Dejan

Who is Dejan?

Dejan was a Serbian magnate who served Emperor Stefan Dušan as despot, and Emperor Uroš V as sevastokrator. He was married to Emperor Dušan's sister Teodora, and possessed a large province in the Kumanovo region, east of Skopska Crna Gora. It initially included the old župe of Žegligovo and Preševo. Uroš V later gave Dejan the Upper Struma river with Velbužd. Dejan built the Zemen Monastery, among others, and reconstructed several church buildings throughout his province.

Dejan was one of the prominent figures of Dušan's reign and during the fall of the Serbian Empire after Dušan's death. Dejan is the progenitor of the Dejanović noble family, with his two sons, despot Jovan and gospodin Konstantin, also becoming powerful during the fall of the Serbian Empire and the ensuing Ottoman period.