Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New Yor ...

Marko Konstantinovich Ivelić (1740–1825) was a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

born Russian general from

Risan Risan ( Montenegrin: Рисан, ) is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It traces its origins to the ancient settlement of Rhizon, the oldest settlement in the Bay of Kotor. Lying in the innermost portion of the bay, the settlement was p ...

who rose to prominence in Russian military service during the reign of Emperor

Nicholas I of Russia , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date ...

and Prince-Bishop

Petar I Petrović-Njegoš Petar I Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар I Петровић Његош; 1748 – 31 October 1830) was the ruler of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro as the Metropolitan (''vladika'') of Cetinje, and Exarch (legate) of the Serbi ...

of Montenegro. He became a Russian general and count. In 1811 he was a diplomatic emissary to Revolutionary Serbia.

Ivelich of Risan

An old Risan family, the first Ivelich, according to some sources, settled in

at the time 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 rul ...

. Marko Ivelich had two brothers

Ivan Konstantinovich Ivelich Ivan Konstantinovich Ivelich (c. 1745 - after 1810) was a major general in Imperial Russian service, originating from Boka Kotorska region (now Montenegro). He was a member of the family, and the youngest brother of Marko Ivelich and Semen Konstant ...

, the youngest who was a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

n army, stationed at

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia. It is located in ...

Garrison Regiment from 1805 to 1810, before he retired; and Semyon Konstantinovich Ivelich, also a high-ranking military officer. His nephew

Peter Ivelich Count Peter Ivanovich Ivelich or Peter Ivelich IV (Russian: Пётр Ивелич, also known as Pyotr Ivanovich Ivelich IV; 1772 - after 1851) was a Serb Montenegrin who ranks among the most important Russian generals who fought during the Napole ...

fought in the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napole ...

and many other battles against

Napoleonic France The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

. The Ivelich family produced four high-ranking military officers in the Imperial Russian Army.

Military career

Marko's education and military career began in the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

. There he received the rank of lieutenant before he moved to

. Marko joined the Russian admiral

Aleksei Grigoryevich Orlov Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (russian: Алексей Григорьевич Орлов; – ) was a Russian soldier and statesman, who rose to prominence during the reign of Catherine the Great. Orlov served in the Imperial Russian Arm ...

in 1770 and participated in the fight against the Turks in

Boka Kotorska 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 hi ...

. He was a commander of a part of the Russian Mediterranean fleet. The Russian fleet was under the overall command of Chesmensky, an honorific surname given to Admiral Orlov by Catherine the Great after he defeated the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Chesma, not far from the island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is ...

. Marko Ivelić and over a hundred sailors from Boka Kotorska participated in that battle. When the war against the Turks began again in 1788, he was again sent to Montenegro and Herzegovina to stir up the local population; at the same time, he was assigned to form 12 battalions composed of Serbs and other Slavs and to act with them independently. Ivelich successfully completed the task assigned to him and repeatedly defeated the Turks. He became a General of the Russian army in 1800. In 1805, for the third time sent to Montenegro to induce people to participate in the war against the French. Arriving in the Kotor region after the unsuccessful

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz i ...

, when Venice and the Dalmatian coast were ceded to France by agreement, Ivelich nevertheless managed to arouse the population to resist, which contributed a lot to the success of further actions of Admiral Dmitry Senyavin's

Second Archipelago Expedition The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

. In 1812, Marko was sent with a diplomatic mission to

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

and then contributed to the conclusion of peace between the Turks and Serbs following the

Treaty of Bucharest (1812) The Treaty of Bucharest between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, was signed on 28 May 1812, in Manuc's Inn in Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, indu ...

, which in turn became very unpopular among the Serbs, since it failed to achieve any of the political aims of the

First Serbian uprising The First Serbian Uprising ( sr, Prvi srpski ustanak, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; tr, Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1 ...

. He secured for the Russian troops to enter Šabac and

Belgrade fortress The Belgrade Fortress ( sr-Cyrl, Београдска тврђава, Beogradska tvrđava), consists of the old citadel (Upper and Lower Town) and Kalemegdan Park (Large and Little Kalemegdan) on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, ...

, for which he had a falling out with

Karađorđe 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 indepen ...

, who also, as did Peter I of Montenegro earlier, accused him of being more a proponent of Russian interests than of his own compatriots In 1814, Ivelich became a senator and an officeholder in the

Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс� ...

References

* Portrait of Marko Ivelich by sea-painter Vasilije Ivanković: https://www.museummaritimum.com/elementi/slike/ivelic2.jpg Russian soldiers {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivelich, Marko 1740 births 1825 deaths