A monument dedicated to Serb and Yugoslav revolutionary Gavrilo Princip, whose act of defiance against tyranny 110 years ago sparked the fall of an old order and brought hope and freedom to an oppressed people, has been unveiled in Foča.
The monument, placed on the square of a newly constructed residential-business complex in the heart of Foča, was unveiled by academic Matija Bećković and renowned director Emir Kusturica.
Sponsors Davor Lugojić and Marko Sarić from Belgrade, originally from Foča, fulfilled Lugojić’s decades-old vow to his late father by funding the monument.
- “I couldn’t help but admire a person who, with his bare fingers, etched the words ‘He who wants to live must die, and he who wants to die must live’ into bronze. While this idea of sacrifice seems unimaginable today, I believe the spirit of liberty shown by Gavrilo Princip and Mlada Bosna will endure,” Lugojić remarked.
Recalling Miloš Crnjanski’s words that Princip’s name symbolizes “an archangel and a principle,” Matija Bećković highlighted that Princip’s actions marked one of the greatest upheavals in European history.
- “As the world transforms, with some embracing fleeting trends and others tearing down monuments, here in Foča we are unveiling a statue of a young man who lived up to his name,” Bećković said. He noted the appropriateness of situating the statue in a town hosting 3,000 students across two faculties.
Serbian director Emir Kusturica emphasized that Princip was instrumental in altering the course of a century and liberating oppressed peoples.
- “Known for fighting against enslavement, the Serbian people owe their greatest achievement in this struggle to Princip. His courage set us on the path to freedom—a legacy we must strive to preserve,” Kusturica stated.
Beside the statue, a plaque was unveiled on a nearby building listing the names of the Vidovdan heroes, including Veljko and Vaso Čubrilović and the Bokonjić brothers. Dejan Bokonjić, a descendant and the dean of the Foča Medical Faculty, expressed pride in his ancestors’ role in this pivotal historical moment.
Plans are underway to transform the square into the Mlada Bosna Square, according to Foča’s mayor Milan Vukadinović.
- “It is a great honor to unveil this monument to our great revolutionary and freedom fighter. I am confident this area will soon bear the name Mlada Bosna Square,” said Vukadinović.
Source: See Srpska
