Pavle Bošković (general)

Pavle Bošković was born on 11 August 1849 in Ruma.[1][2] He graduated from high school in Belgrade in 1865 and in the same year he enrolled the Artillery School of the Military Academy in Belgrade as a cadet.[1][2] In 1869 Bošković graduated from the Military Academy and immediately after that in January 1870 he was promoted to the rank of artillery lieutenant.[1][2] Until 1872 he served as an NCO in a Field battery, and from 1872 to 1873 as an artillery inspection.[1] In 1873 as a state cadet Bošković was sent to Prussia to take a course on how to improve in the quartermaster's service.[1] Upon his return to Serbia in 1875.[1] just before the start of the First Serbian-Turkish War he was on duty in the economic department of the Ministry of Defense.[1]

During both Serbian-Turkish wars, he became the assistant chief intendant.[1] From 1879 he was an assistant chief of the economic department of the Ministry of Defense.[1] He distinguished himself by his work on the reorganization of the army, so in cooperation with several other officers, the Law on the Military Academy was written in 1879, and a new Organization of the Army was published in 1883.[3] From 1881 to 1882 he was the first commander of a battery, and then of a division, and in the middle of 1882 he was appointed a member of the artillery committee.[3] He was promoted in 1882 to rank major. In 1883, he became the head of the uniform department of the Ministry of Defense.[1] During Serbo-Bulgarian War he was appointed head of the quartermaster's department at the Supreme[3] After the end of the war, he became the acting commander of the Danube Artillery Regiment in 1886.[3] He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1887.[2] He returned to the Central Military Administration in 1889, where he was first the head of the engineering and technical department.[3] He was appointed head of the economic department in 1891 at the Ministry of Defense.[3] He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1893.[1] He also served as a professor at the Military Academy on several occasions, from 1879 until 1881, from 1884 to 1887, from 1888 to 1889 and as its professor and dean from 1900 to 1901.[3] He was appointed in 1897 as the headmaster of the Military Administrative School.[3] He retired for the first time in 1898, but was reactivated in the summer of 1900.[3]

Most officers opposed the upcoming marriage of king Aleksandar Obrenović and Draga Mašin in July 1900, so the king invited the officers to a meeting.[4] At that meeting, the king told everyone of the invited officers that no one should interfere in his decision regarding who he'll choose to marry.[5] The silence that ensued was broken by Pavle Bosković with the exclamation, "Long live the King!" And only then did several other officers join in the congratulations.[5] After that, Pavle Bosković was promoted to rank of general.[3] From 1900 to 1901 he served as the dean of the Military Academy.[3] He retired for the second time in August 1901.[3] After the May Coup he was one of the prominent counter-conspirators.[6] He was a member of the "Society for the legal resolution of conspiracy issues", which was founded in October 1905.[6] He had two sons, who died in 1914 and 1915.[3] His daughter married to general Ljubomir Marić.[3]

Pavle Bošković died on 23 April 1923 in Belgrade.[3]