The Memoirs of a Balkan Diplomatist

“He is far and away the best known, the most distinguished, and the most respected diplomatist the Balkan Peninsula has yet produced.”

—William Thomas Stead, British journalist, 1903

Serbian diplomat Cedomilj Mijatovic’s autobiography The Memoirs of a Balkan Diplomatist (1917) focuses mostly on the public side of his career, and describes his experiences serving his country as diplomat and Cabinet Minister from 1869 to 1908, witnessing the clash of Balkan interests between Russia and Austria-Hungary, leading to the Crimean War (1854–1856), the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and to the Balkan War (1912–1913); but also on his role during the Serbian-Bulgarian War (1885) and at the Bucharest and The Hague Peace Conferences. Throughout his career, Mijatovic dedicated himself to building goodwill and support for Serbia, in his many international negotiations, but especially in Great Britain as Serbia’s Ambassador in London, and later on in his visits to the US and Canada.