History of Freemasonry in Serbia
The path of enlightenment, brotherhood, and humanity through the centuries on the soil of Serbia.
1. The Pre-Masonic Period
The first indirect traces of the formation of Masonic Lodges in Belgrade date to the memoirs of writers from the late eighteenth century. Although there is no direct archival material, it is known that at the end of that century, a lodge existed in Belgrade, which probably operated in Turkish and whose members included the pasha of the then-Belgrade Pashaluk, Haji Mustafa Pasha, Metropolitan Methodius, the Serbian revolutionary leader Janko Katić, the merchant Petar Ičko, as well as the Greek poet and patriot Riga of Fere. The relationship between the Serbs and the Turks in this Lodge, the name of which has unfortunately not come down to us, is well illustrated by the fact that contemporary sources called Hadži Mustafa Pasha the “Serbian mother.” The Turkish deylar, rebels against the Sultan, took power in the Belgrade Pashaluk in 1801 and killed Hadži Mustafa Pasha. Petar Ičko went to Zemun, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, with the intention of avenging the pasha’s murder and organizing the struggle for the liberation of the Serbian people. To this end, he sought help from his friends, the Freemasons, and above all from Metropolitan Stratimirović, who, as a Mason Brother, provided him with diplomatic support for resolving the Christian question in the Belgrade Pashaluk. Peter Ičko also connected with the Freemasons Aleksa Nenadović and Janko Katić, as well as with Karađorđe Petrović, who was not a Mason, in order to organize an armed rebellion in the pashalik. The Dahies learned of the preparations for the uprising, and in 1803, this led to a reprisal in which Brother Aleksa Nenadović was killed. However, the violence only intensified the struggle against the Turks and led to the uprising, or as some historians call it, the Serbian Revolution of 1804. Thanks to his Freemasons connections, Petar Ičko played an exceptional negotiating role, and was later appointed the first mayor of a free Belgrade by the leader of the uprising, Karađorđe. Dositej Obradović, who was probably initiated in Trieste, also played a significant role in working for the benefit of the Serbian people and their liberation. Although Dositej Obradović held strongly anticlérical views, Metropolitan Stratimirović received him with all honors in Sremski Karlovci. The defeat of the 1813 uprising caused Masonic activity to die out until the mid-nineteenth century.Around 1848, there was another Lodge in the Belgrade Fortress whose members were both Turks and Serbs. The name of that lodge was “Ali Koč,” and its member was the poet Simo Milutinović Sarajlija.Some historians, particularly historians of Freemasonry, believe that Prince Mihailo Obrenović was a Freemason. During his exile from Serbia, the prince maintained regular contact and had close relationships with Garibaldi and Mazzini, both of whom were Freemasons. In support of this, it is a fact that the creation of the first purely Serbian Lodges was under the direct influence of Italian Freemasons. During the Serbian Uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875. the secretariat of the leader of the uprising, Luke Vukalović, and the brothers Jovan and Mihajlo Zega, were initiated under the direct influence of Italian Garibaldians, and specifically Giuseppe Mazzini, the ideologue of the Risorgimento, the movement for the unification of Italy and the overthrow of Austro-Hungarian rule. – the Hungarian authorities. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1876, there was a military Lodge in Belgrade, whose name has not been preserved in the documents, and with the departure of the volunteers, among whom were Italians, the first Serbian Lodge, “Light of the Balkans,” was formed that same year. It operated under the protection of the Grand Orient of Italy, and its founders were the Italian consul in Belgrade, Luigi Joanini, and Icilio de la Bona, one of the volunteers who had also been the master of the disbanded military lodge. Mićo Ljubibratić, Garibaldi’s personal friend, and the Zega brothers were members of that Lodge. Also under the protection of the Grand Orient of Italy was the “Serbian Cooperative” Lodge, founded in 1881, which existed for only two years and whose members included Dr. Laza Paču, then just a physician and two decades later a successful finance minister. Like the “Light of the Balkans,” the lodge was dormant in 1883 due to the Timochian Uprising and the turbulent political upheavals that also affected the Serbian Freemasons of that time. That same year, again under the influence of the Grand Orient of Italy, the “Sloga, Rad i Postojanstvo” Lodge was formed, which was mainly composed of former members of the “Svetlost Balkana” and “Srpska Zadruga”. Dissatisfied with the support of the Grand Orient of Italy, in 1890, some members of the “Sloga, Rad i Postojanstvo” Lodge formed the “Pobratim” Lodge under the protection of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary. Among its founders were also the then-uninitiated professor of the Great School, Andra Đorđević, who was admitted through an extraordinary procedure in Pest; industrialist Đorđe Vajfert; lawyer Tihomir Đorđević; and composer Stevan Mokranjac. The founders, who were then members of the “Sloga Rad i Postojanstvo” Lodge, were Đorđe Milovanović, Svetomir Nikolajević, and Maksa Antonijević.The founding of the “Nemanja” Lodge in Niš in 1892 was initiated in the “Pobratim” Lodge through the calculated admission and relatively rapid advancement of a few Brothers, who then requested regular discharge and formed the Lodge. The Niš Lodge also worked under the protection of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary.2. Normalization of relations with the world
