Monument to the “Montenegrin Pushkin” was proposed to be installed at the cathedral in St. Petersburg

The Montenegrin community of Russia took the initiative to install in St. Petersburg a memorial bust to the Metropolitan, ruler and poet Peter II Petrovich Njegos (1813-1851). This was reported by RIA Novosti community member, graduate student of SPbU Mirko Kaludzherovich. The initiative was announced in Moscow at an international conference dedicated to Njegos Memorial Day.

Note that Njegosha is sometimes called “Montenegrin Pushkin”. This later literary comparison is due to his role as one of the greatest poets of Serbian and Montenegrin literature, as well as his interest in the work of Alexander Pushkin. Njegos was a fan of the Russian poet, visited his grave in Svyatogorsk Monastery in 1837 and opened the collection “Mirror of Serbia” with a poetic dedication “The Shadow of Alexander Pushkin”.

Representatives of the community proposed to place the bust on the territory of the Transfiguration Cathedral. According to the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in 1833, during a visit to Russia, Negosh was ordained bishop.

“We consider it important to perpetuate the memory of Njegos in St. Petersburg, the city with which he was connected by a special spiritual thread,” Kaludzherovich said.

According to him, the installation of the bust would be a step towards strengthening friendly relations between the Russian, Serbian and Montenegrin peoples.

According to Kaludzherovich, the community in the near future plans to send an appeal to the authorities of St. Petersburg on behalf of the Serbian Orthodox Church. At the time of publication, there was no evidence that the letter had already been sent or received by the city authorities.