Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Срби у Италији, Srbi u Italiji; ), also referred to as Italian Serbs ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Италијански Срби, Italijanski Srbi) are a community numbering 29,679
History
According to
Graziadio Isaia Ascoli
Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (; 16 July 1829 – 21 January 1907) was an Italian linguist.
Life and work
Ascoli was born in an Italian-speaking Jewish family in the multiethnic town of Gorizia, then part of the Austrian Empire (now in Italy). Alrea ...
, the 19th century writer
Giovanni de Rubertis considered the
''Schiavoni'' (Slavs) or ''Dalmati'' (Dalmatians) of Molise in Italy to be Serbs that were brought there by
Skanderbeg
Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
during his
Italian expedition in 1460–1462, along with
Albanians
The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...
.
In 1497, Italian court poet Rogeri de Pacienza di Nardo wrote about a group of Serbian refugees who left the Despotate of
Đurađ Branković
Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia.
In 1429, Branković was form ...
to settle in the village of
Gioia del Colle
Gioia del Colle (; Bari dialect, Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. The town is located on the Altopiano delle Murge, Murge plateau at above sea level, between the Adriatic and Ionian Sea, ...
near
Bari
Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...
, Italy. He describes how they sang and danced the
''kolo'' in honour of the Queen of Naples,
Isabella del Balzo. The names of the singers that Pacienza wrote down are common Serbian names.
In 1782, the first Serbian school opened in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
, and in the 19th century the Serbian Orthodox Saint Spyridon Church in Trieste was built near the Ponte Rosso square.
[Sve Vesti]
''Udruzenje Srba "Vuk Karadzic" najstarija u Italiji''
Demographics
Some 40,000 Serbs live in northern Italy. In
Arzignano Arzignano is an industrial town and ''comune'' in the Province of Vicenza in Veneto, Italy. It is located from Vicenza, in the Valle del Chiampo.
History
In 1413, during a campaign of King Sigismund of Hungary against the Republic of Venice, its ...
, there are thousands of Serbs from all over former Yugoslavia. As of the 2013 Italian census, "foreign citizens" from Serbia (excluding
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
) live in Italy.
As of 2012, some 10,000–15,000 Serbs live in the city of
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
.
Triestine Serbs
Triestine Serbs ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Тршћански Срби, Tršćanski Srbi; ) are the ethnic
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
of
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
, present in the city since the 18th century.
History
In 1719,
Charles IV declared Trieste a
free port
A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...
, to serve as the empire's outlet to the world. Charles' daughter
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
went further by slashing duties, improving the harbor, pulling down old city walls, and encouraging
Illyrian, Greek, and Jewish merchants to expand the port. Later, to make it easier to unload ocean vessels, she ordered the
dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...
of Trieste's , a waterway reaching into the city itself. Serb merchants and ship-owners established a community in Trieste at the start of the 18th century, most primarily originating from
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
,
Trebinje
Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of the Trebišnjica river in the region of East Her ...
, and the
Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Boka kotorska, Бока которска, separator=" / ", ), also known as the Boka ( sh-Cyrl, Бока), is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated a ...
.
In 1751,
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire proclaimed religious freedom in the city, and the Serbs and Greeks of Trieste built the
Saint Spyridon Church that same year.
The most influential of the wealthy Serbian merchants of the time were the
Kurtović,
Gopčević,
Kvekić,
Vojnović Voinovich, Voynovich or Vojnović () may refer to:
*Aljoša Vojnović (born 1985), Croatian footballer
*Dejan Vojnović (born 1975), Croatian athlete
*Đorđe Vojnović (1833–1895), politician from Dalmatia
*Emil Vojnović (1851–1927), Austro-H ...
, Vučetić, Popović, Teodorović, Nikolić, Škuljević, Opuhić, Rajović, Mekša, Kovačević, and Miletić families, who owned most of the structures and dock area of the ().
In 1766, Trieste's Serbs numbered 50; by 1780, the number had grown to 200.
Austria's long rule was interrupted briefly by the French, who invaded twice, occupying the area about 13 years. After the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, Austrian citizens went back to work to make the port city more significant than ever. The port handled an increasing trade in the Russian,
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
ine, African, and Oriental markets. Shipyards expanded, and Trieste became one of Europe's leading maritime insurance centers with the founding of the (1830), the (1829), and the
Lloyd Triestino shipping company (1833).
The opening of the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
in 1869 proved to be a bonanza, putting Trieste in closer touch with
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. With the advent of railroads, there was direct contact with
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, and countries to the east and west, making Trieste a great South European hub.
Serbian School
In 1782, the Serbian community of Trieste began expressing its desire for a
Serbian-language day school, a place for their children to be passed down Serbian culture and language. Jovan Miletic, a wealthy Serb merchant in Trieste, donated 24,000 florins to build a Serbian elementary school in 1787. On 1 July 1792, the local government approved its opening, and the Jovan Miletić Private School began official operation, located in the city center, right beside the Saint Spyridon Church. A night school and reading room were opened in 1911.
