Jovan Oliver

Jovan Oliver (Greek Ἰωάννης ὁ Λιβερος Ioannes o libero, * 1310, † 1356) was a Serbian nobleman and military leader of Emperor Stefan Dušan.

His father probably belonged to the gentry of Serbia and was Grčin, the name may rejects a Greek origin. Some sources have Oliver to a Greek father and a Serbian mother. Jovan Oliver was married to Anna Maria and had seven children with her.

It is not known how he had managed to climb up to the Serbian nobility, but it is believed because of his military achievements. He distinguished himself particularly in the conquest of Macedonia and Thessaly. By Stefan Dušan he received a fief in today's Macedonia. Jovan Oliver seems to have already possessed an important position to 1342, when he. Together with Jug Nemanjić in the negotiations Stefan Dušan ' with John VI had participated. Together with jug he led the Serbian army on the side of John VI. against Serres. When Stefan Dušan was crowned emperor in 1346, Oliver was raised to the status despot and thus belonged to the highest aristocracy, with the right to mint its own coins. This was Jovan Oliver is undoubtedly one of the most powerful princes of the empire. He died in 1356, shortly after the death of Stefan Dušan. The cause of his death, and why his Gütter were between the later co-ruler Vukašin and the Sebastocrator Dejan, the father of Constantine Dragaš, divided, though Oliver had six sons, is historically not known. Maybe he had supported the party of Simeon Uroš, whose defeat falls in the same year.

Historically in memory remained Jovan Oliver mainly by its foundation of the monastery Lesnovo in today's Macedonia.

• Despot (Serbia )
• Born in 1310
• Died in 1356
• Man