Svetomir Nikolajevič (1844-1922): the first serbian historian to write about Rigas Velestinlis

Abstract

The subject of this study is the first Serbian historical work about the
Greek national martyr Rigas Velestinlis. It is a monograph titled Rigas Feraios:
Greek Patriot and Poet, which was written by Svetomir Nikolajevič
(1844-1922), Professor of General History of Literature in the Great School
(precursor of the University) of Belgrade, and politician, and was first published
in Belgrade in 1889.
The writer begins with some biographical information about Nikolajevič,
and then proceeds to a close examination of the content and the credibility of
the monograph, in which he detects a certain amount of inaccurate information. The reason for this is that, when the monograph was written (in 1889),

the existing literature was very scanty. Abundant information about the life
and work of Rigas Velestinlis (whom the Serbs erroneously call Feraios) would
be available later on from documents in the Austrian archives, which were
brought to light by Émile Legrand and Spyros Lambros in 1891, Konstandinos
Amandos in 1930, and Dušan Pantelič in 1931. The study also poses the
question of why a Serb, a foreigner, was so interested in Rigas Velestinlis at
such an early date; and it becomes clear that it was because Nikolajevič was a
staunch philhellene and a fervent champion of Rigas’s ideas.