In 1911, an
asylum was added to the school, for Serbian political refugees, due to the constant warfare and bloodshed occurring between the
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
and
Ottoman empires on the
Balkan Peninsula
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...
. The school represented a pillar of the Serbian community of Trieste, where the children of the wealthy Serbian merchants went to school and integrated into the city's community. In 1973, the school was shut down due to lack of student enrollment and became a Sunday school for Serbian language and culture. Velimir Djerasimović, the school's principal and teacher since 1927, retired in 1973. Djerasimović is the father of Italian film actors
Ivan Rassimov and
Rada Rassimov and poet Milorad Djerasimović.
Saint Spyridon Church

In 1782, the
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the populat ...
and
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
communities of Trieste split due to major disagreements concerning church rituals and language-usage, at which point the Greek community built its own
Greek Orthodox Church of San Nicolò dei Greci in the
neoclassical style, and the Serbs continued to use the original church of
Saint Spyridon
Spyridon, also Spyridon of Tremithus (Greek: ; c. 270 – 348), is a saint honoured in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.
Life
Spyridon was born in Assia, in Cyprus. He worked as a shepherd and was known for his great piety. ...
. But in 1861, the Serb community demolished the original church, and rebuilt a new, much more grandiose one in its stead, in
Serbo-Byzantine Revival style, in order to "stamp their identity architecturally in the midst of a baroque Austro-Italian city". The church's construction was completed seven years later, in 1868. With the added capacity for 1,600 worshippers, it was for a long time the second-largest Serbian church in the world. The church is filled with liturgical masterpieces of the time—including works in gold from the 17th and 18th centuries, and antique Orthodox icons and handmade books—making it an important monument to Serbian history and culture.
The church was designed by Italian architect
Carlo Maciachini, and features four cupolas and one large main dome colored a muted blue. In the 1800s, the Serbian population in Trieste numbered around 200 people.
Under Fascist rule
In 1918, at the end of World War I, Trieste became part of Italy and social life drastically changed for the Serbs and other minorities of Trieste. Due to the contentious national border with
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, Italian society became increasingly hostile towards all
Slavs
The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
in Trieste including the Serbs, and anti-Slavic racism began to flourish in Italy.
The anti-Slavic feelings in Trieste were present already before the war, embodied by the local Liberal-National Party, led by Giuseppe Cuzzi, whose aim was to make Trieste completely
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and Italian. The anti-Slavic propaganda focused on the idea that Slavic people were barbaric and could not integrate properly into a civilized society.
Tensions came to a head in World War II, when the Germans, who had occupied northern Italy in September 1943, built the only Nazi extermination camp in Italy,
Risiera di San Sabba, on the outskirts of Trieste. Three thousand Jews, Serbs, and other Slavs were executed here in 1944, while thousands more were imprisoned awaiting transfer to other extermination camps.
Monuments

Besides the Saint Spyridon Church and the Jovan Miletić Serbian School, the Serbs of Trieste contributed to several other important landmarks of the city. The Gopčević family built the Palazzo Gopcevich on the , near the St. Spyridon Serbian Church, in 1850 in commemoration of the heroes who fought for the
independence of Serbia from the Ottoman Empire (1814). Cristoforo Popovich owned many famous merchant ships in Trieste, some of the largest in the Adriatic—the ''Tartana'', ''Il Feroce Dalmata'', ''La Forza'', and the ''Ripatriato''—and was instrumental in the Russian-side during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
(1853–1856). Cristoforo Scuglievich (
Risto Skuljevic) built the Palazzo Scuglievich in the mid-1800s along the banks of the city, and donated the palace in his will to the Serbian community of Trieste; today it is owned by the Serb community.
In addition to this, in the city center there are also the palaces of Serb merchants, such as the Palazzo Vucetich, Palazzo Popovich, Palazzo Kurtovich, and Casa Ivanovich.
Serbian writers
The Serbian community of Trieste has had a deep and long-lasting relationship with Serbian writers from the 18th century to today. Iconic
Serbian writers
Serbian may refer to:
* Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular
**Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans
** Serbian language
** Serbian culture
**Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...
and linguists such as
Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
,
Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић, ; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist and the first minister of education of Se ...
,
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyrl, Петар II Петровић-Његош, ; – ), commonly referred to simply as Njegoš (), was a List of rulers of Montenegro, Prince-Bishop (''vladika'') of Montenegro, poet and philosopher whose ...
,
Zaharije Orfelin
Zaharije Orfelin ( sr-Cyrl, Захаријe Орфелин; 1726 – 19 January 1785) was a Serbs, Serbian polymath who lived and worked in the Habsburg monarchy and Republic of Venice, Venice. Considered a Renaissance, Renaissance man, he is var ...
