Petar II Petrović Njegoš
1813–1851 13 entries
Biography
Petar II Petrović Njegoš was prince-bishop of Montenegro, a poet and philosopher, and one of the greatest figures of Serbian literature. Born in Njeguši, he was chosen at seventeen to succeed his uncle as ruler and Orthodox bishop of Montenegro. He worked to turn a land of clans into a state, set up a senate and courts, opened the first schools and brought a printing press to Cetinje. He travelled to Vienna, Saint Petersburg and Italy, and read widely in several languages.
His epic The Mountain Wreath, published in 1847, is a drama in verse about Montenegro’s struggle for freedom, and many of its lines live on as proverbs. He also wrote the philosophical poem The Ray of the Microcosm. He died of tuberculosis in 1851, at only thirty-seven, and was buried, as he had wished, on Mount Lovćen.
- Quotes 13