John V. A. Fine Jr. (born September 9, 1939) is an American historian and author. He isprofessor emeritus ofBalkan andByzantine history at theUniversity of Michigan and has written extensively on the subject.

He was born in 1939 and grew up inPrinceton,New Jersey, in a family ofeducators. His father,John Van Antwerp Fine Sr. (1903–1987), was Professor ofGreek History in theClassics Department ofPrinceton University, and his grandfather,John Burchard Fine, foundedPrinceton Preparatory Schools, while his granduncle,Henry Burchard Fine, was adean and professor of mathematics at the Princeton.^[1][2] His mother, Elizabeth Bunting Fine, was also a classicist and taughtLatin andGreek atMiss Fine’s School, founded by his grandaunt.^[1]

Fine Jr.'s undergraduate and graduate training was atHarvard University, where he studiedByzantium, theBalkans, and medievalRussia. He earned hisPh.D. from Harvard in 1968 and began teaching at theUniversity of Michigan in 1969.

MedievalistPaul Stephenson, lead professor at the School of History and Heritage,University of Lincoln, and a Fellow of theRoyal Historical Society, expressed high regard for Fine's work and compared him with the likes ofPaul M. Barford,Simon Franklin,Jonathan Shepard.^[3]

His academic interests range fromtheology and the history ofChristianity toByzantium andthe medieval and modern Balkans. His publications have become standard in the field, notably his surveys of theMedievalBalkans (1983 and 1987). In 1998, John V. A. Fine Jr. retired from Michigan, becoming aprofessor emeritus.^[4]

He has also revolutionized the way scholars understand theBosnian Church (first published in 1975; republished in England in 2006), showing that it was notheretical.

Fine has also contributed to the understanding ofBosnian history, working to correct popular misconceptions, especially during theBalkan wars of the 1990s. He co-authoredBosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed with former studentRobert J. Donia (1994), a work published in England, the US, and inBosnian translation in war-timeSarajevo (1995). He traveled to and lectured in the besieged cities ofSarajevo andMostar during the war.

In 2006, Fine published a study of notions ofethnicity inCroatia from the medieval period to the nineteenth century titledWhen Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans. In 2008,Emily Greble Balić, a professor of history atVanderbilt University, whose specialization is East European History, Minorities in Europe and Yugoslavia,^[5] gave a positive review stating that "(o)ne of the book's great strengths is Fine's analysis of premodern "ethnic" identity, which he convincingly demonstrates to have existed, though in different forms".^[6] In 2009, John K. Cox ofNorth Dakota State University reviewed it largely positively, noting some points of criticism.^[7] James P. Krokar ofDePaul University, 2009 review of the book was also positive, stating that the book is "extremely important" addition to "South Slavic history, and to the debate on the modernity of the nation."^[8] The same year,Neven Budak of theUniversity of Zagreb gave a mixed review, noting both some positive and negative aspects. On the negative side, Budak complained alleging "ideological prejudices" and "preconceived conclusions". He claimed that "the author did not prepare methodologically, nor did he become acquainted with the relevant works of non-Croatian authors", that Fine's approach to the topic "contrary to stated intentions - is traditionalist in its method, superficial and unreliable", alleging inappropriate "attitude towards Croats".^[9]

• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (2005).When Ethnicity did not Matter in the Balkans: A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.ISBN 0472025600.
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (2000). "The Slavic Saint Jerome: An Entertainment".Cultures and Nations of Central and Eastern Europe: Essays in Honor of Roman Szporluk. Cambridge, Massachusetts:Ukrainian Research Institute. pp. 101–112.ISBN 9780916458935.
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (2002). "The Various Faiths in the History of Bosnia: Middle Ages to the Present".Islam and Bosnia: Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy in Multi-Ethnic States. Montreal & Kingston:McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 3–23.ISBN 9780773524132.
• Donia, Robert J.;Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1994).Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed. New York:Columbia University Press.ISBN 9781850652120.
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1994) [1987].The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.ISBN 0472082604.
  • Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1987).The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1991) [1983].The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
  • Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1983).The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan:University of Michigan Press.ISBN 9780472100255.
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (2007) [1975].The Bosnian Church: Its Place in State and Society from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Century. London: Saqi Books.ISBN 9780863565038.
  • Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1975).The Bosnian Church: A New Interpretation: A Study of the Bosnian Church and Its Place in State and Society from the 13th to the 15th Centuries. Boulder: East European Quarterly.ISBN 9780914710035.

• History of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Dubravko Lovrenović
• Florin Curta
• Tibor Živković

• John Fine reviewsBosnia byNoel Malcolm.London Review of Books (28 April 1994).

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• John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. atOpen Library

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