Founded 1771 Ethnicity Serb | Dissolution after 1838 | |
 | ||
Country Republic of Venice
Republic of Ragusa | ||
The Vojnović (Serbian Cyrillic: Војновићи) or Vojinović (Војиновићи) was a Serb noble family in the Bay of Kotor and Dalmatia active in the late 18th- and early 19th century, serving the Republic of Venice and Republic of Ragusa. They were very prominent politicians, intellectuals, soldiers, maritime captains and merchants in history of Dalmatia.
The family tree can be reached back to 1536. According to tradition, the family descended from Vojin, the grandson of Serbian king Stefan Dečanski (r. 1321–32). The family moved to the Bay of Kotor from Herzegovina in 1692, fleeing Ottoman terror, settling in Herceg Novi, which was taken over by the Republic of Venice after the 1689–92 battles of the Morean War. The Republic of Venice recognized their nobility status and coat of arms after 1771, Austria in 1815 (along with other para-nobility of Dalmatia and the Bay of Kotor). Upon receiving noble status, the family adopted the coat of arms of Serbian magnate Nikola Altomanović (fl. 1359–76) as displayed in the Il regno di Slavi of Mavro Orbini (1563–1614).
From the end of the 17th- to the 19th century members of the family emigrated to Austria, Italy, Hungary and Russia. Marko Vojnović (1732–1807) founded the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. Jovan V. Vojnović (fl. 1772–82) was a Russian admiral and general consul in the Greek archipelago. Aleksandar V. Vojnović was a Russian cavalry general.