Prince Milos Obrenovic
1783-1860

He ruled Serbia from 1815 to 1839 and from 1858 to 1860. He was a great statesman and diplomat. He was one of the most deserving men of a good political status of Serbia in Europe. Milos surname was Teodorovic (by his father Teodor Mihajlovic). The surname “Obrenovic” was taken over from the family “Obrenovic”, coming from the village of Brusnica, in particular from his half-brothers Jakov and Milan, deriving from the first marriage of his mother with Obren Martinovic. In particular his half-brother Milan, who was a prominent duke, had a great reputation among the people. Next to him, Milos went through almost all the battles in the First Serbian Uprising. The administration and the defense of Uzice Nahia were entrusted to him.

After the failure of the uprising, Milos was the only prominent duke who remained in Serbia. He was given amnesty by the Turks and became Obor-Knez (senior chief) of the districts Rudnik, then Pozega and the nahia (administrative territorial entity) of Kragujevac.

On 23rd of April 1815 Milos stood at the helm of the Second Serbian Uprising, which has raised in Takovo. He has participated in major battles and personally led the negotiations with the Turks. Thus, on October 25th 1815 he entered into an oral agreement with Ali-Pasha about the mixed Serbo-Turkish Administration in the pashaluk (territory administered by the Pasha) Belgrade . The deal was arranged by a special decree, through which Serbia officially received several significant benefits.

Due to a persistent diplomacy and with a lot of political tact, Milos in 1830 received a special act, called Hatt-i Sharif, of the Sultan about partial internal self-government and free school. It was a priceless value for Milos when he got the dignity of a hereditary prince.

Although he was illiterate, Prince Milos well the felt needs of the new era. Thanks to him, Serbian young men started to get their education in Russia, Hungary, Austria and Germany. Following the Prince’s invitation, doctors, professors and engineers came to Serbia. The economy of the whole country improved by sending new residents into deserted areas and granting to them official tax breaks.

In 1835 he established the first Serbian constitution of the modern state, known as “Sretenjski Constitution”. The Constitution was quickly suspended because it did not correspond with the interests of the big empires Russia, Austria and Turkey. In place of it 1838 an act was passed, called “Turkish Constitution”. This Constitution established the Russian Council. With such a power sharing, Prince Milos on June 1st 1839 abdicated and left the country. He was succeeded by his difficult diseased older son Milan, who died a month later. So the throne went over to Milos’s younger son Mihailo.

Mihailo’s reign was short. Soon he was expelled by the Constitutionalists from the country. In his place from 1842 onwards Karadjordje`s son Aleksandar acceded to the Serbian throne until 1858.

After nineteen years of exile, Milos returned to Serbia and began his second short reign.

He died on September 26th 1860. He was buried in the Cathedral Church in Belgrade.