Serbophilia

History

20th century

World War I

During World War I, Serbophilia was present in western countries.

Breakup of Yugoslavia

Political scientist Sabrina P. Ramet writes that Serbophilia in France during the 1990s was "traditional", partly as a response to the closeness between Germany and Croatia. Business ties continued during the war and fostered a desire for economic normalization.

Serbophiles

• Jacob Grimm — German philologist, jurist and mythologist. Learnt Serbian in order to read Serbian epic poetry.
• Archibald Reiss — German-Swiss publicist, chemist, forensic scientist, a professor at the University of Lausanne.
• Victor Hugo — French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. Hugo wrote the speech Pour la Serbie.
• Alphonse de Lamartine — French author, poet, and statesman.
• Helen of Anjou — French noblewoman who became queen consort of the Serbian Kingdom.
• Mircea I and Vlad III Dracula
• Several notable composers used motifs from Serbian folk music and composed works inspired by Serbian history or culture, such as:
  • Johannes Brahms— German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period.
  • Franz Liszt — Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, and organist of the Romantic era.
  • Arthur Rubinstein — Polish-American classical pianist.
  • Antonín Dvořák — Czech composer, one of the first to achieve worldwide recognition.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky — Russian composer of the Romantic period (See Serbo-Russian March).
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov — Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five (See Fantasy on Serbian Themes).
  • Franz Schubert — Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
  • Hans Huber — Swiss composer. Between 1894 and 1918, he composed five operas.
• Rebecca West (1892–1983) — British travel writer. Was described by American media as having a pro-Serbian stance.
• Flora Sandes — British Irish volunteer in World War I.
• Ruth Mitchell — American volunteer in the Chetniks, World War II. Sister of Billy Mitchell.
• Richard Grenell — American diplomat, public official, and Trump administration official.
• Robert De Niro — American actor
• Johnny Depp — American actor and musician
• John Challis — English actor best known for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the BBC Television sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003) and its sequel/spin-off The Green Green Grass (2005–2009)
• Peter Handke — Austrian novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize winner. Supported Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars.
• Eduard Limonov — Russian writer and poet.
• Ángel Pulido — Spanish physician, publicist and politician, who stood out as prominent philosephardite during the Restoration
• Essad Pasha Toptani — Ottoman Albanian politician.
• Anna Dandolo— Venetian noblewoman who became Queen of Serbia.
• Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic — Polish poet and historian of the Baroque era.
• Adam Jerzy Czartoryski — Polish nobleman, statesman, diplomat and author.
• Pavel Jozef Šafárik — Slovakian philologist, poet, literary historian, historian and ethnographer in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was one of the first scientific Slavistics.
• Ján Kollár — Slovakian writer (mainly poet), archaeologist, scientist, politician, and main ideologist of Pan-Slavism.
• Ľudovít Štúr — Slovakian revolutionary politician and writer.
• Henry Bax-Ironside — British diplomat.
• Eleftherios Venizelos — Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement.
• Dimitrios Karatasos — Greek armatolos who participated in the Greek War of Independence, and several other rebellions, seeking to liberate his native Greek Macedonia.
• Herbert Vivian — British journalist and author of Servia: The Poor Man's Paradise and The Servian Tragedy: With Some Impressions of Macedonia.
• Alexander Kolchak — Imperial Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer.
• Yu Hua — Chinese author.
• František Zach — Czech soldier and military theorist.
• Viktor Orbán - Prime Minister of Hungary.{{cite web |access-date=21 December 2025 |access-date=21 December 2025

Gallery

File:Chain of Friendship cartoon.jpg|"A Threatening Situation", a comic published in the American newspaper the Brooklyn Eagle in July 1914 File:Gallipoli4.jpg|Departure for Serbia File:Kosovo day.jpg|WWI poster - Kosovo Day, June 28, 1916, published in solidarity with the Serb allies File:Save Serbia poster 1915.jpg|WWI poster - Save Serbia (1915) File:Boardman Robinson WWI poster 1.jpg|American poster of the Serbian Relief Fund, organised by Mabel Grouitch, asking for donations to help Serbia on the brink of famine.

References

Sources

• Sells, David (1997). Serb 'Demons' Strike Back (Royal Institute of International Affairs) Vol. 53, No. 2

References

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5. (2017). "Yugoslavia and Macedonia Before Tito: Between Repression and Integration". Bloomsbury Publishing.
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8. Ion Pătroiu. (1987). "Marele Mircea Voievod". Editura Academiei Repubvlicii Socialiste România.
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17. "Nisu svi kao Anđa". NOVOSTI.
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