, while Serbs have been involved in winemaking since the 8th century.
]
Sport
Serbs are known for their sporting achievements, and have produced a number of talented athletes.
The Hungarian citizen Momčilo Tapavica
Momčilo Tapavica ( sr-Cyrl, Момчило Тапавица; hu, Tapavicza Momcsilló ; 14 October 1872 – 10 January 1949) was an all-around sportsperson, competing in tennis, weightlifting, wrestling. Tapavica achieved his best result i ...
was the first Slav
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
and Serb to win an Olympic medal, in the 1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...
.
Over the years Serbia has been home to many internationally successful football players such as Dragan Džajić (officially recognized as "the best Serbian footballer of all times" by Football Association of Serbia; 1968 Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (foun ...
third place), Rajko Mitić
Rajko Mitić ( sr-Cyrl, Рајко Митић, ; 19 November 1922 – 29 March 2008) was a Serbian footballer, coach, executive and journalist.
Mitić is considered one of the most important players in the history of Red Star Belgrade as he is th ...
, Dragoslav Šekularac
Dragoslav Šekularac ( sr-Cyrl, Драгослав Шекуларац, ; 8 November 1937 – 5 January 2019) was a Serbian professional footballer and coach.
Nicknamed Šeki, he was quick and crafty with the ball, displaying creative skills which ...
and more recent likes of Dragan Stojković
Dragan Stojković ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Стојковић, ; born 3 March 1965), also known by the nickname Piksi (Пикси), is a Serbian former footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of the Serbia national team. ...
, Dejan Stanković
Dejan Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Станковић, , born 11 September 1978) is a Serbian professional manager and former player. He currently manages Italian club Sampdoria.
He captained the Serbia national team from 2007 until 20 ...
, Nemanja Vidić (two-time Premier League Player of the Season and member of FIFPro World XI), Branislav Ivanović
Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a right back, although he can also play as a centre back.
Ivanov ...
(Serbia's most capped player) and Nemanja Matić
Nemanja Matić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Матић, ; born 1 August 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Italian Serie A club Roma. Starting his career as an attacking midfielder, Matić shifted to a ...
. Radomir Antić is a notable football coach, best known for his work with the national team, Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally worn ...
and FC Barcelona. Serbia has developed a reputation as one of the world's biggest exporters of expat footballers.
A total of 22 Serbian players have played in the NBA in the last two decades, including three-time NBA All-Star
The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of a ...
Predrag "Peja" Stojaković, NBA All-Star and both FIBA
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...
and NBA Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
inductee Vlade Divac, and the 2020–21–2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
NBA Most Valuable Player Award winner Nikola Jokić
Nikola Jokić ( sr-cyr, Никола Јокић, (); born February 19, 1995) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays the center position. A four-time NBA All-St ...
. Serbian players that made a great impact in Europe include four members of the FIBA Hall of Fame from the 1960s and 1970s – Dragan Kićanović
Dragan Kićanović ( sr, Драган Кићановић; born 17 August 1953) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player.
A 1.92m (6 ft 3 in) tall shooting guard, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is cons ...
, Dražen Dalipagić
Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić (; born 27 November 1951) is a Serbian former professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugoslavian his ...
, Radivoj Korać
Radivoj Korać ( sr-cyrl, Радивој Кораћ; 5 November 1938 – 2 June 1969) was a Serbian and Yugoslav professional basketball player. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Korać is well-known ...
, and Zoran Slavnić
Zoran "Moka" Slavnić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Мока Славнић; born 26 October 1949) is a Serbian retired professional basketball player and coach. He played with Crvena zvezda and with Partizan. One of the best European point guar ...
– as well as recent stars such as Dejan Bodiroga
Dejan Bodiroga ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Бодирога; born 2 March 1973) is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player who is the Chairman of the Euroleague Basketball.
During his playing career, he mainly played at the smal ...
(2002 All-Europe Player of the Year), Aleksandar Đorđević
Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević or Sale Đorđević (Anglicized: Sasha Djordjevic; sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Ђорђевић, ; born 26 August 1967) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves ...
(1994 and 1995 Mr. Europa
The Mister Europa European Player of the Year Award was an annual basketball award created in 1976, and given until 2010, by the panel of journalists of the Italian weekly magazine ''Superbasket''. Its purpose was to praise the best basketball p ...
), Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball ...
(2009–10 Euroleague MVP
The EuroLeague MVP, or EuroLeague Full Season MVP, is the award bestowed to the player that is deemed to be the "Most Valuable Player" during the full season of the EuroLeague. The EuroLeague is the top-tier level European-wide men's prof ...
), Nemanja Bjelica
Nemanja Bjelica ( sr-cyr, Немања Бјелица, ; born 9 May 1988) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Fenerbahçe of the Basketball Super League and EuroLeague. He also represents the senior Serbian national basketball tea ...
(2014–15 Euroleague MVP), and Vasilije Micić
Vasilije Micić ( sr-cyr, Василије Мицић, born 13 January 1994) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the Serbian national basketba ...
(2020–21 Euroleague MVP). The "Serbian coaching school" produced many of the most successful European coaches of all times, such as Željko Obradović
Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for Partizan of the ABA League, the Basketba ...
(a record nine Euroleague titles), Božidar Maljković
Božidar "Boža" Maljković ( sr-cyr, Божидар Божа Маљковић; born 20 April 1952) is a Serbian former professional basketball coach and current president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia.
He is one of the most successful bas ...
(four Euroleague titles), Aleksandar Nikolić
Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić ( sr-cyr, Александар "Аца" Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He was also a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Sp ...
