Draft:Maksim Baćović

Maksim Baćović (Serbian Cyrillic: Максим Баћовић; Klenak, 1850 - Gluhoj Smokvi, 6 January (according to the Julian calendar) 1876) was a Montenegrin-Herzegovina duke, son of Jovan Baćović. He is best remembered as a hero of the Herzegovina uprising (1875–1877).

Youth
Maksim was born in Klenk in Herzegovina (in the part known today as Old Herzegovina on the territory of Montenegro). He began his education in the Kosierevo monastery, which was not only a spiritual, but also a cultural and political center at the time. He finished primary school in Cetinje at the expense of the state of Montenegro, and on the recommendation of Prince Nikola and Duke Petar Vukotić, whose favorite he was. According to Lazar Ćuković, Maksim stayed with him during his education in Risno.

Military career
He was a scribe and associate of his uncle, Duke of Banjani Simo Baćović. He was appointed duke in Banjani in 1872 by order of Prince Nikola and became one of the youngest Montenegrin-Herzegovinian dukes.

In 1873, together with Bogdan Zimonjić and others, he started the Herzegovinian uprising. He was an intermediary between Prince Nikola and the Herzegovinian champions. He negotiated with the Turkish pashas in Mostar and Sarajevo and played an important role with the skirmishes in Bileća.

During the Nevesinska puška, Maksim proved to be extremely brave. He participated in many battles such as: on Mosk near Trebinje, Glavski dol, Popovo polje, village of Muratovica in the region of Piva. He was a leader of Banjani and Rudine during the uprising actions in Bijeljani, Korićki grad, Gack, Zvijerina. As a member of the Main General Staff, he was tasked with preventing the advance of Turkish forces on the road from Trebinje to Dubrovnik. During the uprising, he collaborated with Duke Peko Pavlović. He was an advocate of the unification of Montenegro and Herzegovina.

He died in the battle between Radovan džrijela and Gluhoj Smokvi, which was also written about by numerous European newspapers of the time. The funeral procession went from Dubrovnik, through Konavalo, Sutorina, Herceg Novi and Risno to Grahovo, where he was buried. His remains and the monument were transferred to his birthplace in 1970.

Maksim Baćović was sung in many songs, and Đura Jakšić dedicated to him a painting depicting his death. He was awarded the most important Montenegrin decorations.

The voice of a Montenegrin about Duke Maksim
At the beginning of 1876, Glas Crnogorca published articles about the death and burial of Duke Maksim Baćović. It is reported that he was hit in the heart by a bullet. Brave comrades took his body out of the battlefield and carried it to Dubrovnik, where his body was embalmed on Wednesday 14/26. He was buried in Banjani in January. The patriotic people of Dubrovnik paid him the highest honours. Thousands of people attended the funeral. The body was taken to Sutorina and Topla, where there was an appropriate military funeral. Then the body was taken by sea to Risan. According to that report, Maksim died at the age of 26. He is described as a handsome male image, tall, large, with a broad and developed chest. He cut the Turks with his own sword. His father Jovan was killed in the war in 1862 and Maksim became duke at the age of 11. The body of the deceased lay in the Church of the Holy Annunciation in Dubrovnik. An uncountable number of people followed the deceased, regardless of class or religion. The reporter from Kotor particularly caught the eye of the large and unusual participation of women from Dubrovnik. That work of the people of Dubrovnik proved to the world that one thought rules our entire nation - humanity.

Lazar Ćuković about Duke Maksim
Lazar Tomanović, traveling with Lazar Ćuković to the Kosijerevo monastery in 1885, saw two old churches in Grahovsko polje, St. Đurđa and another for which he is not sure if it is dedicated to St. Nicholas, in the big cemetery. Next to the church, he saw a beautiful tall tomb of Duke Jakov Daković and next to it a similar tomb of Duke Jovan Baćović and Duke Maksim Baćović, father and son. When he heard that Maxim's grave was there, he stopped his horse and his eyes filled with tears. He regretted that in that cemetery young Duke Maksim had to rot underground in the prime of his youth. He mentally addressed the dead man, saying to himself, where is he now to see Montenegro expanded and respected in the world, to see the master in Nikšić and Podgorica, to see the Montenegrin sea. He died on the Radovan Gorge. Since their companion Đoko Miljanić was a witness to the battle in which Maksim was killed, he told them about that event. The bullet struck him in the heart, and at that moment Duke Peko asked him: Did you die, Maksim? And he laughed and fell dead at that moment. Lazar Ćuković added a few words at the funeral, in which he was one of the attendees. Maksim Baćović's remains were truly honoured at the funeral. After Dubrovnik and Herceg Novi, he was transported by sea to Risan, where 12 Serbian Orthodox priests solemnly received his casket and prayed for his heavenly life. From there, he was escorted to Grahovo, where his body was buried.