General in three armies

[Daffy Duck]

I would kindly ask for help.

On those those two pictures we can see Anto Gvozdenović, general in Russian, Montenegro and French army, and the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Montenegro. 

I would like to know if any of you can help me to identify his decorations. He was grandfather of my father's wife. One of the stars is a Order of Danilo. The order around the neck is Order of St Vladimir. And that's all I can do with certainty.

I can't even identify one of the uniforms.

[Trooper_D]

In the second photo, the medal first from the left, a Vladimir with swords? The second from the left looks like the Order of Danilo 5th Class but surely that can't be right for someone of his status, can it? I wonder if the star, bottom right, is the Italian Order of the Crown.

This enlargement of the first photo might help someone in identifying some of the medals.

[Daffy Duck]

Many thanks Trooper_D

Yes, you are right. He is wearing Order of Danilo V class, as well as Order of Danilo I class set, which is one of three breast stars on the second picture. The other should be of Italian order of the Crown.

Third medal could be French LH, and the last Montenegro Medal of Obilić.

On the first picture, I can't even identify the ribbon sash he is wearing

Edited August 16, 2019 by Daffy Duck

[Bayern]

17 hours ago, Daffy Duck said:

I would kindly ask for help.

On those those two pictures we can see Anto Gvozdenović, general in Russian, Montenegro and French army, and the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Montenegro. 

I would like to know if any of you can help me to identify his decorations. He was grandfather of my father's wife. One of the stars is a Order of Danilo. The order around the neck is Order of St Vladimir. And that's all I can do with certainty.

I can't even identify one of the uniforms.

This is a Montenegrin General uniform . very russian style .but note the  badge on the peaked cap that was characteristic .the uniform is the  M 1910 service uniform for Generals and Officers . he wears also laced ankle boots with leggings common practice in the major part of the Armies but very rare in the Russian Army

[Great Dane]

I'm guessing the sash is for the Russian Order of St. Stanislaus.

[Daffy Duck]

Any guess about the stars?

[Great Dane]

No guesses, I'm afraid...

Are you sure it's the same guy?
The decorations seem to be almost completely different...

[Daffy Duck]

Well it's the same guy. I am quite positive.

It's a pity that the only decoration which survive in the family until recently was Order of Danilo I class and even that one was stollen.

[BalkanCollector]

Interesting ancestry! It's a real shame that his awards aren't together. 

On 16/08/2019 at 10:37, Trooper_D said:

I'm making a guess but the lower breast star might be Bulgarian Order of Alexander. The one on the top, maybe something Prussian?

[Daffy Duck]

what about other decorations? He was a medical general in Russian and French army. I assume that lower three badges are from Russian academy’s 

[BalkanCollector]

It's really hard to say for me from the photos.

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

It is easier with the second photo. The decorations on the ribbons may be as follows:

• Russian Order of St. Vladimir 4th Class with swords
• Montenegran Order of Danilo 5th Class
• Russian Order of St. Anne 3rd Class with swords
• Russian Order of St. Stanislas 3rd Class with swords
• Montenegran Obilich Medal (?)

The neck decoration is probably the Russian Order of St. Vladimir 3rd Class

The stars are from:

• Montenegran Order of Danilo
• Russian Order of St. Stanislas
• Italian Order of the Crown

The photo seems to be after somebody's funeral (black armband). If we could find out whose, we could date it.

[Trooper_D]

16 hours ago, Lukasz Gaszewski said:

The photo seems to be after somebody's funeral (black armband). If we could find out whose, we could date it.

It transpires that the US Library of Congress has a copy of this photo in their collection, the details of which suggest (not necessarily correctly) that it was taken between 1915 and 1920. Here is the link,

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014707821/

The tiff photo which can be downloaded from this link is of a higher definition than we have seen before. I don't think that they add a great deal to the investigation but I am posting below two extracts from the original which are of a better quality than the enlargement I originally posted.

[for some reason, I can't delete the double posted image   ]

Edited September 14, 2019 by Trooper_D

[heusy68]

Hello Gentlemen,

A high italian award (ie Order of the Crown Grand Cross), on a Monténégro General make sense, one of the daughter of King Nicolas 1st of Monténégro ( Helena ), was the wife of King Vittorio Emanuele III from Italy.

For the St Stanislas, on the last photo, it's clear, it was the Military Division of the Order of St Stanislas (with Swords).

Regards.

     Emmanuel