(three Euroleague titles), Dušan Ivković (two Euroleague titles), and Svetislav Pešić
Svetislav "Kari" Pešić ( sr-cyrl, Светислав "Кари" Пешић; born August 28, 1949) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Serbia men's national team.
Playing career
During his ...
(one Euroleague title).
The most notable Serbian tennis player
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
is Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. ...
. He is a twenty-one-time major champion, a four-time Laureus Sportsman of the Year, and has been year-end World No. 1 on a record seven occasions.
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Schweinsteiger ( sr, Ана Швајнштајгер / ''Ana Švajnštajger''; born 6 November 1987), professionally known by her birth name Ana Ivanovic (Ана Ивановић / ''Ana Ivanović'', ), is a Serbian former world No. 1 tenn ...
(champion of 2008 French Open
The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 25 May until 8 ...
) and Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...
were both ranked No. 1 in the WTA rankings, while Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
and Slobodan Živojinović
Slobodan "Bobo" Živojinović ( sr-cyr, Слободан Живојиновић, ; born 23 July 1963) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia.
Together with Nenad Zimonjić, he is the only tennis playe ...
were ranked No. 1 in doubles.
Notable water polo players are Vladimir Vujasinović
Vladimir Vujasinović ( sr-cyrl, Владимир Вујасиновић; ; born 14 August 1973) is a Serbian professional water polo head coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach of VK Novi Beograd.
During his playing caree ...
, Aleksandar Šapić
Aleksandar Šapić ( sr-cyrl, Александар Шапић; born 1 June 1978) is a Serbian politician, and former professional water polo player serving as mayor of Belgrade since 20 June 2022. A member and current vice-president of the Serbi ...
, Vanja Udovičić
Vanja Udovičić ( sr-Cyrl, Вања Удовичић, ; born 12 September 1982) is a Serbian politician and former professional water polo player who served as minister of youth and sports from 2013 to 2022. An independent politician, he is a ...
, Andrija Prlainović
Andrija Prlainović ( sr-Cyrl, Андрија Прлаиновић; born 28 April 1987) is a Serbian water polo player widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever. He was a member of the Serbia men's national water polo teams that won br ...
and Filip Filipović.
Other noted Serbian athletes, including Olympic and world champions and medalists, are: swimmer Milorad Čavić, volleyball player Nikola Grbić
Nikola Grbić ( sr-cyrl, Никола Грбић; born 6 September 1973) is a Serbian professional volleyball coach and former player, who is currently serving as head coach for the Poland men's national volleyball team, Poland national team. Th ...
, handball player Svetlana Kitić, long-jumper Ivana Španović
Ivana Vuleta (; sr-cyr, Ивана Вулета, , ; born 10 May 1990) is a Serbian long jumper, two-time World indoor champion, three times European indoor champion and reigning European champion.
In 2013, Vuleta became the first Serbian tr ...
, shooter Jasna Šekarić
Jasna Šekarić (; born 17 December 1965) is a Serbian sport shooter, considered as one of the most successful female shooters in ISSF history. She has won a total of five Olympic medals: one gold, three silvers and one bronze. She has also won ...
, sprint canoer Marko Tomićević, judoka Nemanja Majdov
Nemanja Majdov (; born 10 August 1996) is a Serbian judoka. He was born in Istočno Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is coached by his father Ljubiša and his older brother Stefan, who is also a judoka.
He won a gold medal at the 2017 Worl ...
and taekwondoist Milica Mandić
Milica Mandić ( sr-cyr, Милица Мандић, born 6 December 1991) is a Serbian taekwondo athlete. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the +67 kg category, as well as World champion in the same category.
Career
Mandić won a bronze m ...
.
A number of sportspeople of Serb origin represented other nations, such as tennis players Daniel Nestor, Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokic ( sr, Јелена Докић, Jelena Dokić; ; born 12 April 1983) is an Australian tennis coach, commentator, writer, and former professional tennis player. Her highest ranking as a tennis player was world No. 4, in August 2002. ...
, Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
and Kristina Mladenovic
Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a nine-time Grand Slam c ...
, NHL player Milan Lucic, NBA All-star Pete Maravich, wrestler Jim Trifunov, sprint canoer Natasa Dusev-Janics, soccer player Miodrag Belodedici
Miodrag Belodedici (; sr, Миодраг Белодедић, Miodrag Belodedić; born 20 May 1964) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a sweeper.
Nicknamed ''the deer'' due to his elegant tackles, he spent the majority ...
, artistic gymnast Lavinia Miloșovici
Lavinia Corina Miloșovici (born 21 October 1976) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast.Jane Perlez (13 July 1995"Romanian Coach Keeps Up the Fight" ''New York Times'' An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit ...
, racquetball player Rhonda Rajsich
Rhonda Rajsich (born October 7, 1978) is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times (4 times in Women's Singles & twice in Women's Doubles), as well as US Open champi ...
and racing driver Bill Vukovich
William John Vukovich Sr. (; December 13, 1918 – May 30, 1955) was an American automobile racing driver of Serbian descent. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500, plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races, a ...
.
Historiography
See also
* List of Serbs
Notes
References
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External links
Byzantine Illiricum - The Slavs Settlement (History of Balkan, part 1, Official chanel)
Byzantine Dalmatian – The Arrival of Serbs (History of Balkan, part 1, Official chanel)
Project Rastko – Serbian cultural and historical research society
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Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ethnic groups in Croatia
Ethnic groups in Hungary
Ethnic groups in Montenegro
Ethnic groups in Romania
Ethnic groups in Slovenia
Ethnic groups in North Macedonia
Society of Serbia
Slavic ethnic groups
South Slavs
Ethnoreligious groups in Europe
Ethnic groups in the Balkans