From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nikola Petanović
Nikola Petanović
Petanovich,
Nicholas Petanovich born Nikola Petanović (Montene- In 1929 Nikola expanded cooperation with Prince Milo
grin Cyrillic: Никола Петановић) (1892 - 29 January forming with him, freedom fighters Krsto Zrnov Popović
1932) nicknamed "Naiad was an American Montenegrin
Naiad" and Marko Zekov Popović, and former regent Evgenije
emigrant, philosopher, writer, political publicist and Popović the "Montenegrin National Committee" in Gene-
fighter for Montenegro’s sovereignty and independence. va bent on uniting the whole Montenegrin emigration.
He was one of the very few amongst the Montenegrin di- The Committee published the brochure "The Greatest
aspora to achieve higher level education. Crime in History" defining that there has been never a
worse crime in the history of mankind from the total
Early life annexation of Montenegro by Serbia. Petanovic saw in
prince Milo a possible new monarch of a restored Mon-
Nikola Petanovic was born in 1892 in the village of Pod- tenegrin kingdom and dedicated to him a poem: "The
gor in Crmnica, Princedom of Montenegro. In 1912 he Royal Heritage will be Restored; The Sun shall Smile upon
went moved to the United States of America at the call Montenegro once again".
of his brother Mitar Petanovic, who already settled as a Petanovic attempted to use influential people to af-
US citizen. Young Nikola studied English in Butte, Mon- fect the American public opinion and authorities to liken
tana, then’s largest Montenegrin emigration colony in the idea of a sovereign Montenegro, which would be un-
the United States, and quickly became prolific in it. To der a US protectorate. Nikola had already perceived the
support himself he worked on ranches during the season, United States’ bright future as one of the leading nations
having little time for his studies in the libraries. For his in world. The US State Department never paid heed to his
nickname he chose "The Naiad", referring the mytholog- calls however, because they considered the unification
ical nymph that had the power of precognition, implying legal, legitimate and unquestionable. Petanovic’s desires
that he will do the same for Montenegro. Afterwards, he to conduct a free democratically-held referendum in the
moved to California and started his literary publicist ca- territories of the once Montenegrin realm that would de-
reer. In 1923 he published in San Francisco in Serbo-Croat cide if it would stay in Yugoslavia or regain independence
his first work, the "Ponos života" ("Pride of Life"), a poetic on the basis of the, popular in the Western World, self-
philosophical novel. He was plagued by his poverty heav- determination, in this case that of the Montenegrin Peo-
ily until the end of his life, barely managing to make ends ple, reached a moot end gaining no support.
meet. During this period his most important work is the
"Troslavia and five small Slavic nations", an ironic depic-
Political work tion of the Yugoslavian kingdom supporting the propos-
als of the Kingdom of Italy for breakup of the South Slavic
Upon hearing about the 1918 unification of Montenegro country and establishment of several Slavic mini-nations
with the Kingdom of Serbia, Nikola was gravely worried. at the coast of the Adriatic Sea under Italian influence.
Considering that Montenegro’s sovereignty was unjustly Nicholas was one of the few who already also depicted
extinguished, ever since 1924 he worked on the gather- the Macedonians as a distinct people as well. His other
ing of the post-WWI growing Montenegrin emigration’s significant works were "Without Homeland", referring to
intelligence in North America. He went forth publishing the Montenegrin people, the "Naiad" and "Dayan". Pe-
brochures and holding lectures about facts about Mon- tanovic saw the origins of Montenegro in ancient Doclea
tenegro, attempting to inform and unite the Montene- and claimed that the specific ethno-genetic makeup in
grin diaspora on the West Coast. In 1927 he formed a the ethnogenesis of Illyrian blood, which allegedly made
"Board for a Sovereign and Independent Montenegro" the Slavs living in what was once Montenegro far clos-
and met with a member of the House of Petrović-Njegoš er to the Albanians, was sufficient enough for them to be
with same Montenegrin sovereignist ideas, Milo Petrović. proclaimed as a distinct ethnic group, akin but not iden-
He became the Editor in Chief of the Board’s political tified directly with the Serbs themselves - in this claim
magazine, the "Montenegrin Mirror", which spread the laid as the basis for Petanovic’s desire to ask for nation-
word in English propagating the creation of an indepen- al self-determination of the Montenegrins. Although not
dent Montenegro from the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and essentially a historian, Nikola touched the historical sub-
Slovenes. He chose the name as an ironic protest to one jects claiming that the Slavic people appeared in the ter-
of the major works of the Montenegrin writer Petar II ritories of Montenegro only in the 9th century in its eth-
Petrović-Njegoš, the "Serb Mirror" (Огледало српско).
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nikola Petanović
nic form and through mixing with the local populations, The Montenegrin Mirror) that revealed the first facts about
claimed that a distinct mix identity was born in Montene- this historical figure to the Montenegrin public.
gro.
Works
Death and legacy • Ponos Života (The Pride of Life), San Francisco (1923)
In 1931 Nicholas Petanovich withdrew from public life • Troslavia and Five Small Slavic Nations
and abandoned his activities on promoting Montenegro’s • Naiad
independence, claiming he was fighting a completely lost • Dayan
cause. He died on 29 January 1932 in his 40th year due to
poor health caused by his unhealthy lifestyle, never mar-
rying nor having children because of his virtually non-
Further reading
existent social life. With his death the Montenegrin Mir- • Stojović, Gordan (2006). Nikola Petanović - Crnogorsko
ror stopped being published and the Montenegrin Com- Ogledalo. Matica Crnogorska. Podgorica.
mittee was disbanded. He was buried at the Kolma ceme- Persondata
tery just outside of SF. Name Petanovich, Nicholas
Nikola Petanovic was completely an unknown person
to the public eye and his works never widespread until Alternative names
the sovereingist and pro-independence movements Short description
emerged in the 21st century with Montenegro promoting Date of birth 1892
and justifying its secession from its state union with the
Place of birth
Republic of Serbia. An example is the Montenegrin Ma-
trix, which published the work of Gordan Stojović "Niko- Date of death 29 January 1932
la Petanović - Crnogorsko Ogledalo" (Nikola Petanovich - Place of death
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nikola_Petanovi%C4%87&oldid=455526526"
Categories:
• Montenegrin people
• 1892 births
• 1932 deaths
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