Lecture by Nikolaj Velimirović at the Zagreb Celebration of Njegoš

Abstract

The work deals with Zagreb celebration of the centenary of birth of the “apostle of the Yugoslav idea” Petar II Petrović Njegoš, the famous poet who was Montenegrin head of state and church, held on March 1, 1914 and the emphasis is on the lecture “Njegošev nacionalizam” (“Njegoš’s nationalism”). The speech for the occasion was prepared by Nikolaj Velimirović, a young hieromonk (soon to be a bishop) already respected in and outside of Serbia, especially for his oratory. Attention is devoted to the problems surrounding the arrival of that “famous Yugoslav preacher” at the gathering, also the book Besede pod gorom (Sermons under the Mountain) and other writings of Nikolaj. On the basis of the newspapers of that time it is shown that Nikolaj was prevented by the police from coming to the capital of Croatia (then part of Austria-Hungary), but his speech was still read and was very well received by the audience. “Njegošev nacionalizam” is probably the first work in which Velimirović devotes some considerable space to “Yugoslavism”. In the whole tirade he praises the author of Gorski vijenac (The Mountain Wreath), especially his nationalism (and/or patriotism). According to Nikolaj, Njegoš’s nationalism is the most perfect, most beautiful and most likeable form of nationalism. He did not present arguments that the nationalism of Njegoš, J. Ruskin and F. M. Dostoevsky is nationalism sub specie aeternitatis, nor that atheistic nationalism lacks depth and beauty. In the lecture presented to the Zagreb audience, Croatia, Croats, and even Serbs from Croatia, are not mentioned. On the other hand, the Netherlands is mentioned several times, so it seems as if the speech was prepared for an audience in Amsterdam. Throughout this paper, the author presents information about the life and work of the most important Serbian religious thinker, who has not been sufficiently studied by Croatian academic community. Apart from that, he offers remarks about Yugoslavism before the Great War, which also appears in a text of Blagoje (soon to be a hieromonk Justin) Popović, the most important pupil of Nikolaj; and warns against factual and other errors in writings about Velimirović.