Novica Radović

Who was Novica Radović?

Novica Radović was a Montenegrin politician.

Radović took part in 1919's Christmas Uprising with the Zelenaši, an armed rebellion opposed to Montenegro's unification with Serbia in 1918. With the uprising's defeat he escaped to Albania and later to Italy where he joined the self-styled Montenegrin Army in exile, becoming its HQ's Intelligence supervisor.

He return to what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1925, eventually moving to Belgrade. There he was charged with crimes against the state and sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment. After serving nine years of the sentence, he was released, acquitted in 1934 after the assassination of King Alexander in Marseilles which ended the dictatorship. Upon freedom he entered the kingdom's politics as a member of the Montenegrin Federalist Party, becoming its chief ideologue. His standard beliefs were that Montenegro was the true leader of Serbs, and not Serbia, criticizing the Belgrade regime and Yugoslavia, supporting restoration of Montenegrin sovereignty.

In 1941, Montenegro was reestablished as the protectorate of Fascist Italy. During this time Radović acted as political adviser to Krsto Zrnov Popović. In 1945, Radović was executed by the Yugoslav Partisans under charges of Axis collaboration.