Arsenije Sečujac

Arsenije Sečujac (Serbian Cyrillic: Арсеније Сечујац, German: Arsenius Seczujacz; 1720 – 13 January 1814) was a Habsburg general who earned the rank of major general at the very end of his military career and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, the highest Monarchy decoration, in 1762.

Arsenije Sečujac
Arsen Sečujac Heldenfeldski
Born1720 (1720)
Eastern Syrmia, Slavonian Military Frontier, Habsburg Monarchy (modern Serbia)
Died13 January 1814 (1814-01-14) (aged 93)
Vienna, Austria
Allegiance Habsburg Austria
Service/branchArmy
Years of service1741–1783
Rank
  • major (ca. 1755)
  • oberstleutnant (1765)
  • oberst (1773)
  • generalmajor (1783)
Battles/warsBattle of Piacenza, battle of Kolin, battle of Landeshut (1760)
AwardsMilitary Order of Maria Theresa, Knight (1762)

Biography

Early life

An ethnic Serb,[1][2][3] Sečujac was born in 1720,[4] somewhere in Syrmia, most likely in Eastern Syrmia (in modern Serbia), which at the time was part of the Slavonian Military Frontier (where the Slavonia-Petrovaradin Military Infantry Regiment was established later, in 1747). His father was Đorđe (or Georgije), a Habsburg military commander, and his mother was named Ana Stanisavljević.[4] Two of his brothers also served in the military.

Military career

Sečujac joined the army in 1741 as a cadet in the Stara Gradiška infantry unit,[4] of the Slavonian Military Frontier and fought in many battles during several wars (War of the Austrian Succession, Seven Years' War, War of the Bavarian Succession). During the first years of the Seven Years' War he became a major and in 1762 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa and promoted to lieutenant colonel. He received noble status in 1763.[1]

Having succeeded the noble status from his father, who had received the ennobling predicate "von Heldenfeld" (Serbo-Croatian: Heldenfeldski), Sečujac was elevated to baron on 29 December 1767 (and henceforth known as Baron Seczujacz von Heldenfeld). During his lifetime, he served in several garrisons or military bases, ending his career as commanding officer of the 66th Slavonian-Brod Military Frontier Infantry Regiment, a unit which he took over as colonel in 1777.

A chancellery was established, in which the first counselor was bishop (eparch) Petar Petrović; on November 17, the same year, the counselor was general-major and baron Arsenije Sečujac; other notable members were Mihailo Maksimović, Uroš Nestorović, Todor Avramović.[5]

A captaincy which he established was based in Bela Crkva, but was short-lived, disestablished in 1776.[6]

He headed a political group which advocated unity of the Serbian people.[7] He was a supporter of Dositej Obradović.

At the very end of his military career, on 24 February 1783 he was promoted to the rank of major general, but he retired on the 10 April that year.

He died at the age of 93 in Vienna in 1814.

See also

References

  1. Zoran Kolundžija (1939). Vojvodina: Od velike seobe (1690) do temišvarsog sabora (1790). Prometej. pp. 122, 150, 305.
  2. Srpska književna zadruga (1899). Izdanja. А од свих бечких познаника Доситијевих гостољубљем се највише одликоваше ђенерал Сечујац, чији дом беше отворен свима Србима који се задржаваху у Бечу. Ту је Доситије лепо проводио пРЕДГовоP VII време са многом ...
  3. Zbornik za istoriju. 23–24. Odeljenje za društvene nauke, Matica srpska. 1981. p. 40. Од Срба официра носиоци овог ордена су у XVIII в. били: Арсеније Сечујац (1761), Павле (Димић) Папила (1762), Павле Давидовић (1779), Павле Соколовић (1788), Вукосавић (1788) и Петар Дука (1793).
    Istorija srpskog naroda: knj. Srbi u XVIII veku (2 v.). Srpska književna zadruga. 1986. p. 286.
  4. Odbrana: magazin Ministarstva odbrane SCG. Novinsko-izdavački centar "Vojska,". 2008. p. 74.
  5. Dušan J. Popović (1990). Srbi u Vojvodini. 3. Matica srpska. pp. 22, 39, 72, 97. ISBN 9788636301760. За првог саветника ове канцеларије наименован је епископ Петар Петровић. 17. новембра исте године постављени су од Срба: за саветника генерал-мајор, барон Сечујац; за при- дворног конциписту Михаило Максимовић; ..
  6. Sreta Pecinjački (1985). Graničarska naselja Banata, 1773-1810: J-Č. Matica srpska, Odeljenje za društvene nauke. p. 901. Се- диште штаба тог пука се налазио у Белој Цркви, док његов командант бејаше барон Арсеније Сечујац, који га је и о- формио. Али та јединица није била дугог века, јер је уки- нута већ 1776.године. XII немачко-банатски пук је ...
  7. Rajko L. Veselinović (1966). Istorija srpske pravoslavne crkve sa narodnom istorijom. Већину је сачињавала струја коју је предводио генерал Сечујац. Она је била за споразум са Бечом, а не са Мађарима. Зах- тевала је да се одрже привилегијална права: морално-по- литичко јединство српског народа, право на ...
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