Venijamin Taušanović | Origin of Street Names

Veniamin Taušanović (1884 - 1952) was a bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, serving as the long-time bishop of the Bihać, Zletovo-Strumica, and Braničevo eparchies. He was one of the most respected church dignitaries in the first half of the 20th century.

He was born in Pirot as Vladimir Ćirković, the son of a wealthy merchant, member of parliament, and president of the Pirot municipality, Vojin Ćirković. Just a few months after his birth, he lost his mother, and his uncle Kosta Taušanović, also a prominent politician and banker, took over his care. Veniamin adopted his uncle's surname and carried it throughout his life.

Growing up in Belgrade among the rich and powerful (his godfather at baptism was Nikola Pašić himself), young Vladimir had all the conditions to become one of them. However, after completing elementary school, he chose to attend a religious school and study Orthodox theology in Athens, where he earned his doctorate in 1912.

The following year, he became a monk at the Rakovica Monastery and took the name Veniamin. He was tonsured by the young monk and future Bishop of Žiča, Nikolaj Velimirović, just as several years later, Bishop Veniamin would tonsure the future Archimandrite and widely known spiritual writer Justin Popović.

During the Balkan Wars, Monk Veniamin served voluntarily as a medic and in 1915 shared the fate of the people during the exodus across Albania. On the island of Corfu, he served as a priest and teacher to Serbian refugees and children, for which he received multiple honors and awards.

From 1925, he held the title of bishop, first of the Bihać eparchy, then Zletovo-Strumica, and finally Braničevo, leading the latter for nearly two decades.

During the concordat crisis in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the late 1930s, and especially during the fratricidal Second World War, Bishop Veniamin Taušanović was one of the pillars of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He fiercely opposed the manipulation and various temptations to preserve the spirit of Saint Sava among the people. He strongly resisted the undermining of Orthodoxy in Serbia and attempts to tie the Church to specific political ideologies.

Although one of the most respected church dignitaries of his time, Bishop Veniamin was deemed unsuitable for the position of patriarch in the 1950 election due to his uncompromising stance regarding the church's reputation, as labeled by the communist authorities after the war.

As the bishop of Braničevo, he was instrumental in the construction of dozens of churches in the region, as well as the magnificent Episcopal Palace in Požarevac, undoubtedly the most beautiful building in the city.

Despite coming from a wealthy family, Bishop Veniamin distributed all his material inheritance during his lifetime to those in greater need.

Bishop Veniamin Taušanović passed away at the age of 68 in Belgrade and was laid to rest at the Cathedral Church of the Braničevo Eparchy in Požarevac. Symbolically, a street in this city now bears his name.