vojvoda Jovan Babunski | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Jovan Stojković |
| Nickname(s) | Babunski |
| Born | 25 December 1878 Martolci, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 17 February 1920 (aged 41) Veles, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
| Allegiance |  Chetniks (1905–1920) Kingdom of Serbia (1908–1918) Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918–1920) |
| Years of service | 1905–1920 |
| Rank | vojvoda |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards |  Order of the Star of Karađorđe |
Jovan Stojković (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Стојковић; 25 December 1878 – 17 February 1920), known as Jovan Babunski (Јован Бабунски), was a Serbian Chetnik commander (Serbian: vojvoda / војвода) during the Macedonian Struggle, Balkan Wars and World War I. Following the murder of his brother and nephew by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), he joined a Chetnik band and took command of Chetnik units on the Vardar River, where he and his men often engaged Bulgarian and Ottoman forces.
With the outbreak of the First Balkan War he joined the Serbian Army and was wounded while fighting in the village of Strevica. During the Second Balkan War, he joined a Serbian volunteer detachment and fought at the Battle of Bregalnica. During World War I, Babunski and his Chetnik detachment fought Austro-Hungarian forces in the summer of 1914 and later fought on the Salonika front, where Babunski was ordained by French General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey after he and his men captured two German midget submarines and their crews. After the war, Babunski and his 250-strong force helped Serb authorities suppress Bulgarian resistance in the Macedonian towns of Bitola and Tikveš, committing several atrocities in the process. Considered one of the most famous Chetnik commanders of his time, Babunski died in Veles in February 1920.