Mihailo (Serbian Cyrillic: Михаило, English: Mihail; born Milovan Dožić; 15 November 1848 – 9 June 1914) was a Serbian Orthodox hierodeacon and archimandrite, who established an insurgent battalion in Potarje (in Montenegro) to fight against Ottoman Empire in the region. Having been sent in 1866 to the Dobrilovina Monastery, Dožić made the monastery the centre of the spiritual and political life and aspirations for freedom in the wide area of Potarje, and organized an insurgent battalion in the Potarje region active between 1875 and 1878 (during the Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–1878).

Mihailo Dožić
Hegumen of Morača Monastery
Native name
Михаило
ChurchSerbian Orthodox Church
Elected5 March 1879
Installed10 March 1879 (Morača Monastery)
Term ended9 June 1914
Orders
Ordination20 May 1865
Consecration5 March 1879
by Ilarion Roganović
RankArchimandrite
Personal details
Born
Milovan Dožić

(1848-11-15)15 November 1848
Died9 June 1914(1914-06-09) (aged 65)
Morača Monastery, Kingdom of Serbia
BuriedMorača Monastery
NationalitySerbian
DenominationEastern Orthodoxy
ResidenceDobrilovina Monastery (1866–1879)
Morača Monastery (1879–1914)
Previous post(s)Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić (1866–1879)
Titular Hegumen of Dobrilovina Monastery (1866–1879)

Life edit

He belonged to the Medenica brotherhood of Donja (Lower) Morača.[1][2] He was one of the sons of Mijat Dožić, who had fought against the Kolašin Turks (Ottomans).[3] Mihailo's paternal great-grandfather was Milovan Dožić.[3] In the late 19th century much of the Balkans were still under the Ottoman Empire.

Dožić, a young monk, was sent as an administrator by Mirko Petrović-Njegoš with the task of renovating the Serbian Orthodox Dobrilovina Monastery, which was located in Ottoman territory, in 1866.[4][5][6] The monastery is located on the left Tara river banks,[4] in a region known as Potarje, at the beginning of the Tara River Canyon,[4] the deepest river canyon in Europe.

The monastery became the "centre of the spiritual and political life and aspirations for freedom in the wide area of Potarje",[7] Dožić also having established a school that was operated secretly in the monastery, the first school in the valley of Tara — this was a very significant step towards national awakening in this region and surrounding regions.[8] The school was temporarily moved to the nearby cave at times of Ottoman attacks. Dožić organized an insurgent battalion in the region,[9] active between 1875 and 1878 (during the Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78) and Serb–Ottoman War (1876–78)). The Ottomans had the monastery abandoned and quarters burned in 1877.[4] On 12 June, that same year, Dožić defended Morača against Ottoman Mehmed Ali Pasha, who died in battle.[3]

He became a hegumen of the Morača Monastery in 1879. He then served as archimandrite of the Morača Monastery. He sent his fraternal nephew Gavrilo Dožić, who had studied under his wing at Morača, to Belgrade to study in the gymnasium; Gavrilo would later serve as the 51st Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1938–1950).[2] Mihailo was Gavrilo's main counselor and was the one who recommended him to Nićifor Dučić for the envoy to Constantinople.[10]

He had the bridge over the Morača river built in ca. 1900.

Ancestry edit

Milovan Dožić
Dožić
Mijat Dožić
Mihailo Dožić

References edit

  1. ^ Radić 2006, p. 41
  2. ^ a b "PATRIJARH GAVRILO (Dožić), Patrijarh srpski 1938-1950".
  3. ^ a b c Dobričanin, Sekula (1984). Donja Morača: život i običaji narodni po tradiciji. p. 74. Михаило Дожић. [...] На челу тога баталюна Дожић ]е 12. јуна те године стигао у одбрану Мораче против Мехмед Али- -паше, ко]и ]е страдао на Морачи. Михаило Дожић враћа се из Добриловине у Морачу као прослављени ]унак и во]сковоћа.
  4. ^ a b c d Kalezić, Dimitrije M. (2002). A - Z (in Serbian). Savremena administracija. p. 557. ISBN 9788638706716.
  5. ^ Istorijski institut SR Crne Gore u Titogradu, Istorijsko društvo SR Crne Gore (2007). Istorijski zapisi, Volume 80, Issues 1-4.
  6. ^ Popović, Simo; Bojović, Jovan R.; Rakočević, Novica (1995). Memoari. p. 138. Михаило Дожић из Морачс (1848-1914). Војвола Мирко Петровић 1866. године упутио је младог калуђера Дожића да обнови манастир Добриловину. на турској територији, на Тари, и да у том крају спроводи црногорску ...
  7. ^ Savet akademija nauka SFRJ (1989). Bulletin scientifique (in Serbo-Croatian). Vol. 25. Le Conseil. p. 9. of the Tara river, near the town of Mojkovac, the monastery of Dobrilovina was the centre of the spiritual and political life and aspirations for freedom in the wide area of Potarje. Studying the long history of the Monastery the author points out the work of arhimandrit Mihailo Dozid who, after the Turkish raid in 1833, renovated the monastery in 1866. Particularly important is Dozid's role in the uprising in this region that lasted from 1875 until 1878.
  8. ^ Geografsko Društvo (1979). Glasnik, Volumes 59-61 (in Serbian). Belgrade: Geografsko Društvo. p. 41.
  9. ^ Tomašević, Nebojša (1982). Treasures of Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedic Touring Guide. p. 503. In the 19th century, an insurgent battalion was formed in the area, led by Mihailo Dozic, abbot of Dobrilovina monastery. After the First Balkan War, the region was freed and joined to the Kingdom of Montenegro. During World War I it was the scene of the famous battle of Mojkovac (1916), when the Montenegrin army inflicted a heavy defeat on the numerically ...
  10. ^ Radić, Radmila (2006). Život u vremenima: Gavrilo Dožić : 1881-1950. Институт за новију историју Србије. p. 48. ISBN 9788670050471. Гаврилов главни саветник и човек који га је препоручио митрополиту Нићифору био је његов стриц, архи- мандрит манастира Морача, Михаило Меденица.