, and
Pavle Solarić were inspired by Trieste and its developed Serbian community.
They wrote many works on Trieste's influence on Serbian "pre-Romanticism" and cultural development during a time when the Serbs lacked statehood and cultural expression.
Serbian linguist and creator of the standardized Serbian language, Vuk Karadžić, kept in constant contact with Trieste's Serb community from his home in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. In 1813, Vuk called upon the Triestan Serbs to subscribe to the Serbian-language newspaper, ''Novine Serbske'', which promoted the newly-standardized Serbian language, and more than sixty copies of the standard Serbian dictionary were bought in 1814.
Lukijan Mušicki
Lukijan Mušicki ( sr-cyr, Лукијан Мушицки, ; 27 January 1777 – 15 March 1837) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop, writer and poet. From 1828 he was bishop of Karlovac, now in Croatia.
References
Further reading
*
*
* Jovan Sk ...
wrote an ode to Serbian merchants of Trieste in 1835, and revolutionary writer Dositej Obradović tutored the children of the wealthy Serb merchants.
Many
Serbian poets and folklorists even worked in the Saint Spyridon Church for a time. An almost universal feeling of inspiration and admiration of Trieste's wealthy Serb community was shared by their Balkan-Serb contemporaries.
Modern day
Today, Serbian-born Serbs represent the largest foreign-born community in Trieste, numbering around 10,000, although some figures state anywhere up to 18,000.
[http://www.demo.istat.it/str2010/index03_e.html ] The overwhelming majority of Serbs in Trieste today descend from the immigration wave following the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
of the 1990s. Recently, the Serbian Orthodox Society in Trieste, led by Bogoljub Stojičević, has called on the local government to grant the Serb Community of Trieste cultural autonomy and reinstate the Jovan Miletic Serbian School as a full-time school since its downgrading to a Sunday school due to inactivity in 1973. Since 2009, the Serbian community of Trieste, namely the Serbian Association "Vuk Karadžić", has been organizing an annual Balkan-style trumpet festival on the outskirts of Trieste called "Guca na Krasu" (Guca in
Karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
), modeled after the famous
Guča Trumpet Festival
Guča (Serbian Cyrillic: Гуча, pronounced ) is a small town near the city of Čačak, located in the Lučani municipality, Moravica District, in the Dragačevo region of western Serbia. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 3,185 inhabitan ...
in Serbia. Since its beginnings, the festival has managed to gain recognition and popularity, succeeding in getting famous musicians like
Goran Bregović
Goran Bregović ( sr-Cyrl, Горан Бреговић; born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Slavic speaking countries in the ...
and
Boban Marković
Boban Marković ( sr-cyr, Бобан Марковић) is a Serbian trumpet player and brass ensemble leader from Vladičin Han.
Work
He is of Romani background.
The Boban Marković Orkestar is a Balkan brass band from Vladičin Han, Southe ...
, as well as many popular Italian acts. The oldest active Serbian sports organisation in Trieste is the soccer club "Serbia Sport", started in 1992, and which since then has won a multitude of championships in the local Trieste soccer league, making it today one of the top soccer teams in the
Province of Trieste
The province of Trieste () is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Trieste. It has an area of and a population of 228,049. It has a coastal length of . Abolished in 2017, it was reestabl ...
. Together with the Serbian Association "Vuk Karadžić", Serbia Sport organizes an annual Serbian-Diaspora Soccer Tournament in Trieste on the Serbian holiday
Spasovdan, which occurs 40 days after
Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
.
Organizations
There are several community organizations of Serbs in Italy. The Association of Serbs of Italy was established in April 2015 by the combined organizations meeting in Trieste.
Notable people
;Royalty and nobility
*
Elena of Montenegro, Queen consort of Italy
*
Princess Yolanda of Savoy
*
Darinka Kvekić
Darinka Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Даринка Петровић-Његош; 19 December 1838 – 2 February 1892) was the first List of Montenegrin royal consorts, Princess of Montenegro by her marriage to Danilo I, Prince of Monte ...
, wife of
Danilo I, Prince of Montenegro
Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyr, Данило I Петровић-Његош; 25 May 1826 – 13 August 1860) was the ruling Prince of Montenegro from 1851 to 1860. The beginning of his reign marked the transition of Montenegro from a trad ...
*
Natalija Konstantinović, wife of
Prince Mirko of Montenegro
*
Carlo III Tocco
*
Maria of Serbia, Marchioness of Montferrat
*
William IX, Marquess of Montferrat
;Military
*
Giuseppe Viscovich
;Artists
*
Marcello Dudovich, one of the most acclaimed commercial artists of art, prints, and posters during his time
*
Milan Zloković, an architect born in Trieste
;Writers
*
Ljudevit Vuličević
Ljudevit Vuličević ( sr-cyrl, Људевит Вуличевић, ; 30 September 1839 – 27 July 1916) was an Italian-language writer and cleric who was known for his Serbian and pan-Slavic patriotism.
