János Damjanich
János Damjanich Јован Дамјанић Jovan Damjanić | |
|---|---|
Damjanich as depicted by Vince Grimm | |
| Minister of War of the Hungarian State | |
| In office 28 April 1849 – 29 April 1849 | |
| Prime Minister | Bertalan Szemere |
| Preceded by | Lázár Mészáros |
| Succeeded by | Lázár Mészáros |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 December 1804 |
| Died | 6 October 1849 (aged 44) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Austrian Empire Hungarian Revolutionary Army |
| Years of service | 1820-1849 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Commands |
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| Battles/wars |
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János Damjanich (Serbian: Јован Дамјанић, romanized: Jovan Damjanić; 8 December 1804 – 6 October 1849) was an Austrian military officer who became general of the Hungarian Revolutionary Army in 1848. He is considered a national hero in Hungary.
Early life
Damjanich was born in Serbian family in Staza[1] in Croatian Military Frontier (now part of Sunja, Croatia). His father was a major in the Austrian Army.[2] His mother was a daughter of general Taborović.[3] His wife Emilija Čarnić was related to the Čarnojević family.[4]
According to Croatian sources, because Staza is mainly a Croatian village with little to no Serbian population, Damjanich was born into the Greek Catholic Church,[5] while others claim that he was Serbian Orthodox by birth.[6][7] Other sources claim that he was actually born in Straža, near Vršac, in the Banat Military Frontier. However, this is very unlikely, since there was no Damjanich family in Straža.[8]
Military career
Damjanich entered the army as an officer in the 61st regiment, and on the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was promoted to be a major in the 3rd Honvéd battalion[9] at Szeged. Although an Orthodox Serb, he was from the beginning a devoted adherent of the Hungarian liberals.[10]
His ability and valour at the battles of Alibunár (Serbian: Alibunar, German: Alisbrunn) and Temesőr (German: Lagerdorf, where, as a reprisal, almost the village's entire population was executed, along with their domestic animals)[11] in 1848 led to his promotion to colonel. At the beginning of the Hungarian revolutionary war, he ordered the execution of 200 young Serbs in Szeged, to intimidate the Serbian nationalists.[12][13] In early 1849, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Army Corps in the middle Tisza, and quickly gained the reputation of being the bravest man in the Hungarian army. In March 1849 he annihilated an Austrian brigade at Szolnok, which was perhaps his greatest exploit.[10]
He was elected deputy for Szolnok to the Diet of Hungary, but declined the honour. Damjanich played a leading role in the general advance upon the Hungarian capital of Buda under Artúr Görgey.[10]
The engagements of Hort and Hatvan, along with the bloody Isaszeg turned Damjanich into a national hero. At the ensuing review at Gödöllő, Lajos Kossuth expressed the sentiments of the whole nation when he doffed his hat as Damjanich's battalions passed by. Damjanich uncompromisingly supported the views of Kossuth, and was appointed commander of one of the three divisions which, under Görgey, liberated Vác in April 1849. His fame reached its height when, on April 19, he won the Battle of Nagysalló, which led to the relief of the fortress of Komárom.[10]
At this juncture Damjanich broke his leg, an accident which prevented him from taking part in field operations at the most critical period of the war, when the Hungarians had to abandon the capital for the second time. He recovered sufficiently, however, to accept the post of commandant of the fortress of Arad.[10]
After the Surrender at Világos (now Șiria, Romania), Damjanich, on being summoned to surrender, declared he would give up the fortress to a single company of Cossacks, but would defend it to the last drop of his blood against the whole Austrian army. He accordingly surrendered to the Russian general Dmitry Buturlin, by whom he was handed over to the Austrians and imprisoned.[10] During his prison time he converted to Roman Catholicism and had a Holy Confession.[14] He became one of the 13 Martyrs of Arad on 6 October 1849. Damjanich was last in the line to be executed because his enemies wanted him to watch hanging of his generals.[15] His famous last words were: I believed I would be the last, because I was always the first in battle. My poor Emily! Long live Hungary!