The May Coup, or the assassination of King Alexander Obrenović and his wife Draga Mašin, still today raises historical questions about the involvement of Freemasons in it. Although there is no reliable evidence that Dragutin Dimitrijević – Apis was a member of any Freemasons lodge, the German intelligence service, in particular, tried to prove his Masonic affiliation until the end of World War II. What can be stated with certainty is that the future King Peter Karađorđević was initiated during his stay in France under the name Petar Mrkonjić, which he also used in the Herzegovina Uprising of 1875. The conspirators contacted him through his school friend Nikola Hadži Toma, an industrialist and a member of the “Pobratim” Lodge, and offered him the crown. Meanwhile, Đorđe Vajfert gave the conspirators a contribution of fifty thousand dinars for the families of the conspirators who would be killed in the coup. In addition to them, four other members of the “Pobratim” Lodge participated in the conspiracy, but based on available data, it can be said that they did so as individuals, Serbs dissatisfied with the socio-political situation in the Serbia of the time. The reaction of the European, and especially the British, political public and the London court to the assassination of the king of the Obrenović dynasty was more than unfavorable to Serbia’s new government. A crucial role in softening the British court’s stance toward the new government in Serbia was played by the MP in Rome, Milovan Milovanović, who had initiated the move in Italy and whose connections with Italian Freemasons opened many official doors for him. During 1904 and the following year, 1905. the attitude of European public opinion toward Serbia was softened and relations were normalized. A crucial step toward the complete independence of Freemasons in Serbia and the creation of a Grand Lodge was the stance of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary during the so-called Annexation Crisis. Since 1906, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been involved in a dispute with Serbia over Bosnia. was hatching plans to annex Bosnia. Milovan Milovanović, a former envoy in Rome and at the time Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, obtained confirmation of this intention as early as 1908 through his Masonic connections, and the Masons also informed the Serbian government of the exact date the decision would be announced. However, the official Belgrade did not believe this, and the Young Turk revolution and Turkey’s weakened position in Bosnia only convinced Vienna not to allow any democratization or elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Serb population was then in the majority and which would surely have voted for union with its motherland. In Belgrade, on October 7, 1908, according to historical sources, a suicidal mood prevailed. The people were ready to oppose Austria even with bare hands. At that moment, carried away by national ideals, the Serbian Freemasons first requested help from the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary, under whose protection the only active lodge, “Pobratim,” operated. However, this help was refused on the grounds that it was a political matter and that interfering in it was contrary to Masonic principles. The reaction to this stance of the Hungarian Grand Lodge was the conclusions of the “Pobratim” Lodge, adopted at its meeting on October 10, 1908. These resolutions were:* That the True and Perfect Freemasons’ Lodge “Pobratim” be torn from under the hitherto protection of the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary.* That the Lodge “Pobratim” be declared an independent Freemasons’ workshop in Serbia.* That this proclamation be reported to all the great Masonic lights in the world.