Biography
Vuličević was born on 30 Septe ...
, writer
*
Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић, ; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist and the first minister of education of Se ...
, philosopher and linguist
*
Aleksa Šantić
Aleksa Šantić ( sr-Cyrl, Алекса Шантић, (); 27 May 1868 – 2 February 1924) was a Herzegovinian Serb poet and writer from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Šantić wrote about the urban culture of his hometown Mostar and Herzegovi ...
, poet
*
Cristoforo Ivanovich, librettist
*
Stefano Zannowich, writer and adventurer
*
Tomo Medin, writer and adventurer
*
Giovanni de Rubertis, poet
*
Niccolò Tommaseo
Niccolò Tommaseo (; 9 October 1802 – 1 May 1874) was a Dalmatian Italian linguist, journalist and essayist, the editor of a (''A Dictionary of the Italian Language'') in eight volumes (1861–74), of a dictionary of synonyms (1830) and other ...
;Printers
*
Božidar Vuković
Božidar Vuković ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар Вуковић, , ; c. 1460 — c. 1539) was one of the first printers and editors of Serbian books in Montenegro. He founded the famous Vuković printing house in Venice. His printing house was opera ...
*
Vićenco Vuković
;Businesspeople
*
Spiridione Gopcevich, a shipowner from Trieste
*
Jovo Kurtović, a shipowner from Trieste
*
Mihajlo Vučetić, a grain merchant, shipowner, and shareholder in
Austrian Lloyd from Trieste
;Singers
*
Sara Jovanović (born 1993), Serbian singer born in Rome that represented Serbia at Eurovision Song Contest 2013 (as part of a group
Moje 3)
;Doctors
*
Dimitrije Frušić
*
George Nikolic (Giorgio Nicolich)
*
Marino Gopcevich
;Teachers
*
Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић, ; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist and the first minister of education of Se ...
*
Miljko Radonjić
;Scientists
*
Spiridon Gopčević
;TV and cinema
*
Nina Seničar
Nina Seničar ( sr-Cyrl, Нина Сеничар; born 11 November 1985) is a Serbian actress and model based in Los Angeles. She has appeared in Hollywood movies such as ''Papillon (2017 film), Papillon'' (2017) and ''Mayhem (film), Mayhem'' (2 ...
(born 1985), model and actress, lives in Italy since 2006
*
Sasha Montenegro (born 1945), actress born in Bari as Aleksandra Acimović Popović
*
Ivan Rassimov (1938–2003), late actor born in Trieste to Serbian parents as Ivan Djerasimović; brother of
Rada Rassimov
*
Rada Rassimov (born 1941), actress born in Trieste to Serbian parents as Rada Djerasimović; sister of
Ivan Rassimov
*
Olga Bisera
Bisera Vukotić ( sr-Cyrl, Бисера Вукотић; born 26 May 1944), known professionally as Olga Bisera, is a Yugoslav-born Italian film actress and producer.
She was born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She entered the Drama Arts Ac ...
, actress born Bisera
Vukotić
*
Milena Vukotic (born 1935), actress and ballerina
;Sportspeople
*
Giovanni Raicevich was a famous Italian wrestler in the early 20th century.
*
Miloš Malivojević (born 1993), active footballer born in Scandiano,
Reggio Emilia
Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...
*
Marino Nicolich (born 1910), late footballer born in Monfalcone, whose name was Italianized in "Marino Nicoli" by the Italian Fascist government
*
Dragan Travica (born 1986), volleyball player born in Croatia, son of the Serbian coach
Ljubomir Travica; plays for the Italy national team
*
Ljubomir Travica (born 1954), volleyball coach and retired player; has residence in Italy since he played for
Modena
Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025.
A town, and seat of an archbis ...
in 1983. He is the father of
Dragan Travica.
*
Marko Stanojevic
Marko Peter Stanojevic (; born 1 October 1979 in Birmingham, England) is an Italian rugby union footballer.
He last played on the wing for Italian Top12 club Rovigo.
Before his move to Italy, he had played four seasons with Bristol in England. ...
(born 1979), rugby union player born in Birmingham to a Serbian father and an Italian mother. He played for the Italy national team.
See also
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Italy–Serbia relations
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Serbian diaspora
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Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
References
Sources
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External links
Svetionik (Srbi u Italiji) - Northern Italy's Serbian community website
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Historical documents on the Serbs of Italy*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbs In Italy
Italian people of Serbian descent
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
Serbian Orthodox Church in Italy
Ethnic groups in Italy