Argentinos Serbios Српски Аргентинци Srpski Argentinci | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| ~5,000 of Serb ancestry (est.)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Buenos Aires,Chaco, andSanta Fe | |
| Languages | |
| Argentine Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| PredominatelyCatholicism, minorityEastern Orthodoxy (Serbian Orthodox Church) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Montenegrin Argentines,Croatian Argentines,Slovene Argentines,Bulgarian Argentines,Macedonian Argentines |
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| Serbs |
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Native Titular nation
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Related nations OtherSouth Slavs |
Serbian Argentines orSerb Argentines areArgentine citizens of ethnicSerb descent, mostly with partial or distant Serb ancestry, i.e. third- or fourth-generation of immigrants.
Serbs began to settle in South America in mid-19th century. These were primarily sailors from theBay of Kotor andDalmatia who sailed on ships under various flags. One of the sailors from the Bay of Kotor who settled in Argentina was Miloš Vukasović. In 1870, he opened the steamship company "La Platense" inBuenos Aires. Later, Vukasović was appointed honorary consul of thePrincipality of Montenegro in Argentina and was also the honorary president of the Slavic Mutual Aid Society, which was founded in 1880 in Buenos Aires by South Slavic emigrants, while the secretary of the society was his brother Božo Vukasović.
In the period up to 1908, among millions of people who immigrated to Argentina, there were 21 Serbs from theKingdom of Serbia, about 300 Serbs from thePrincipality of Montenegro, and as many as 500 Serbs fromAustria-Hungary. Among the prominent and older emigrants from Montenegro were the Radonjić family, which originated fromNjeguši. The Radonjićs came to Buenos Aires in 1870, and the first among them to establish themselves was Dušan Radonjić, who became a prominent businessman and director of the newspaper "El economista". He was the son-in-law ofMilan Stojadinović. Dušan Radonjić's son, Juan Radonjić, was a famous Argentine politician, and his daughter, Vanessa Radonjić, became the 1986 Miss Argentine. Among other notable immigrants, there was Dragomir Kostić the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church community in Argentina.
In 1886, the Argentine state awarded a Serb from Bay of Kotor, Jovo Vukasović, captain of the French ship "Minerva", a gold medal for his services. On this occasion, the Industrial Club organized a ceremony for him in the theater, where a eulogy was given by Dr. Moret. The Serbian tricolor fluttered in the local Slavic Reading Room. The poet Niko Abramović published a poem dedicated to Vukasović in a local newspaper.
In 1905, the Belgrade newspaper listed the then Serb millionaires in Argentina. Among them, M. Mihanović, a Serb from bay of Kotor, was a shipowner in Buenos Aires, and at the same time an honorary consul of Austria-Hungary. Marko Vukasović, a Serb from Dalmatia, was also a shipowner and his capital was estimated at 50 million dollars at the time. His large ocean-going ships maintained traffic between Argentina and Spain. Professor Rafajlović,Vojvodina native was a professor of classical philology at theUniversity of Buenos Aires.
After the World War II, certain members of the royalistChetnik movement fleeing political persecution by theCommunist regime ofJosip Broz Tito, settled in Argentina. Among them wasBlagoje Jovović who built a successful hotel business in Argentina and, in 1957 in Buenos Aires, carried out a notorious assassination attempt onAnte Pavelić, theCroatian fascistUstaše leader responsible for wartime atrocities against Serbs, shooting him twice and mortally wounding him. In recognition of his actions, a Belgrade street was named after him in 2020.[2]
In 2011, theSerbian Orthodox Eparchy of Buenos Aires and South America was established with its headquarters in Buenos Aires.
Approximately 5,000 Argentines of Serb descent live in Argentina, originating from the territories of today’sMontenegro (Bay of Kotor) andCroatia (Dalmatia), and, to a much lesser extent, fromSerbia andBosnia and Herzegovina.[1][3] They live mostly in the provincesBuenos Aires,Chaco, andSanta Fe.
The research on Serb diaspora in Argentina, conducted by Ethnographic Institute of theSerbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, had several conclusions. First, that this community is bounded to its ethnic origin, even though they are assimilated. Secondly, they consider themselves both as an integral part ofSerb people andArgentines, although they are frequently unable to clearly define their ethnic identity, and thus a great number of them use the term “our” to refer to their origin, language, culture, and community.[4] Thirdly, only a very small fraction of immigrant descendants useSerbian language.[5]
Some of homeland clubs, founded by first generations of immigrants in late 19th and early 20th century are still active and represent places where some of their descendants gather.[6] It is important to mention that Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Buenos Aires and South America also plays important role in this community, serving as their connection with the ethnic and cultural heritage.[7]
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