* That from now on, the lodge will act independently and directly in all matters, and* That immediate contact be established with independent lodges in Germany and that they be asked to take over its administration. Such a radical break with the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary also provided a favorable ground for the formation of the “Ujedinjenje” Lodge, which was established in 1909 under the protection of the Grand Orient of France. A number of members of the “Pobratim” Lodge received their discharge and formed a new Lodge, much to the delight of the then French ambassador to Belgrade, Leon Decaux, who also became a member. The most active in promoting the work of the new Lodge was its Master, Vasa Jovanović. The “Pobratim” Lodge provided full support for the work of the new workshop, from which, later on, and this is particularly interesting, a number of members, as civilians, joined the organization “Unification or Death,” better known as the “Black Hand.” The “Pobratim” Lodge was also the mother lodge for the “Šumadija” Lodge, which was founded in April and solemnly consecrated on July 7, 1910. Although “Šumadija” was then under the protection of the Hamburg Grand Lodge, it collaborated extensively and coordinated its work with the “Pobratim” Lodge. Regardless of the fact that “Pobratim” was the only workshop not under the protection of any Grand Lodge and was declared an independent workshop with the support of the Grand Lodge of Romania, the joint work, the planning of activities and cooperation between these two Lodges demonstrated the specific approach of Serbian Masons toward Freemasons and the turbulent economic and political conditions in the world during the early years of the century.As we have noted, the “Pobratim” Lodge was not under the protection of any foreign Grand Lodge, and at that time, there was no supreme authority of the Freemasons’ organization in Serbia. However, immediately after the decisions of October 1908 and the separation from the protection of the Grand Lodge of Hungary, the Brothers gathered in “Pobratim” took all measures to obtain protection for independent work. To this end, under the protection of the Grand Lodge of Romania, a Chapter, an organization for higher degrees based on the Scottish Rite, was founded in 1909. This was after certain members of “Pobratima” had received these degrees from the Romanian Supreme Council. Given that the Chapter was formed in March, and the Lodge was formed in February “Unification,” it is evident that the Serbian Freemasons sought, through the establishment of institutions and bodies of the Scottish Rite system, and by establishing a minimum of three Lodges, to achieve the complete independence of the Rite and the formation of an independent Grand Lodge of Serbia. At that time, immediately before the Balkan Wars, it is interesting that in addition to the Supreme Council of Romania, the Grand Orient of Turkey also offered assistance in the final independence of Freemasons in Serbia in 1910. However, in early 1911, the Freemasons of Serbia decided that the Grand Masonic authority to secure their final independence would be the Supreme Council of Greece. Although there were three Lodges in Serbia at the time – “Pobratim,” “Ujedinjenje” and “Šumadija,” the strong connection of “Ujedinjenje” with the Grand Orient of France prompted the Serbian Masons to revive their work, or rather to reactivate the Lodge “Sloga, Rad i Postojanstvo.” This was done in mid-February 1912. the Lodge “Sloga, Rad i Postojanstvo” was raised to the 33rd degree by the special delegate of the Supreme Council of Greece, Brother Cefalas, with the full consent of the Grand Orient of Italy, under whose protection the Lodge was originally founded in 1883. The Grand Italian Masonic authority was in full agreement that the Lodge be placed under the protection of the Supreme Council of Serbia, for whose founding its reactivation had taken place.Finally, on May 9, 1912, the special delegate of the Supreme Council of Greece, Brother Cefalas, by the power of his Masonic authority, raised to the 33rd degree George Wajfert, Svetomir Nikolajević, Jovan Aleksić, Miloš Perišić, Dimitrije Janković, Petar Šrepalović, Manojlo Klidis, Petar Pačić, Dimitrije Mijalković, and Pavle Horstig. On the same day, at a joint meeting of the “Pobratim” and “Šumadija” Lodges, a decision was made that the “Pobratim” Lodge, which until then had operated as an independent workshop, would from then on operate under the protection of the Supreme Council of Serbia, and that the “Šumadija” Lodge would request to be released from the protection of the Grand Lodge of Hamburg and place itself under the protection of the Serbian Supreme Council. The next day, at the second solemn session of the newly formed Supreme Council, the Greek patent for the formation of the Supreme Council of Serbia was read, and Đorđe Vajfert was elected as the most powerful Sovereign Grand Commander and Grand Master of the Supreme Council of Serbia. At the third solemn work held on May 11, the other Grand Officers were also elected. Final recognition of the independence of the Serbian Masons who had received the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite followed at the International Conference of the Allied Supreme Councils of the Scottish Rite, held in October 1912 in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. From that moment on, all Lodges in Serbia, except for the Lodge “Ujedinjenje,” which remained under the protection of the Grand Orient of France, operated under the protection of the Supreme Council of Serbia.
