Serbia Currency 20 Serbian dinar banknote 2006
National Bank of Serbia - Народна банка Србије - Narodna banka Srbije
Obverse: Portrait of Petar Petrovic Njegoš, with a line sketch of the Cetinje Monastery on the right side.
Reverse: Figure of Petar II Petrovic Njegoš, detail from the decorative miniature featured on the first Slavic Octoechos, printed in Cetinje in 1494, mountain range of Komovi; Great Coat of Arms of the Republic of Serbia in the top left corner of the banknote, against green background.
Governor signature: Radovan Jelašić.
Dimensions: 64 x 135 mm.
Color: Green, ochre-yellow and discretly black.
In circulation from: July 18, 2006.
Serbia banknotes - Serbia paper money
2003-2014 Issue
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар II Петровић-Његош, 13 November [O.S. 1 November] 1813 – 31 October [O.S. 19 October] 1851) was a Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, poet and philosopher whose works are widely considered some of the most important in the history of Montenegrin and Serbian literature.
Njegoš was born in the village of Njeguši, near the town of Cetinje. He was educated at several Montenegrin monasteries, and became the country's spiritual and political leader following the death of his uncle Petar I. After eliminating all initial domestic opposition to his rule, he concentrated on uniting Montenegro's tribes and establishing a centralized state. He introduced regular taxation and implemented a series of new laws to replace those composed by his predecessor many years earlier. His taxation policies proved very unpopular with the Montenegrin tribes, and were the cause of several revolts during his lifetime. Njegoš's reign was also defined by constant political and military struggle with the Ottoman Empire, and his attempts to expand Montenegro's territory while gaining unconditional recognition from the Sublime Porte. He was a proponent of uniting and liberating the Serb people, willing to concede his princely rights in exchange for a union with Serbia. Although it did not occur during his lifetime, he laid the foundation for the unification of South Slavs and introduced modern political concepts to Montenegro.
Venerated as a poet and philosopher, Njegoš is well known for his epic poem The Mountain Wreath, which is considered a masterpiece of Serbian and South Slavic literature and the national epic of Montenegro, Serbia, and Yugoslavia. Njegoš was buried in a small chapel on Mount Lovćen, which was destroyed by the Austro-Hungarians during the First World War. His remains were moved to the Cetinje Monastery and then to the rebuilt chapel in 1925; the chapel was replaced by Ivan Meštrović's mausoleum in 1974, with the support of the Yugoslav government. Njegoš has remained influential in Montenegro and neighbouring countries. His works have influenced a variety of disparate groups, including Serbian, Montenegrin and South Slav nationalists, as well as monarchists and communists.