He was buried initially in Mácsa (present-day Macea, Romania), but his remains were reburied in 1974 at the Martyrs' Memorial in Arad. A cenotaph dedicated to him still exists in Macea.[16]
Legacy
Damjanich is a controversial historical figure. Hungarians consider Damjanich a national hero who led the Hungarian revolutionary army against the Habsburg Monarchy, while Serbs normally consider him a national traitor, who despite the fact that he was ethnic Serb by origin, fought on the Hungarian side against his own people, i.e. against the Vojvodinian Serb army that was on the side of the Habsburgs during the revolution. Therefore, the Serbs gave him a nickname "ljuta guja, srpski izdajica" ("furious snake, Serbian traitor"). The following Anti-Serb quote inciting Genocide of Serbs is accredited to him,
"Serbs shouldn't exist; I won't be still until the last Serb on this earth is dead and once that is done, I shall kill myself."[17][18][19]
Other sources say that Damjanich was actually proud of his Serb origin.[20]
References
- ^ Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950, 168. old.
- ^ "Damianich Janos (1804-1949) și Lahner Gyorgy (1795 – 1849) – Biblioteca Județeană "Alexandru D. Xenopol" Arad". 22 August 2022.
- ^ Ignjatović, Jakov (1953). Rapsodije. Matica Srpska. p. 206.
- ^ Gligorijević, Milo (1987). Izlazak Srba. Književne novine. p. 140. ISBN 9788639100476.
- ^ "Где је рођен Ј. Дамјанић, претеча Јована Дивјака". 29 March 2012.
- ^ "БАНИЈАЦ КОЈИ ЈЕ ДОБИО НАДИМАК "СРБОЖДЕР": Дамјанић је био православни Србин, али су га године службе и окружење учинили ватреним Мађаром". NOVOSTI.
- ^ "Где је рођен Ј. Дамјанић, претеча Јована Дивјака - Печат - Лист слободне Србије".
- ^ "Где је рођен Ј. Дамјанић, претеча Јована Дивјака - Печат - Лист слободне Србије".
- ^ Povesnica slobodne kraljeve varoši Vršca: sv. Novo doba (1848-1886). B. Jovanović. 1886. p. 27.
...Новембра 1. потпуковник Јован Дамјанић прими команду над вршачким логором. Он је довео са собом 3 компаније 3. хонведског батаљона и 370 народних гардиста на коњима заједно са 2 топа. Овом војском и још са 450 ...
- ^ a b c d e f One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Damjanich, János". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 789. This cites Ödön Hamvay, Life of János Damjanich (Hung.), (Budapest, 1904).
- ^ "Ко је био Јанош Дамјанић?". Учионица историје. 25 March 2012.
- ^ "Ко је био Јанош Дамјанић?", Учионица историје, 2012-03-25, retrieved 2025-11-24
- ^ "БАНИЈАЦ КОЈИ ЈЕ ДОБИО НАДИМАК "СРБОЖДЕР": Дамјанић је био православни Србин, али су га године службе и окружење учинили ватреним Мађаром", NOVOSTI, retrieved 2025-11-24
- ^ https://oktober6.kormany.hu/damjanich-janos-2016
- ^ Gligorijević, Milo (1987). Izlazak Srba. Književne novine. p. 214. ISBN 9788639100476.
- ^ "Semn memorial pentru Damjanich Janos (1804-1949) – Biblioteca Județeană "Alexandru D. Xenopol" Arad". 20 November 2020.
- ^ Tutorov, Milan (1995). Seva munja biće opet buna: istorika Zrenjanina i Banata. Gradska narod. biblioteka Žarko Zrenjanin. p. 353. ISBN 9788680051505.
... је омраза према својим сународницима и браћи била толика, да је у једној при- лици изјавио како ће убијати Србе док и последњег не буде убио, а онда ће убити и себе, јер ниједан Србин не треба да живи на кугли земаљској.
- ^ Kovačević, Duško M. (2006). Jakov Ignjatović: politička biografija : 1822-1889. Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva. p. 90. ISBN 9788617136152.
Пуковник Јован Дамјанић, за кога је Игњато- вић говорио да је у револуцији 1848-1849. "Србима код Мађара образ осветлао", био је врло суров према Србима. Дамјанићу се приписује да је изговорио речи: "Да могу да искореним ...
- ^ Žebeljan, Petar (11 August 2015). Jednom u Perlezu i Ždralovi nad Perlezom. Media Art Content Ltd, Novi Sad, Serbia. p. 93. ISBN 978-86-6397-037-3.
Među pogubljenima je bio i mađarski nacionalni junak, pomađareni Srbin Jovan Janoš Damjanić, koji je još početkom 1848. govorio: "Da mogu da iskorenim Race, pa da sebe, kao poslednjeg Raca ubijem!"
- ^ Krestić, Vasilije (1983). Srbi i Mađari u revoluciji 1848-1849. godine. Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti. p. 150.