Stevan Šupljikac

Stevan Šupljikac (; 1786 – 15 December 1848), known simply as Vojvoda Šupljikac was a Serbian voivode and the first voivode of the Serbian Vojvodina.

Life He was born in Petrinja, in 1786. He had a brother Jovan who was also a fighter, and a sister Anka who later married Gabriel Miletić.

He entered the Austrian army in 1805, subsequently becoming a general. Between 1806 and 1814 he was officer of the Imperial French army. During the Russian Campaign of 1812, he was awarded with the Légion d'honneur. In 1814, he again served as officer in the Austrian army, as a commander of the Ogulin regiment at Banat and Lika. He then was brigade commander under Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, after which he was awarded with the Great Cross of the Iron Crown. In 1848 he took part in the suppression of Italian rebels in the Unification of Italy.

As part of the Revolutions of 1848, the Serbs under Austria-Hungary demanded what they had in the previous century; recognition of Serbian as official language, equality of the Orthodox church as with Catholics, and annual church assembly gatherings. They met at Sremski Karlovci and Novi Sad. Knićanin was elected military commander. In June and July a large wave of volunteers from the Principality entered Vojvodina, Knićanin arrived at 25 July.

Hungarians were not friendly to the Serbs at this time, but support came from Vienna – the new emperor Franz Joseph approved the establishment of the Serbian Vojvodina, with Šupljikac as Duke. He became the supreme military commander of the Serbian national troops on 6 October. He died on 15 December, at Pančevo, he was buried in the Krušedol Monastery.

Aftermath and legacy