"He is far and away the best known, the most distinguished, and the most
respected diplomatist the Balkan Peninsula has yet produced."
--William Thomas Stead, British journalist, 1903
Serbian diplomat Čedomilj Mijatovic's autobiography The Memoirs of a
Balkan Diplomatist (1917) focuses mostly on the public side of his
career, and describes his experiences serving his country as diplomat
and Cabinet Minister from 1869 to 1908, witnessing the clash of Balkan
interests between Russia and Austria-Hungary, leading to the Crimean War
(1854-1856), the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and to the Balkan War
(1912-1913); but also on his role during the Serbian-Bulgarian War
(1885) and at the Bucharest and The Hague Peace Conferences. Throughout
his career, Mijatovic dedicated himself to building goodwill and support
for Serbia, in his many international negotiations, but especially in
Great Britain as Serbia's Ambassador in London, and later on in his
visits to the US and Canada.