Who knows if anyone would have mentioned, let alone dedicated any of their work to the memory of the sacrifice of 14 distinguished teachers from Bjelopavli\u0107i, who 97 years ago paid with their lives for the defense of the Serbian language and Cyrillic script, if it weren’t for Nik\u0161i\u0107 professor of Serbian language Veselin Matovi\u0107. Matovi\u0107’s book “Cyrillic and Latinogorica” has just been published, between whose covers this event was found, as well as others from recent times that speak of the “chasing” of the Serbian language and script in Montenegro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there is no one more qualified to write about this, because in 2004 the professor and his wife Radmila and 24 other colleagues from Nik\u0161i\u0107 and one from Herceg Novi, lost their jobs when they stood up for the defense of the Serbian language and Cyrillic script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“After the introduction of military administration, the occupier, at the beginning of 1916, introduced special measures in Montenegro in education. It was ordered that the Latin alphabet be introduced into Montenegrin schools instead of the Cyrillic alphabet, and that heroic and patriotic songs and Serbian history be removed from the curricula. A group of teachers from Bjelopavli\u0107i, fourteen of them, resolutely opposed this by resigning from service, for which they were soon arrested and placed under military court,” says Professor Matovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The resignations they signed at the military command in Podgorica, on October 19, 1916, explained it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Cyrillic is the Serbian history-artery, the aorta of Serbian nationalism, and we are ready to be Serbian teachers and we will not be anational. To remain consistent with the call of a Serbian teacher in Montenegro, we are honored to inform the command that with this we are resigning from our current duty.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n