Cvjetko Popović (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Цвјетко Поповић; 1896 – 9 June 1980) was a

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 ...

who was involved in the 1914 assassination of

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. ...

Early life and assassination

He was born in what is modern-day

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 was an 18-year-old student, studying in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

when

Danilo Ilić Danilo Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Данило Илић; 27 July 1890 – 3 February 1915) was a Bosnian Serb who was among the chief organisers of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Biography Born in what is modern-day Bosnia and He ...

recruited him and his friend, Vaso Čubrilović, to help assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical ...

, the prime minister of the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Prin ...

, heard about the plot and gave instructions for the three men to be arrested. However, his orders were not implemented and the three men arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina where they joined forces with fellow conspirators,

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. Princ ...

, Miško Jovanović and Vaso's brother Veljko Čubrilović. On Sunday 28 June 1914, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Chotek were

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 ...

. Princip and

Nedeljko Čabrinović Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range while b ...

were captured and interrogated by the police. They eventually gave the names of their fellow conspirators.

Muhamed Mehmedbašić Muhamed Mehmedbašić (1887 – 29 May 1943) was a Bosnian revolutionary and conspirator in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Early life Mehmedbašić was born in 1887 into a Bosniak family in Stolac, in the region of Herzegovina (a ...

managed to escape to Serbia but Popović, Ilić, Jovanović, and the Čubrilović brothers were arrested and charged with treason and murder. All the men were found guilty. Under Austro-Hungarian law, an offender under the age of 20 could not be executed. Nedjelko Čabrinović, Gavrilo Princip and Trifko Grabež therefore received the maximum penalty of twenty years, whereas Vaso Čubrilović were sentenced to 16 years and Popović to 13 years prison at

Terezín Terezín (; german: Theresienstadt) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,800 inhabitants. It is a former military fortress composed of the citadel and adjacent walled garrison tow ...

. Popović was released when the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

defeated 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 ...

in November 1918, having served four years of his 13-year sentence.

Later life

After his release from prison at the end of World War I, Popović returned to teaching as a professor of philosophy and eventually became Curator of the Ethnographic Department of the

Sarajevo Museum Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

. The night before the 50th anniversary of the killing of the Archduke in 1964, Popović attended a lecture about the assassination in Sarajevo, but did not attend any of the events throughout the city, commemorating the anniversary. He was quoted as saying that he would not have taken part in the assassination had he known it would lead to war. Marking the 55th anniversary of the event in June 1969, Popović, then aged 73, gave an interview recalling the assassination. Cvjetko Popović died in Sarajevo on 9 June 1980 at the age of 84, leaving Vaso Čubrilović as the sole surviving assassin. Čubrilović died 10 years and two days later on 11 June 1990 at age 93.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Cvjetko 1896 births Date of birth missing 1980 deaths Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Austro-Hungarian people of World War I Austro-Hungarian rebels Bosnia and Herzegovina murderers Bosnia and Herzegovina people of World War I Bosnia and Herzegovina prisoners and detainees People convicted of treason against Austria-Hungary People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Young Bosnia