Figure 1.-- The portrait here is coded "Krakj Milan Obrenovic sa Sinom Aleksandrom" (figure 1). Those are Serb names. Surely the individuals here are father and son. So it is likely the boy's name is Sinom Aleksandrom Obrenovic. The father's surname was not added on the back because the writer saw it as obvious.

We do not yet have many images of individual Serbian boys . We will load information here as we acquire it.

Father and Son (1900s)

The portrait here is coded "Krakj Milan Obrenovic sa Sinom Aleksandrom" (figure 1). Those are Serb names. We are confused, however, by the two different names. A reader writes, "Bit of guesswork here. 'Sa' main mean 'and'. Sinom Aleksandrom (Simon Alexander) seem to be the boy's first two names. It is perfectly possible they are father and son but they did not repear the the father's surname when they wrote the boy's name." Surely the individuals here are father and son. The father is dressed like a successful Austrian would have dressed at the time. Note the bowler hat, cane, and gloves. Surely the sailor suit was also a popular Austrian style for boys. The boy's sailor suit, however, is a little different than what we might have expected. Note the small, slightly rounded collar. We suspect that the suit might have been made locally by someone not experienced in making sailor suits. Also note the long polka-dot bow, something else we would be unlikely to see in Austria. Note the boy's dark, wide-brimmed hat ad very long, wide streamers. he portrait is undated, but we would suspect was taken in the 1900s, probably the early 1900s. Nor do we know where in Serbia the portrait was taken. Belgrade is a strong possibility.

Serbian Boy: Palace Guard Uniform (1910s)

Here we see a an unidentified Serbian boy in what appears to be a palace guard uniform. We do not if he was a boy associated with the court, or if it is more of a play uniform. The portrait is undated. We woul guess it was just before World war I, but it could have been just after the War.

Gavrilo Princip

The Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 28, 1914, their 14th wedding anniversary, by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. Gavrilo was a 19-year old teeager committed to the Young Bosnia Movement. As he was considered the least reliable, he was given a pistol rather than a bomb. The assasintion was to launch World War I. As Princip was a minor, he could not be executed under Austrian law and was instead sentenced to prison. He died a terrible death in prison, but the war he had helped launch though an act of terrorism had the desired effect. The great multi-ethnic empire empires were dismantled. Most were broken up into small states based on specific nationalities. As Pricipio had wanted, Serbia was expanded to include many Slavic populated areas of the Astro-Hungarian Empire and called Yugoslavia.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main Serbian page]
[Return to the Main European country page]
[Australia] [Austria] [Belgium] [England] [France] [Germany] [Ireland] [Italy] [Japan] [Korea] [Mexico] [New Zealand] [Scotland] [United States]

Created: 10:08 PM 9/6/2006
Last updated: 10:08 PM 9/6/2006