The book launch for "Captain Petar Želalić – The Ottoman Crown Beneath the Feet of a Knight of Malta" by Predrag Kuzmnovski will be held on Friday, February 7, 2025, at the Tivat Museum and Gallery, starting at 7:00 PM.
Captain Petar Želalić, born in Bijela in 1727, was the most renowned and successful *kosar* (privateer) from the Bay of Kotor—a seafarer who waged war at sea using his own vessel in the service of foreign states. Predrag Kuzmanovski’s book chronicles the life of this young man from the Bay who, due to a series of unfortunate events, left his home region to join a privateer ship from Prčanj that operated under a letter of marque from Monaco. Thanks to his exceptional aptitude, Petar Želalić soon became the captain of his own ship, conducting privateering raids across the Mediterranean and attacking Turkish vessels. The privateer’s greatest triumph was the capture of the Turkish ship *Kruna Otomanska* (Crown of the Ottoman Empire); Kuzmanovski provides a detailed account of this event, supplementing the narrative with period illustrations created by contemporary artists.
Speakers at the presentation will include Dražen Jovanović, curator and historian; Siniša Luković, journalist and publicist; Danijela Đukić, ethnologist-anthropologist and Director of the Tivat Museum and Gallery; and the book's author, Predrag Kuzmanovski, a master mariner and publicist.
