Novica Cerović

Novica Cerović (Serbian Cyrillic: Новица Цepoвић; 1805-1895) was a Montenegrin knez (duke) of the Drobnjak clan, who is noted as having defeated and killed a local Ottoman tyrant, Smail-aga Čengić, on the auspices of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro. He later became senator in the Montenegrin government.

Life

Cerović was born in Tušina, a village near Šavnik in the Drobnjaci, then part of the Ottoman Empire (today in Montenegro). His most noted act was leading a successful assault to kill local Muslim tyrant Smail-aga Čengić under the auspices of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš thereby freeing parts of Herzegovina from the Ottoman Empire and joining them to the Principality of Montenegro.

Legacy

His heroism and the death of Smail-aga Čengić was the theme of Ivan Mažuranić's poem Smrt Smail-age Čengića, an epic poem celebrating the struggle for freedom.

Some of the Cerović family later moved to Serbia, some going north, near to the city of Pljevlja and changed their family name to "Lalović" to disguise from Turks, migrated to Konjic, Hercegovina, more so the village of Brdjani, and changed their last name to Zelenovic to also protect from the Turks. Those who moved to east Bosnia changed their last name to Droca.

There is a tower in Tušina named after him (the Tower of Duke Novica Cerović).