Jovan I. Deretić

Jovan I. Deretić (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Деретић, born 18 January 1939), is a controversial Serbian pseudohistorian. Deretić is an engineer by training, but is mainly noted for his historical theories. He is the proponent of an alternative history of the Serbs that asserts a larger role in history than described by historians. He is sometimes confused with distinguished literary historian Jovan Deretić.

According to Deretić, prior to the conquests of Alexander the Great, there lived an even more-accomplished conqueror named Serbon Makeridov, who was "father of all nations" and that "all of his descendants, or rather all known peoples, have Serbian origin". Ancient peoples such as ancient Greeks and Celts are therefore claimed to be Serbian. Deretić asserts that existing historical research is evidence for these theories but his interpretations have been criticized by other historians.

Deretić organized a petition drive of Kosovo Serbs requesting Russian citizenship: "Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo would feel more protected, if Russia granted them citizenship." According to Deretić, Kosovo Serbs felt abandoned by the Serbian government after the Kumanovo Treaty ended the Kosovo War and they were attacked by the Kosovo Force: "NATO peacekeepers attacked unarmed Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica, and ethnic cleansing is taking place in Kosovo where many Serbs were killed, disappeared or exiled." Deretić said he gathered 72,500 signatures from Kosovo Serbs who wanted to adopt Russia as "a second Serbia" that would protect them against anti-Serb violence.