Dragutin Dimitrijević

Dragutin Dimitrijević
Dimitrijević, circa 1900
Born	(1876-08-17)17 August 1876 Belgrade, Principality of Serbia
Died	24 June 1917(1917-06-24) (aged 40) Thessaloniki, Kingdom of Greece
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Nationality	Serbian

Dragutin Dimitrijević (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгутин Димитријевић; 17 August 1876 – 24 June 1917), known as Apis (Апис), was a Serbian colonel. He was a leading member of a military group that organized the overthrow of the Serbian government in 1903. He personally organized and participated in the coup against King Alexander and his wife Queen Draga that resulted in their murders, though he was not present when they were killed. He was also the leader of the Black Hand group responsible for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria in June 1914. The latter triggered the July Crisis which led to the outbreak of World War I.

Dragutin Dimitrijević was born in Belgrade, Principality of Serbia in the summer of 1876. Dimitrijević entered the Belgrade Military Academy in 1892 at age sixteen. A brilliant student, Dimitrijević was recruited into the General Staff of the Serbian Army immediately after his graduation.

Captain Dimitrijević and a group of junior officers planned the assassination of the king of Serbia. On 11 June 1903, the group stormed the royal palace and killed both King Alexander and his wife Queen Draga. During the attack Dimitrijević was badly wounded, and, although he eventually recovered, the three bullets from the encounter were never removed from his body.