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HONOR and HEROISM
Marko Miljanov Popovich
(The Examples of) HONOR and HEROISM
Translated, Edited, and Commented by V. Alexander Stefan
Stefan University Press Series on the Greats of the World
(The Examples of) HONOR and HEROISM
Translated, Edited, and Commented by V. Alexander Stefan
Stefan University Press Series on the Greats of the World
318 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 26, 2016
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November 30, 2025
I would give this 3 stars for just the original work translated, but the translator added so much extra fluff that made me hold off on finishing the book for 3 months. I think 30% of this book was just translator notes and unrequested philosophizing.
Note to any translators reading this, no one is buying the book for your thoughts, we just want the work of the original author. Add a foreword, by all means, but don’t go page for page with the work you’re translating.
A few things to note for potential readers, some things in this book are categorized as Serbian or Montenegrin or Ottoman which would not be accurate today. For instance, at the time of the book’s writing, ethnic and religious separations of identity in the Balkans were not as established compared to today and as such, many times an individual who was Christian would be considered Montenegrin or Serbian and an individual who was Muslim would be considered Ottoman, regardless of the ethnicity or family history. Additionally, if someone was of mixed ethnicity or religion, their identity would be based off of their father’s ethnicity or religion, solely.
A few of the tribes mentioned in this book are referred to as Montenegrin, however, tribes like the Piperi and Kuci of the Malësia region are Albanian in origin and went through a process of slavicization over time. Similarly, there were also some regions listed as Montenegrin or Serbian, such as the village of “Vuksanlekići,” which are not. “Vuksanlekići” is known as “Vuksanlekaj” by the locals and is my father’s village. It is also around a 30 minute drive from the author’s village of Medun. Everyone from Vuksanlekaj are Catholic Albanians of the Hoti tribe and their history is that of the highland tribes resisting the Ottomans and the Montenegrins for independence. The Malësia tribes all used to be on the Albanian side of the border, along with Ulcinj (Ulqin), however, the lines were redrawn in Montenegro’s favor after the Balkan wars, shortly before WWI. For primary source reading on this topic, I suggest the English author Edith Durham.
A prime example of the above would be the original author, Marko Miljanov Popović, known as Mark Milani to the Albanians, himself. He was born into the slavicized Kuci tribe on his father’s side; his mother was Albanian; when visiting the people of Ulcinj, Marko spoke to the locals in Albanian and explained that it was the language spoken by his family at home; and he personally identified as a “Serb.” He is an interesting example of chosen identity among a multiethnic multi-religious border area. I think many Americans could relate to him since they too “originally” may come from mixed and foreign origins that they no longer identify with.
Another similar figure is Rizo Šurla of Ulcinj, an Afro-Albanian WWII anti-fascist fighter who descended from enslaved Africans that were captured by pirates and brought to Montenegro during the 1700s. He and his community spoke Albanian and identified as Albanians, though they knew their ethnic origins. There are videos of Rizo being interviewed and saying as such. My mother and her family knew him growing up in Ulcinj, as he was the town’s only photographer, and she said he was very well respected and liked in the community.
Note to any translators reading this, no one is buying the book for your thoughts, we just want the work of the original author. Add a foreword, by all means, but don’t go page for page with the work you’re translating.
A few things to note for potential readers, some things in this book are categorized as Serbian or Montenegrin or Ottoman which would not be accurate today. For instance, at the time of the book’s writing, ethnic and religious separations of identity in the Balkans were not as established compared to today and as such, many times an individual who was Christian would be considered Montenegrin or Serbian and an individual who was Muslim would be considered Ottoman, regardless of the ethnicity or family history. Additionally, if someone was of mixed ethnicity or religion, their identity would be based off of their father’s ethnicity or religion, solely.
A few of the tribes mentioned in this book are referred to as Montenegrin, however, tribes like the Piperi and Kuci of the Malësia region are Albanian in origin and went through a process of slavicization over time. Similarly, there were also some regions listed as Montenegrin or Serbian, such as the village of “Vuksanlekići,” which are not. “Vuksanlekići” is known as “Vuksanlekaj” by the locals and is my father’s village. It is also around a 30 minute drive from the author’s village of Medun. Everyone from Vuksanlekaj are Catholic Albanians of the Hoti tribe and their history is that of the highland tribes resisting the Ottomans and the Montenegrins for independence. The Malësia tribes all used to be on the Albanian side of the border, along with Ulcinj (Ulqin), however, the lines were redrawn in Montenegro’s favor after the Balkan wars, shortly before WWI. For primary source reading on this topic, I suggest the English author Edith Durham.
A prime example of the above would be the original author, Marko Miljanov Popović, known as Mark Milani to the Albanians, himself. He was born into the slavicized Kuci tribe on his father’s side; his mother was Albanian; when visiting the people of Ulcinj, Marko spoke to the locals in Albanian and explained that it was the language spoken by his family at home; and he personally identified as a “Serb.” He is an interesting example of chosen identity among a multiethnic multi-religious border area. I think many Americans could relate to him since they too “originally” may come from mixed and foreign origins that they no longer identify with.
Another similar figure is Rizo Šurla of Ulcinj, an Afro-Albanian WWII anti-fascist fighter who descended from enslaved Africans that were captured by pirates and brought to Montenegro during the 1700s. He and his community spoke Albanian and identified as Albanians, though they knew their ethnic origins. There are videos of Rizo being interviewed and saying as such. My mother and her family knew him growing up in Ulcinj, as he was the town’s only photographer, and she said he was very well respected and liked in the community.
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