Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Dead Serbs, Part II

20 dinara obverse
Next stop in the pantheon of national heroes is Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, who graces the 20 dinar note (about 20 cents). His wikipedia page describes him as a prince, bishop, philosopher and poet, responsible for the secularization of Montenegro in the early nineteenth century. Known as the "Montenegrin Shakespeare"He also seems to have brought the rule-of-law to its "feuding clan chiefs."

He is especially known for the epic poem, The Mountain Wreath, about the execution of Montenegrins who had converted to Islam. Cited with approval by Radovan Karadzic, the poem has since been removed from the Bosnian school curriculum.

Montenegrins also stopped wearing the fez during his reign, which seems to me, to have been his greatest achievement.

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