Andrija Zmajević

Andrija Zmajević
Bust of Andrija Zmajević
Born	1628
Died	7 September 1694
Nationality	Venetian
Occupation	theologian and poet

Andrija Zmajević (1628-7 September 1694) was a Serbian-Venetian Baroque poet who wrote in his native Serbian language, the Archbishop of Antivari, and a theologian.

Zmajević was born in Perast, in the Bay of Kotor, at the time part of the Republic of Venice (now Montenegro) in late July 1628. The Zmajević family hailed from Njeguši; when the last members of the Crnojević family left Principality of Zeta, Nikola Zmajević and his cousins Ivaniš and Vučeta moved to Kotor. Becoming appealed and somewhat wealthy, the family quickly converted from Serbian Orthodoxy in favor of Roman Catholicism, with the three marrying Catholic girls and having their children baptized in the Latin Rite. Andrija's father was Nikola Milutin Zmajević. After Andrija's birth in 1628, soon came Andrija's brothers, Ivan and Krsto. Krsto Zmajević would become a very famous person, on more than one occasion as the Captain of Perast. Andrija remained very akin towards his family origin throughout his life.

The Franciscans held an elementary school since 1638 in the private home of the Mazarović family. After attending this poor school for a short time, Andrija moved to Kotor to earn some better education. As the first man of the Congregation for Propaganda of Faith he travels to Rome to their Institution "Urbino", where he earned a PhD in Philosophy and Theology. Andrija quickly rose to prominence in Rome. In July 1651 at the request of Jeronim Pastrić of Split, he was accepted into the Brotherhood of Saint Geronimo along with eight other young priests, all of whom come from Dalmatia. Andrija begins his literal career there, as a student. When the ex-Swedish Queen Christine moved to Rome and paid an honorary visit to the College for Propagation of the Faith, Andrija was one of the 42 young students that dedicated poems and speeches to her in 26 different languages.