Josif Rajačić

Josif Rajačić
Church	Serbian Orthodox Church
Metropolis	Sremski Karlovci
Enthroned	1848
Reign ended	1861
Predecessor	Stefan Stanković
Successor	Samuilo
Orders
Rank	Patriarch
Personal details
Born	20 July 1785 Lučani, Brinje
Died	1 December 1861 Sremski Karlovci
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox
Occupation	Administrator of Serbian Vojvodina

Josif Rajačić (July 20, 1785– December 1, 1861, Serbian Cyrillic: Јосиф Рајачић, also known as Josif Rajačić-Brinski) was a metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci, Serbian patriarch, administrator of Serbian Vojvodina and baron.

Life

Rajačić was born in Lučani, a former village near Brinje in Lika, Croatia, then Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied in Zagreb, Karlovci, Segedin and Vienna before dropping out to join the army in 1809 during the War of the Fifth Coalition. On April 10, 1810 he became a monk of the Serb Orthodox Church in Gomirje Monastery.

On June 24, 1829 he became the Eparch of Dalmatia. On July 5, 1833 he became the Eparch of Vršac. In August 1842, he was named the Metropolitan of Karlovci.

At the May Assembly of Serbs in Sremski Karlovci in 1848, from the balcony of the Sremski Karlovci town hall, he was appointed Patriarch of the Serbs, while Stevan Šupljikac was chosen as the first Duke (Voivode) of Serbian Vojvodina. Apart from being a spiritual leader, Rajačić also shared political and military leadership of Serbs at the time of war.

Proclamation of Serbian Vojvodina in 1848 in Sremski Karlovci - Josif Rajačić is central figure in this picture

He became administrator of Serbian Vojvodina, and was head of the new Serb government (praviteljstvo) of Vojvodina. Rajačić formed an alliance with the House of Habsburg so as to silence the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. After the Hungarians were defeated, Rajačić was nominated civil commissioner of Vojvodina by the Austrian Empire.

Rajačić assisted the educational development of the Serb people in the Austrian Empire. In the time when he was metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci, many new Serbian schools were opened. He also opened the Patriarchal Library and Print Works. Rajačić spent much of his energy attempting to bring Vojvodina under Serbian administration.

On 5 June 1848, on the day of Josip Jelačić's inauguration as Ban of Slavonia, Jelačić was appointed Ban in the Patriarch's presence due to Juraj Haulik's current absence from Zagreb.

See also

• Vojvodina
• Rulers of Vojvodina
• History of Vojvodina
• History of Serbia
• Serbian Orthodox Church

References

• Jovan Mirosavljević, Brevijar ulica Novog Sada 1745-2001, Novi Sad, 2002.
• Drago Njegovan, Prisajedinjenje Vojvodine Srbiji, Novi Sad, 2004.

Government offices
Preceded by Stevan Šupljikac as Duke	Commissioner of Serbian Vojvodina December 15, 1848 – 1849	Succeeded by Franz Joseph as Grand Duke
		Succeeded by Ferdinand Mayerhofer as Governor of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar
Orthodox Church titles
Vacant Title last held by Kalinik II as Patriarch of Serbs (Patriarch of Peć)	Patriarch of Serbs (Patriarchate of Karlovci) May 1, 1848 - December 13, 1861	Succeeded by Samuilo
Preceded by Stefan Stanković	Metropolitan of Karlovci 1842 - 1848	Raising to Patriarchate
Preceded by Maksim Manuilović	Bishop of Vršac 1833 - 1842	Succeeded by Stefan Popović
Preceded by Venedikt Kraljević	Bishop of Dalmatia 1829 - 1833	Succeeded by Pantelejmon Živković