3. The Golden Age
The outbreak of the Balkan Wars and World War II meant that Freemasons had to first fulfill their obligations to the state, leading to a decline in organized Freemasonry until 1918.The formation of the Kingdom of SHS also led to the need to reorganize Freemasonry from the former territories of Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. On June 9, 1919, an extraordinary assembly of all Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian Lodges was held in Zagreb. Since all the Lodges had received their dispensations from the appropriate authorities, both those that were under the Obedience of the Supreme Council of Serbia and those that were under the Obedience of the Grand Symbolic Lodge of Hungary, these workshops proclaimed the Grand Lodge of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes – “Jugoslavija,” whose seat is located in Belgrade. The first Grand Master was the governor of the National Bank, Đorđe Vajfert, while his deputies were Dr. Adolf Mihalić from Zagreb and Professor Sveta Stojković from Belgrade. Historical sources state that at the beginning of its existence, the Grand Lodge of Yugoslavia had about 300 members. In 1926, the Grand Lodge of Yugoslavia hosted the International Masonic Congress – “In the Sign of Peace” – in Belgrade. Under the auspices of the International Masonic Association, fifty-six representatives from twenty national Obediences in fifteen European countries, as well as representatives of two overseas Obediences, attended the congress.Between the two world wars, Freemasonry in Yugoslavia was composed of the elite from all social classes, regardless of religion. Its membership included high-ranking Orthodox clergy, Catholic priests, and rabbis. Several charitable institutions were created: in Belgrade, an orphanage and an educational center for children from southern Serbia, the “Sveti Sava Geselschaft,” was established. An institution for deaf and mute children, “King Dečanski,” was opened. The “Saint George” foundation was formed to help children and war invalids. In Zemun, a Home for the Blind and an Educational Center for Youth were established. A relief effort for the unemployed was organized under the name “The Loaf of Bread.” Unions were created to combat begging, tuberculosis, and similar issues.In the mid-1930s, there were about a thousand members of the Obedience working in over twenty Lodges. The activities of the workshops, in addition to philosophical work, also expanded to include the study of historical, economic, social, and societal problems.However, the pressure from Nazi Germany on Yugoslavia was so strong that the Freemasons concluded that the Yugoslav authorities would ban and dissolve Freemasonry in the then Kingdom. Recognizing the inevitability of a new world conflict and understanding the attitude the then-authorities would have toward Freemasons, the Grand Lodge of Yugoslavia, in order to preempt a ban, made a decision on June 22, 1940, to suspend its activities, or, in Masonic terminology, to go into a state of suspended animation.
4. Period of darkness
Due to the war’s devastation and subsequent political circumstances, the work of the lodges was frozen. Freemasonry survived in the underground or in the hearts of individuals, waiting for a more favorable moment to “re-light” the light. Attempts to reactivate Freemasonry on the territory of Yugoslavia after World War II were unsuccessful. Finally, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was an opening to the ideas of Freemasonry in the Eastern European bloc, creating the conditions for its renewal.
5. Restoration and the Present Day
Attempts to reactivate Freemasonry in Yugoslavia after World War II were unsuccessful. Finally, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was an opening to the ideas of Freemasonry in the Eastern European bloc, creating the conditions for its revival.In late 1989 and early 1990, several Brothers of Yugoslav descent came up with the idea of reestablishing the Grand Lodge in the then-SFRJ. On June 23, 1990, Freemasonry was awakened in the territory of the then-Yugoslavia, which, despite adversity, continues to this day. Today, in the 6019th year of true light, the Grand National Lodge of Serbia has more than 500 Brothers, who diligently and quietly work on hewing their own rough stone and incorporating it into the temple of humanity, in the Glory of the Great Architect of the Universe.
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