Dragoljub M. Pavlović
(1866–1920)
Dragoljub Pavlović is considered one of our historians who dealt with national as well as general history of the 18th and 19th centuries. A professor of history, doctor of philosophy, academician, and political figure, he left his mark on Serbian education, science, and state administration.
Life and Education
He was born on June 16, 1866, in Knjaževac. His father Milija was a judge at the basic court. He attended elementary school and lower gymnasium in Zaječar, where his father served, and gymnasium in Niš. He completed the Historical-Philological Department of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Great School in Belgrade (1888). This was followed by scholarly and professional development abroad – as a state scholar he stayed in Vienna until 1892, and then in Germany, in Freiburg and Tübingen, where in 1895 he defended his doctorate titled “On the Struggle for the Nationality of the Hungarian Serbs in 1848 and 1849.”
Pedagogical and Scientific Work
Upon returning to the country, he briefly taught at the Lower Teachers’ School in Knjaževac and the Third Belgrade Gymnasium, before taking up the position of professor of history at the Great School in Belgrade in 1897. By royal decree of February 27, 1905, when the Great School became a University, he was appointed full professor of the University, which confirmed that he was held in high esteem as a scientist.
Dragoljub Pavlović, together with Professor Svetozar Simić, was the initiator and later editor of the newspaper Timočanin (1888) and the political-literary journal Delo (1897–1899 and 1902–1915), in which he published numerous works.
His scholarly work encompassed political and cultural conditions in Serbian life in the 18th century and early 19th century, during the Austrian occupation and Austro-Turkish wars (1718–1739). He studied the administrative and ecclesiastical policies, finances, and economy of that period. This earned him recognition among fellow historians in the Royal Serbian Academy, who nominated him as a corresponding member in 1905, and in 1920 he became a full member.
In his scholarly work, he initially studied historical method and synthesis, researched important facts about the topics he discussed, and made judgments about the presented issues in accordance with the real meaning and objective value of documentation. He was among the first to study archives, both domestic and Viennese, and based his work on unpublished archival material. Unlike his studies on Serbia under Austrian occupation, the work Serbia and the Serbian Movement in Southern Hungary in 1848 and 1849 (1904) is based on sources from domestic archival material, namely the correspondence of participants in the events of that time and the press that closely followed them. The book emerged from Pavlović’s doctoral dissertation.
He contributed to the shaping of the modern Serbian state and the advancement of historiographical methodology in Serbia, confirming that history is not merely an enumeration of events, but a story about people, their destinies, and the decisions that changed the course of time. Pavlović’s analyses and assessments of the times, events, and figures remain relevant to our scholarship today.
Through his intelligence, iron will, and moral fortitude, he resembled the distinguished figures of his era who worked in all fields of human endeavor and left their mark as builders of our future.
Public and Political Activity
As a member of the People’s Radical Party, Pavlović was active in the political life of Serbia. He was elected as a member of parliament twice, served as vice-president of the Club of Independent Radicals, and after World War I was entrusted with a role in forming the new state of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1919, he became the first president of the Provisional National Assembly of the Kingdom of SCS, which placed him among the most important political figures of that time. In 1920, he was entrusted with reconciling feuding political parties and forming a government, but this task exhausted him.
He died suddenly in Belgrade on April 3, 1920, leaving behind a valuable scholarly legacy.
References
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Stanoje Stanojević, Narodna enciklopedija srpsko-hrvatsko slovenačka, knj. 3, N-R. Bibliografski zavod, 1928.
Dragoljub M. Pavlović, Srbija i srpski pokret u južnoj Ugarskoj 1848. i 1849. (predgovor Vasilije Đ. Krestić), Beograd: Srpska književna zadruga, 2009.
Selected Bibliography
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Ličnost u istoriji / od Drag. M. Pavlovića. – Beograd : Parna radikalna štamparija, 1897. – 73 str. ; 25 cm
P. o.: Delo ; 1897.
BI 138
Istorizam i racionalizam : pristupno predavanje iz nove istorije / od Drag. M. Pavlovića. – Beograd : Parna radikalna štamparija, 1898. – 51 str. ; 20 cm
P. o.: Delo ; 1898.
BŠs 44
Ujedinjenje Nemačke / napisao Dragoljub M. Pavlović. – Beograd : Srpska književna zadruga, 1898. –[4], VIII, 304, [4] str., [2] presavijena lista sa geneal. tablicama ; 19 cm. – (Srpska književna zadruga ; 48)
K 1/48
Austriska vladavina u severnoj Srbiji : (od 1718–1739.) : po građi iz bečkih arhiva / od Drag. M. Pavlovića. – Beograd : Državna štamparija Kraljevine Srbije, 1901. – 158 str. ; 23 cm
I 316
Požarevački mir (1718. g.) : istori[j]ska studija / Drag. M. Pavlovića // Letopis Matice srpske. – God. [70], knj. 207, sv. 3 (1901), str. 26–47.
Č 945
Finansije i privreda za vreme austriske vladavine u Srbiji : (od 1718–1739.) / po građi iz bečkih arhiva od Drag. M. Pavlovića. – [Beograd : Srpska Kraljevska akademija, 1901]. – 73 str. ; 24 cm
P. o.: Glas Srpske kraljevske akademije ; 64.
I 410
Kultura i ratovi : istorijska skica / od Drag. M. Pavlovića // Letopis Matice srpske. – God. [72], knj. 218, sv. 2 (1903), str. 1–24.
Č 945
Kultura i ratovi : istorijska skica / od Drag. M. Pavlovića // Letopis Matice srpske. –God. [72], knj. 219, sv. 3 (1903), str. 85-97.
Č 945
Kultura i ratovi : istorijska skica / od Drag. M. Pavlovića // Letopis Matice srpske. –God. [72], knj. 220, sv. 4 (1903), str. 26-39.
Č 945
Prilog istoriji Kočine krajine i Mihaljevićevog frajkora : po građi iz bečkih arhiva / od Drag. M. Pavlovića. – Beograd : Srpska kraljevska akademija , 1904. – Str. 109–158 ; 22 cm. – (Glas / Srpska kraljevska akademija ; 16. Drugi razred ; 42)
PČ I/3
Srbija i srpski pokret u južnoj Ugarskoj 1848. i 1849. / od Drag. M. Pavlovića. – Beograd : SKA, 1904. – VI, 180 str. ; 23 cm. – (Posebna izdanja / Srpska kraljevska akademija ; 21. Društveni i istorijski spisi ; 6)
PČ II/8
Iz istorije ustavnog pokreta u Turskoj : (Mithad-pašin Ustav i njegova sudbina. – Mlado Turci) / Drag. M. P. // Delo. – God. 13, knj. 48 (1908), str. 161–178.
Č 123
Srbija za vreme poslednjeg austrijsko-turskog rata : (1788-1791 g.) : (po arhivskoj i drugoj građi) / od Drag. M. Pavlovića. – Beograd : Srpska Kraljevska Akademija, 1910. – VIII, 391 str. ; 23 cm. – (Posebna izdanja SKA ; 32. Društveni i istoriski spisi ; 9)
PČ II/8/32
Pokret u Bosni i Albaniji protivu reforama Mahmuda II : (po arhivskoj građi) / esej Drag. M. Pavlovića. – Beograd : Srpska Kraljevska Akademija, 1913. – 105 str. ; 23 cm. – (Posebna izdanja / Srpska kraljevska akademija ; knj. 40, Društveni i istorijski spisi. knj. 14)
PČ II 8/40