Portal:Serbia/Selected bio/February

Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар II Петровић-Његош) was a Serbian Orthodox Prince-Bishop (Serbian: Владика or Vladika) of Montenegro and a ruler who transformed Montenegro from a theocracy into a secular state. However, he is most famous as a poet and is considered by many to be among the greatest poets of the Serbian language. The first notable writer from Montenegro, his notable works include The Mountain Wreath (Serbian: Горски вијенац or Gorski vijenac), the Light of Microcosm (Луча микрокозма or Luča mikrokozma), the Serbian Mirror (Огледало српско or Ogledalo srpsko), and False Tsar Stephen the Little (Лажни цар Шћепан Мали or Lažni car Šćepan Mali).

Njegoš spent his early years in Njeguši. In 1825, when his uncle Prince-Bishop Peter I sent him to the monastery of Cetinje as his successor to be tutored by a monk, Misail Cvetković and the Prince-Bishop's secretary, Jakoov Cek. He wrote his first poems there, which he used to entertain the local chiefs and monks. The most famous of them were satirical. In the middle of the year, Radivoje was dispatched to the Topla monastery near Herceg Novi, where he was taught Italian, mathematics, ecclesiastical singing, the Psalter and another subject at the monastery's hieromonk, Josip Tropović. He often attended the ecclesiastical services in the nearby Savina monastery, dedicated to Saint Sava.