Stojan Protić

Stojan Protić (Serbian Cyrillic: Стојан Протић; 28 January 1857 – 28 October 1923) was a Serbian politician and writer. He served as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes between 1918 and 1919, and again in 1920, later called Yugoslavia. He is best remembered as the key theoretician of Serbian parliamentarism.

Stojan Protić
1st Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
In office
19 February 1920  16 May 1920
MonarchPeter I
Preceded byLjubomir Davidović
Succeeded byMilenko Vesnić
In office
22 December 1918  16 August 1919
MonarchPeter I
Preceded byNikola Pašić
Succeeded byLjubomir Davidović
Personal details
Born(1857-01-28)28 January 1857
Kruševac, Principality of Serbia
Died28 October 1923(1923-10-28) (aged 66)
Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Political partyPeople's Radical Party

Biography

Stojan M. Protić was born in Kruševac.[1] His great-great-grandfather (čukundeda), Toma Dečanac, moved from the village of Dečani with his wife and two sons, to Kruševac.[2]

Having studied history and philosophy in Belgrade's Grandes écoles (Velika škola), Protić briefly worked in government service before dedicating himself to journalism and becoming editor of Samouprava ("Autonomy"), the official daily newspaper of the People's Radical Party.[3] In 1884 he became editor of another paper, Odjek ("Echo"), and advocated changing Serbia's constitution.[4] He ran in the 1887 elections and was elected to Parliament.[1] As secretary of the Constitutional committee in 1888 Protić participated in drafting the Serbian Constitution,[4] perhaps one of the most liberal constitutions in late nineteenth-century Europe. He became an influential ideologist of the People's Radical Party and a talented journalist. He continued to write numerous articles for several political magazines while in office.

Protić was often elected as a deputy of the People's Radical Party in the Serbian Parliament: 1887, 1897, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1912. Known as an ardent polemist and advocate of British-type democracy, he served as a deputy in the first Yugoslav parliament (1920) as well.

He was Minister of Interior in various governments in Serbia after 1903 (Administrations of Jovan Avakumović, Sava Grujić, Nikola Pašić), as well as the Minister of Finance (1909-1912).[4] As Minister of the Interior at the outbreak of World War I, he worked the Serbian reply to the Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum during the July Crisis.[4] He supported the Corfu Declaration (1917), opposed the Geneva Declaration (November 9, 1918), and sought to revise the Vidovdan Constitution. Protić entered into a dispute over the model of unification with Nikola Pašić at the end of the Great War. He actively supported civilian over the military government and came into conflict with leading members of the "Black Hand" as a result. Also, against the centralist tendencies of his party, he advocated for a decentralized unified state with relative autonomy for Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In December 1918 Protić was appointed Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes by Prince-Regent Aleksandar Karađorđević.[4] His government, unfortunately, lasted from 20 December 1918 to 16 August 1919. He was Prime Minister once more from 19 February to 17 May 1920. In 1923, after leaving the Radicals, led by Pašić, he formed a new party the Independent Radical Party (Nezavisna Radikalna Sranka) but failed to gain support.[4] After losing his parliamentary seat in his traditional constituency in Kruševac, Protić quit politics.

He died of heart disease in Belgrade in 1923.

His books translated into English, German, Russian and French were published under the pseudonym "Balkanicus".

Selected works

  • O Makedoniji i Makedoncima, Št. Koste Taušanovića, Beograd, 1888.
  • Tajna konvencija između Srbije i Austrougarske, Št. D. Obradović, Beograd 1909.
  • Odlomci iz ustavne I narodne borbe u Srbiji, vol. I-II, Št. D. Obradović, Beograd, 1911-1912.
  • Albanski problem i Srbija i Austrougarska, G. Kon, Beograd, 1913
  • Srbi i Bugari u Balkanskom ratu, napisao Balkanicus, Geca Kon, Beograd 1913
  • Das albanische Problem und die Beziehungen zwischen Serbien und Österreich-Ungarn, von Balkanicus (ins Deutsche übertragen von L. Markowitsch), O. Wigand, Leipzig, 1913.
  • Le problème albanais, la Serbie et l'Autriche-Hongrie, par Balkanicus, Augustin Challamel, Paris, 1913.
  • La Bulgarie : ses ambitions, sa trahison : accompagné des textes de tous les traité secrets et correspondances diplomatiques, par Balcanicus, Armand Colin, Paris, 1915.
  • Balkanicus, The Aspirations of Bulgaria, Simkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. LTD, London 1915.

References

  1. St. Protić, Milan (2015). Between Democracy and Populism: Political Ideas of the Peopleʹs Radical Party in Serbia:(The Formative Period: 1860ʹs to 1903). Balkanološki institut SANU. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-8-67179-094-9.
  2. Istorijski glasnik: organ Društva istoričara SR Srbije. Društvo. 1971. p. 97. ... а Протићев познати предак , Тома Дечанац , из села Дечана , код манастира Дечана . За Пашићеве претке каже се да су се доселили из Македоније 300 година пре Пашићева рођења . За Протићевог чукундеду , Тому Дечанца , зна се да се са женом и два сина ...
  3. "Stojan Protić". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  4. Roszkowski, Wojciech; Kofman, Jan (2016). Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. pp. 2306–2307. ISBN 978-1-31747-593-4.

Sources

Government offices
Preceded by
Velimir Todorović
Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia
19031905
Succeeded by
Ljubomir Stojanović
Preceded by
Ivan Pavićević
Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia
19061907
Succeeded by
Nastas Petrović
Preceded by
Mihailo M. Popović
Minister of Finance of Serbia
19091912
Succeeded by
Milovan Milovanović
Preceded by
Ljubomir Jovanović
Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia
19101911
Succeeded by
Marko Trifković
Preceded by
Marko Trifković
Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia
19121914
Succeeded by
Ljubomir Jovanović
Preceded by
Momčilo A. Ninčić
Minister of Finance of Serbia
19171918
Succeeded by
Himself
Preceded by
post created
Foreign Affairs Minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
1918
Succeeded by
Ante Trumbić
Preceded by
Nikola Pašić
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
19181919
Succeeded by
Ljubomir Davidović
Preceded by
Ljubomir Davidović
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
1920
Succeeded by
Milenko Vesnić
Cultural offices
Preceded by
Dragiša Stanojević
Director of National Library of Serbia
19001903
Succeeded by
Ljubomir Jovanović
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