Grad Herceg Novi

FAMOUS CITIZENS

POPE SIKSTO V
- The legend says that he was Siksto’s father, an Orthodox man from the village of Bjelske Kruševice, which is an hour walk north from Bijela, and that he came from the Šišić family, even though there are sources that say that he comes from the Svilanović family, and that, as a child, he served in a Catholic monastery in Kotor. That was at a time when he became Catholic, and was taken to Italy by an Italian friar. He settled down in the Ancona county, where he got married and had a son, who later became Pope Siksto Pereti.
You might wonder why Siksto? It is because he came from the Šišić family.
Why Pereti then? It was in honor of his father’s birthplace Kruševice (“kruška” in Italian is pera (pear), and in his coat of arms there is a lion holding a twig with three pears.
One can find proof that this is not just a legend as verified in the chronicle of Andrija Zmajević, archbishop of Bar and “Primas Serbiae”. In the »Chronicle of the state glorious and holly« it says »... Pope Siksto the Fifth was born of his holy parents, Slavjan, his father from Kruševice, a village in the Bay of Kotor....«

TVRTKO I KOTROMANIĆ (1353.-1391.)
- A Bosnian ban (provincial lord), and from 1377 a king. He became the head of state as a direct Nemanjić’s heir, and he inherited the throne from his uncle Stjepan II.
In year 1382, he began to build first fortifications where Herceg Novi lays today. The municipality of Herceg Novi is in the process of making a monument to honor this founder of the city

SANDALJ HRANIĆ (1392.-1435.)
- After the death of King Tvrtko, Novi was left in possession of Duke Sandalj Hranić. During his reign, Novi picked up trading salt.

STJEPAN VUKČIĆ KOSAČA (1435.-1466.)
- When Sandalj Hranić passed away, Novi was handed over to his nephew, the duke of Hum, and later to Herceg (Duke) Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. He preserved and extended the territory of the Bosnian state, and Novi, as a city, was built up.

ISAIJA KOEN (1517.-1599.)
- A Portuguese physician, known as the poet FLAVIO EBORENZE DIDAKO PIRO, of Jewish background, he wrote his book on his exile in Novi. He was buried at a local cemetery of Spanish Jews, which was in the vicinity of the city and which sank into the sea during the 1667 earthquake.

EVLIJA IBN DERVIŠ MEHMED ZILI
- Better known as EVLIJA ČELEBIJA, he lived in Herceg Novi in 1664 and recorded his impressions of his stay in »HRONIKA PUTOVANJA« (“Journey Chronicles”). In the 5th chapter there is a detailed description of the then Herceg Novi.

JEROLIM KORNER
- GThe general provider of Dalmatia and Albania, he was one of the last great Venetian field marshals. Katarina Koronaro, the Queen of Cyprus, and Korner come from the same family. Upon the orders of the Venetian Senate, he sailed on September 5, 1687 to Herceg Novi intending to take it over and free it from the Turkish reign. Ten days after the seizure of the city, he issued a decree on the founding of the land registry. In the first land registry, there were 1,080 families registered. The original land registry is preserved in the State Archives of Montenegro, Herceg Novi Archives Department.

SAVATIJE LJUBIBRATIĆ
- – A Hum prince-bishop, whose bishopric re-located to Herceg Novi upon the tearing down of the monastery TVRDOŠ near Trebinje. The Venetian administration acknowledged his bishopric and, by a special edict dated June 29, 1695, he was allocated land in Topla. He performed his religious administration of the orthodox people in this part of the Bay and Dalmatia until he passed away in 1716.

MARKO VOJNOVIĆ (1752.-1812.)
- Founder of great Russian Black Sea fleet. On March 14, 1801, Vojnović was promoted as an admiral of the Russian fleet. Traditionally, everyone from the family of Vojnović were counts and were part of the military academy. Marko founded the first Russian station on the coast of Persia. He was the fleet commander in one the most famous battles against the Turks in 1788 near the FIDINISI island.

ST. LEOPOLD MANDIĆ (1866.-1942.)
- Born on May 12, 1866 from father Petar Antun Mandić and mother Dragica Karla, maiden name Carević. When christened, he was named Bogdan (God given), which marked his entire life. When he was 16, he left his family and they say his life carried on without major events. He did not leave any theological nor literary works. His magnitude was in self-sacrifice throughout his 52 years of ecclesiastical life. He was proclaimed a saint in 1983.

NIKOLAJ VELIMIROVIĆ (1880.-1956.)
- Upon finishing the seminary, he was a teacher in Gračić, Leskovac, near Valjevo and Herceg Novi. He lived in Meljine, and spent his days in the Savina monastery. Jovo Sekulović, a private printer and librarian from Herceg Novi, published his first book »RECORDS ON BOKA«. After living in Herceg Novi for some time, he left for Germany where he obtained his PhD in Theology. He received his PhD in Philosophy at Oxford. He passed away on March 18, 1956 in the Russian monastery St. Tichon in South Canaan – Pennsylvania.

PETAR II PETROVIĆ NJEGOŠ (1813.-1851.)
- When Njegoš came to Herceg Novi, he was almost 12. He lived in a cell adjacent to the Sv. Spasa church (St. Salvation) in Topla where he went to Josip Tropović’s school. He governed Montenegro from 1830 from 1851.

SIMO MATAVULJ (1852. - 1908.)
- Narrator and novelist, who was invited by Lazar Tomanović to Herceg Novi in the fall of 1874 and started to work as a teacher in the Serbian Maritime Legacy School in Srbina. He was famous for his novels on Montenegro and its coastal region.

MARKO CAR (1859. - 1953.)
- Born in Herceg Novi, a polyglot and an essayist of esthetic character. He wrote poems, critics, essays, travel reports, novels, narratives. He was a collaborator in many newspapers and magazines of his time. He passed away in Belgrade and was buried in the cemetery of the Savina monastery.

IVO ANDRIĆ (1892. - 1975.)
- Nobel prize winner for literature in 1961. It could be said that Herceg Novi, in a way, has been registered in the list of cities proud of their Nobel prize winners. Andrić lived in Njegoševa br. 65, in Topla, nowadays called the House of Ivo Andrić, which has a commemorative room, and is known as the WRITER’S CLUB. It was active for several years as a LITERARY COMMUNITY.

ZULFIKAR-ZUKO DŽUMHUR (1921. - 1989.)
- Famous painter, caricaturist, writer and, most of all, a travel writer. Even though he traveled the “whole world”, he spent most of his life in Herceg Novi, where he passed away. He was in love with our city and used to say: »There are cities who hold your soul. Those are the cities that have a past. Herceg Novi has its soul, which means it has its history.« He was particularly fond of the »Mimosa Festival« and has contributed greatly to the tourism of Herceg Novi. For many years, the Festival’s caravan would stop by his birthplace, Konjic, to perform a parade, but also for a taste of Zuko’s beans. He is the author of many collections of manuscripts, travel reports, popular TV show »Hodoljublja«, a winner of the Golden Pula arena Award for the scenario of the movie »Smell of quince«. He was one of the few people who had our Nobel prize winner Ivo Andrić write a preface for the »Downtown Necrology«. Locals still remember “Zuko’s chair” (where he used to sit) at the »Hercegovina« café.

MIHAILO LALIĆ (1914. - 1992.)
- He lived in Herceg Novi and Belgrade. He won NIN magazine’s prize for novel of the year for “Ratna sreća” (War Fortune) in 1973, and was the first recepient of “Njegoš prize” for “Lelejska gora”. And he was a member of both Serbian and Montenegrin Academy of Arts and Sciencies.