Ristic, Jovan

Born in a poor family, lost his father early. His successes in primary school convinced a family friend to send Jovan to high school in Belgrade ^[1] . In Belgrade, Ristic became a prominent member of the Serbian Youth Team, a quasi-political student association that became active after the events of 1848 ^[1] . Young Ristic was a member of the May Assembly on May 1-3, 1848 .

After graduating from the Lyceum in Belgrade in 1849, Jovan went to study in Berlin , and later to Heidelberg , where he received a Ph.D. ^[1] . Then he continued his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris . In Germany, he studied with the historian Leopold von Ranke , and after studying, he intended to continue his career as a historian. But Ristic was not able to get the post of professor of history at the Belgrade Lyceum. In 1852, Ristic was offered a Serbian state scholarship to study theology in Russia , but Jovan refused. As a result, the future Metropolitan of Belgrade Mikhailo , who would later be Ristic’s ally, received a scholarship to study in Russia ^[1] .

In 1854, by chance, Ristic got the opportunity to enter the civil service: he begins to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs , under the leadership of the influential politician Ilya Garashanin. Soon Ristic was married to Sofia, the daughter of a wealthy Belgrade merchant Haji Tome. Working as the editor of Serbian Newspaper, he popularized Shakespeare in Serbia.

In 1861, Garashanin, the then prime minister and foreign minister, sent Ristic to negotiations in Constantinople . ^[2] This was the beginning of his successful diplomatic career. Ristic was instructed, in particular, to insist on the cleansing of the Serbian fortresses from the Turks, which he achieved in 1867 , despite the clash between the Serbs and the Turks, which led to the bombing of Belgrade (1862). Returning to Belgrade, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. When Prince Mikhail changed the direction of foreign policy in 1867, reducing his dependence on Russia and dismissing Garashanin as chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, it was Ristic who replaced him for a short time ^[2] . But he did not want to work in the government of conservatives and the conservative Nikola Khristich became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers ^[2] .

During the infancy of Prince Milan , in 1868-1872, Ristic was a member of the Regency Council; held the constitution of 1869 . In 1872-1873 he was prime minister and in 1876 he again took this place. He conducted an unsuccessful war with Turkey , led Serbian politics during the second war of 1877-1878, was the representative of Serbia at the Berlin Congress , where he achieved, deftly maneuvering between Russia and Austria , recognition of the independence of Serbia and the expansion of Serbian territory.

After the war, Ristic conducted a Russophile policy in Serbia. Due to a clash with Austria in 1880, he was forced to resign and clear the place of his offices. Since then, he has been in the assembly and in the periodical press the main representative of the Liberal Party, which, despite its name, was in fact conservative. In 1887, Ristic again stood at the head of the cabinet, which this time included some representatives of the radical party (Gruich).

In 1889-1893 Ristic was again a member of the regency council. As before, in the post of minister, so now he has found willingness to act despotically, not embarrassed by existing laws. In 1892, the regents quite arbitrarily resigned to the radical cabinet, which had a majority in the assembly and enjoyed tremendous confidence among the people, and replaced it with the liberal cabinet of Jovan Avvakumovich , who began to roughly replace officials and appoint their henchmen. The coup d'etat, carried out in 1893 by the young king Alexander with the support of the radicals, actually ended the career of Ristic, who since then lived mainly abroad.

Ristic wrote a lot in German and Serbian. Of his separately published works, the most important are:

• “Kurze Charakteristik des geistigen und sit t lichen Zustandes von Serbien” (Heidelberg, 1851),

  "Die neuere Litteratur der Serben" (B., 1852)

and in Serbian:

• “External Relations of Serbia 1848-58” (Belgrade, 1887),

  The Regency of 1868–72 (1894),

  "The Last Year of the Foreign Policy of Prince Michael" (1895),

  “The Diplomatic History of Serbia” (1896).

• Gale Stokes. Politics as Development: The Emergence of Political Parties in Nineteenth Century Serbia. - Durham : Duke University Press, 1990 .-- 416 p. - ISBN 978-0-8223-1016-7 . (eng.)

• Ristic, Iowan // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.