Đorđe Genčić | Origin of Street Names

Đorđe Genčić (1861 - 1938) was a prominent Serbian politician and industrialist, but also one of the most controversial figures in recent Serbian history, mainly remembered as the ideologist behind the bloody conspiracy that ended the Obrenović dynasty.

Paradoxically, Đorđe Genčić was born into the esteemed and wealthy family of "ardent Obrenović supporters" during their sovereign rule over Serbia in the second half of the 19th century.

He was born in the village of Veliki Izvor, near Zaječar, where he completed both primary and secondary school. He was then sent to Belgrade and later to Vienna to study economics.

In Vienna, he met the charismatic Russian General Mikhail Chernyayev, one of the commanders of the Serbian army during the Serbo-Turkish wars. Under Chernyayev's influence, he abandoned his economics studies and enrolled in the Russian military academy, eventually reaching the rank of captain.

However, neither economics nor a military career proved to be sufficiently inspiring for the young Genčić. At the age of 28, he decided to pursue politics, returning to Serbia and becoming the youngest parliamentarian in the history of Serbian parliamentary system up until that time.

As a representative of the second generation of politicians in his family, Đorđe Genčić built his name and reputation as the consul of Serbia in Thessaloniki, later as the mayor of Niš, and as a philanthropist and an intellectual with gentlemanly manners.

By becoming the Minister of Internal Affairs (Police), he became close to King Milan and later to his son Alexander. However, the young king's autocratic nature, manifested in his uncompromising intention to marry a commoner rather than a noblewoman, made Genčić openly oppose Aleksandar Obrenović as his greatest adversary.

Believing it to be of vital national interest for the Serbian court to strengthen ties with powerful European courts through the king's marriage to a German princess, Genčić found it unacceptable for a "common," and in the eyes of many, compromised woman from the people - Draga Mašin - to ascend to the Serbian throne.

Due to his open opposition to the king's intentions and public insults directed at the new queen, Genčić was sentenced to 7 years in prison. However, he was granted clemency after less than a year of incarceration. Upon his release, Genčić did not give up. On the contrary, he gathered a group of young and dissatisfied officers and like-minded individuals, led by Colonel Apis, and initiated a strictly illegal campaign, namely a conspiracy to overthrow King Aleksandar Obrenović from the throne.

It cannot be stated whether Genčić initially planned the assassination of the ruling couple or merely the king's abdication in favor of the rival Karađorđević dynasty. However, a series of circumstances that unfolded made him the de facto main executioner of the Obrenovićs in the eyes of history.

After the May Coup and the change of ruling dynasty, Genčić briefly served as the Minister of Economy in the Kingdom of Serbia but soon withdrew from political life. With mistrust towards the new dynasty, which he ideologically despised himself, he was marked as a traitor and decided to retreat from the public eye.

He spent the rest of his life engaged in mining and writing, with two unsuccessful attempts to return to politics. He assisted individuals and national associations, preferring to remain unexposed.

He died alone in his house on Krunska Street, where the Nikola Tesla Museum is now located.

Remaining in the shadow of the bloody conspiracy against the Obrenovićs until the end of his life, Đorđe Genčić remained an unpopular figure in Serbian history. Nevertheless, today streets in his native village of Veliki Izvor and in the suburb of Niš, Suvodolu, bear his name.