Avram Cemović
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Avram Cemović nicknamed Avro (1864–1914)[1] was a member of notable Serb family Cemović from Vasojevići who is best known as one of the commanders of rebels against Ottoman Empire in the Lower Vasojevići region and military officer in the Army of Montenegro during the First Balkan War.
Avram Cemović | |
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Native name | Аврам Цемовић |
Nickname(s) | Avro |
Born | 1864 Buče, Berane, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Montenegro) |
Died | 1914 |
Allegiance | Montenegro |
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Commands held |
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Cemović was born in 1864 in a notable Cemović family. His father was Panto Cemov Delević, one of the leaders of the Vasojevići clan. Cemović was leader of Serb rebels against Ottomans in the region of Berane. Because of his anti-Ottoman activities Cemović was persecuted by the Ottomans who did not allow him and several other rebel leaders to return to Berane after two years spent as refugee in Montenegro. In October 1912 he commanded Serb rebel detachments of Lower Vasojevići that captured Berane from Ottomans during the First Balkan War. He was appointed commander of the Berane brigade and promoted to the rank of Brigadier. After initial engagement of Cemović and his brigade in actions during the capture of Rožaje from Ottomans he was appointed as governor of towns Plav and Gusinje captured from Ottomans by Montenegrin army. In 1914 Cemović entered in conflict with King Nikola. According to some sources he was pretender to Montenegrin throne so King Nikola had him murdered.[citation needed]
His role in the events of forced conversions and mass killings in Plav-Gusinje in 1912-13 have been the subject of heavy criticism of Montenegrin politics in WWI. The President of Montenegro Filip Vujanović made one of the first direct acknowledgments of the events by a Montenegrin politician during a ceremony in Berane in 2013 when he declared that "the crimes performed in Plav and Gusinje are the dark side of the Montenegrin history".[2]