Mihailo Dožić

Mihailo (, ; born Milovan Dožić; 15 November 18489 June 1914) was a Serbian Orthodox hierodeacon and archimandrite, who established an insurgent battalion in Potarje (in Montenegro) to fight against Ottoman Empire in the region. Having been sent in 1866 to the Dobrilovina Monastery, Dožić made the monastery the centre of the spiritual and political life and aspirations for freedom in the wide area of Potarje, and organized an insurgent battalion in the Potarje region active between 1875 and 1878 (during the Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–1878).

Life He belonged to the Medenica brotherhood of Donja (Lower) Morača. He was one of the sons of Mijat Dožić, who had fought against the Kolašin Turks (Ottomans). The monastery is located on the left Tara river banks, in a region known as Potarje, at the beginning of the Tara River Canyon, Dožić also having established a school that was operated secretly in the monastery, the first school in the valley of Tara — this was a very significant step towards national awakening in this region and surrounding regions. The school was temporarily moved to the nearby cave at times of Ottoman attacks. Dožić organized an insurgent battalion in the region, active between 1875 and 1878 (during the Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78) and Serb–Ottoman War (1876–78)). The Ottomans had the monastery abandoned and quarters burned in 1877.

He became a hegumen of the Morača Monastery in 1879. He then served as archimandrite of the Morača Monastery. He sent his fraternal nephew Gavrilo Dožić, who had studied under his wing at Morača, to Belgrade to study in the gymnasium; Gavrilo would later serve as the 51st Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1938–1950).

He had the bridge over the Morača river built in ca. 1900.

Ancestry