Stepa Stepanović | Origin of Street Names

Stepan Stepanović (1856 - 1929) was a Serbian voivode, one of the most illustrious military leaders in Serbia's extensive war history, a victor in six wars, and the recipient of 27 domestic and foreign decorations.

He was born and raised in Kumodraž, a village near the city at that time, now an urban settlement on the outskirts of Belgrade, where he also completed the first three grades of primary school. He attended the remaining grades in the gymnasium, which was then housed in the Captain Miša's Mansion, while working as a servant in affluent Belgrade families in his spare time.

Being an average student, after completing five grades of gymnasium, he abandoned further education there and enrolled in the Artillery School. After four years, he graduated from the school as a corporal, without suspecting that four decades later, through a series of significant historical circumstances, he would reach the highest rank in the Serbian army and become immortal in the memories of future generations.

Just a year after completing his education and having been promoted to sergeant in the meantime, Stepa Stepanović participated in the multi-year Serbian-Turkish wars (1876-1878), which ended triumphantly for Serbia with the liberation of the southern parts of the country and the restoration of Serbian independence at the Berlin Congress in 1878.

The years of peace following the establishment of the independent Principality of Serbia, during which Stepa, now a lieutenant, honed his theoretical knowledge at the Military Academy, were interrupted by the infamous Serbian-Bulgarian War (1885), from which Stepa emerged as a captain despite the defeat.

Even during brief peacetime conditions, Stepa Stepanović continuously built his military career, advancing his strategic and tactical knowledge, giving lectures, and working at the Ministry of War. He welcomed the May Coup (1903) as a colonel in the General Staff, not aligning himself with any of the warring factions and thus remaining unblemished.

The beginning of the 20th century brought not only a dramatic change in the ruling dynasty but also a series of unfortunate events for Serbia, which kept its army in constant readiness. Starting with the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1908) and the subsequent two Balkan Wars (1912-1913), through the Sarajevo assassination and the outbreak of the Great War (1914), to the tragic Albanian Golgotha (1915) and the breakthrough of the Salonika Front (1918) - Division General Stepa Stepanović played a crucial role in almost all military matters and actions.

However, the first Allied victories in the Great War, at Cer and Kolubara, as well as the decisive battles on the Salonika Front four years later, reverberated the farthest. Duke Stepa Stepanović, commanding his Second Army, was ranked among the greatest military strategists and commanders in the history of world warfare. He was decorated with honors for bravery from France, England, Russia, Italy, Greece, and Montenegro.

After the war and the unification, Duke Stepa served as the commander of the Second Army District in Sarajevo, but due to deteriorating health, he soon retired from military service and settled in Čačak, where he passed away in 1929. His forty-three-year career of warfare took its toll, and the great duke was buried in the cemetery in Čačak.

In addition to numerous monuments and schools, the name of Duke Stepa Stepanović is now carried by 159 streets in settlements across Serbia, and his birth and memorial house have been declared cultural monuments located in Kumodraž and Čačak.