Monument to Vojvoda Vuk

The life of Vojin Popović

When he was a little boy, Vojin Popović, fleeing the Ottoman rule of terror, left his hometown of Sjenica and settled in Kragujevac, where he attended school. After graduating from the Military Academy in Belgrade in 1903 with the rank of infantry second lieutenant, Vojin Popović chose to join the chetnik organisation in 1905 and, in 1911, the secret organisation "Unification or Death" (Black Hand). He fought against the Ottomans in Мacedonia and Old Serbia in the period between 1905-1912 (battles at Čelopek, Кumanovo, Prilep, Bitola, the bank of the Vardar and against the Bulgarians on the river Bregalnica in 1913. He won military renown in the First World War battles of the Drina, the Коlubara and, especially Cer , and was decorated with the Order of the Кarađorđe Star 4th and 3rd Class. He was promoted to the rank of infantry lieutenant colonel of the Serbian Army and, despite his reputation of a strict and unbendable officer, he enjoyed limitless trust. He was remembered above all as the most exemplary chetnik leader (vojvoda) because of his exceptionally courageous and inspirational military leadership. His units provided security for Crown Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević during the withdrawal across Аlbania which ensued after the heavy losses Serbia suffered in 1915. He ended his tireless and constant freedom fighting in the most difficult section of the Salonika Front in the First World War, as the commander of the Volunteer Detachment engaged in the battle with Bulgarians over the strategic peak of Mt Nidža, Kajmakčalan, to which his closest fellow combatants bore witness. He was wounded at Grunište vis in the River Crna area, but went on pursuing the enemy. However, on 29 November 1916, at the final stage of the battle, a bullet went through his heart.

The idea about the monument and the erection

After the funeral in Belgrade, the idea of erecting a monument to the Vojvoda Vuk began to take shape. The city council allotted the location in a small park in Topličin Venac. The necessary funds were provided by numerous admirers of vojvoda Vuk. A renowned sculptor Đorđe Jovanović, trained in Vienna, Мunich and Paris, was hired to work on the sculpture for the monument to the famous vojvoda Vuk. He had already had his statue cast in bronze one year ago, (in 1922) in Prague. The erection of the memorial to the most respected figure of the chetnik movement, was postponed for a few years due to shady political events in which some members of the „Black Hand)“ had been involved, but also on account of the fact that he had led chetnik units, which had provided support to the Serbian regular army in Serbia and Мacedonia and which, being irregular military formations, had been disbanded under the pressure from the European governments. In the park in Topličin Venac on Sunday 23 October 1936 the monument was unveiled and dedicated to the great fighter for the freedom of Serbian lands, the commander of the Serbian Volunteer Detachment, Vojin Popović, still a living legend for his former fellow combatants -Vojvoda Vuk. The monument was unveiled by the lawyer Milan Aćimović, Vojvoda Vuk’s former comrade in war, to the sound of the chetnik anthem and in the presence of several thousand people, dozens of highest military and civil officials and the envoy of King Peter II . It was a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of his heroic death. The monument was placed in the centre of the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Description of the Monument

The monument of Vojvoda Vuk’s standing figure on a tall pedestal, follows the design of the European inspired memorials erected across Serbia in honour of the soldiers fallen for freedom in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. The cuboid pedestal of dressed sandstone blocks carries the bronze sculpture of Vojvoda vigorously stepping forward on a symbolic elevation, but in a respite between battles, the weapon in his right hand being lowered, his left pointing to the towns in southern Serbia, yet to be liberated. Vojvoda Vuk is portrayed realistically, in the expression of his face and in the traditional garment of chetnik leader of the national army, which consists of some parts of the traditional costume and a cape, with an ammunition belt around the waist. He wears a cap with a chetnik badge (a skull with crossed rifles and a two-headed eagle). The sculptor’s signature and date are incised at the bottom of the figure: „Đ. Jovanović 1929.“ The statue stands 2 m high on the top of the 4 m tall by 1.5 m wide pedestal. The inscription on the front of the pedestal reads: Vojvoda Vuk 1880-1916, and affixed to its right and left sides are plaques engraved with the names of the sites where the battles in which he took part were fought: On the right side: Čelopek, Кumanovo, Еlbasan, Bregalnica, Samurovića Ada, Loznica. On the left side: Јadar, Konatica, Belgrade, Vlasina, Kajmakčalan, Siva Stena, Grunište. The pedestal is buttressed at four corners by low piers. Its upper edge is hemmed with a laurel wreath carefully carved in low relief upon which, on each of the four sides, rests a skull and crossed bones. The Vojvoda stands on the triumphal laurel wreath, immortalized in glory, but with the emblem of membership of the popular volunteer army. The style of the relief on the pedestal reflects interwar artistic trends, being more modern and evoking art deco stylisation, whereas the statue, of an earlier date, shows energy in motion but no modernisation in expression. Type analogies are clear and so are the influences of French sculpture, notably of Auguste Rodin, and similarities can also be drawn to a few earlier sculptures of Đorđe Jovanović: (Prince Miloš Obrenović, the monument in Požarevac (1897), A Montenegrin (1902), A Woman Scything (1915), and The Victor in Paraćin (1920)).

The Importance of the Monument

The statue of Vojvoda Vuk has special historical and artistic value as one of the memorials to the liberation wars of Serbia. It is a historical document on the Serbian national volunteer army and as a work of one of the most prominent Serbian sculptors. This is the only monument to a chetnik vojvoda in Belgrade, and in full-length figure. The other commanders served in the regular army and many are represented in the form of the busts. The monument celebrated the idea of the Liberator of Serbian lands, but also of the warrior as an ultimate role model. The statue does not depict an idealised image, but rather is an actual likeness; he is even depicted as a somewhat older man even though he was thirty-six when he succumbed to his wounds. The Memorial to Vojvoda Vuk was designated a cultural heritage property in 2014.