KARAGEORGE (c. 1766-1817), Serbian revolutionary leader and founder of the Serb dynasty of KarageorgeviC, was born in 1766 or 1788, the son of a peasant of the name of Petrini. His own name, "Black George," was derived from his swarthy complexion and morose disposition : he signed himself indifferently in the Turkish or Serb versions as Kara George Petrovic or Georg PetroviC Cerai. After an apprenticeship with a Turkish brigand named Fazli-Bey, he settled down on a farm ; but having killed a Turk, fled to the Austrian military frontier, where he served two years as forest guard to a monastery, then enlisting in a frontier regiment. He served as sergeant in the Austrian war against Turkey (1788-91), then deserted and returned to Serbia, settling in Topola as a dealer in cattle and swine. At the same time he took part in irregular "haiduk" warfare against the Turks, and so distinguished himself that when the Serbs rayah rose against the janissaries in 1804, a meeting of the various insurgent leaders at OraAac in Feb.—March 1804 elected Karageorge supreme leader.
For the story of the subsequent wars see SERBIA : History. Karageorge's chief part was that of military leader, as which he displayed real practical and strategical genius combined with dauntless personal courage, so that his mere appearance was said to suffice to turn defeat into victory for the Serbs. The diplomatic negotiations were largely conducted by others ; but it is remark able with what tenacity Karageorge, perhaps influenced by his past experience, begged Austria to proclaim a protectorate over Serbia. At first, too, he maintained his loyalty to the sultan against the latter's rebellious janissaries; only later, relying on Russian promises, did he aim at complete independence for Serbia. His troops had repeatedly defeated the Turks, and cleared Serbia of them; and in 1808, when the Serb leaders suspected that Russia was attempting to gain an excessive influence in Serbia, they determined "to honour Karageorge so that the Rus sians too should respect him," and on Dec. 26, 1808 the National Council (Soviet) swore "to recognize Karageorge Petrovie and his lawful descendants as rulers," while he swore to care for the people as a father, and to issue his commands through and in agreement with the Soviet.
In the following years Karageorge maintained his reputation as a soldier; but his position and autocratic methods aroused the jealousy of the rival voivodes, which was fostered by the Russian agent, Rodofinikin. When the Treaty of Bucharest (1812) freed Turkey's hands, and she advanced in 1813 against the Serbs, Kara george was sick of typhus. The unsupported Serb forces were defeated, and Karageorge took refuge in Hungary (Sept. 20, 1813). He was interned in Graz and later settled in Hotin (Bes sarabia) on a pension provided by the tsar. In the summer of 1817, he reappeared suddenly and alone, near Surederevo, ap parently with the object of organizing a general Balkan rising in conjunction with the Greek Hetairia. The new Serbian leader, Milog Obrenovie I. (q.v.) reported his presence to the pasha of Belgrade, who demanded Karageorge's surrender, alive or dead. Karageorge was murdered in his sleep, and his head sent to Con stantinople. From this act the responsibility for which, has not, however, been absolutely brought home to Obrenovi6, sprang the feud between the rival dynasties, which distracted Serbia for a century.
Karageorge was feared rather than loved. His temper was morose and choleric, and he punished the slightest transgression by death. He is believed to have killed his own father in a fit of anger when the old man refused to follow him in his flight to Hungary at the beginning of his career. He hanged his brother for rape, and forbade his mother to go into mourning for him. Even by his admirers he is admitted to have killed by his own hand no fewer than 125 men who provoked his anger. Yet he was a military genius of the very highest order, a man of unsurpassed energy and valour, and the true founder of Serbian independence; and even in civilian matters, if his hand was heavy, he was just and even magnanimous.
See SERBIA; also Ranke, Die serbische Revolution: M. G. Militye vich, Karadyordye (Belgrade, 1904) ; S. Novakovic, Vaskzhs srpske drzhave (Belgrade, 1904) ; Die Wiedergeburt des Serbischen Stuates (Serajevo, 1912).