Jovan Albanez

Jovan Albanez (Јован Албанез) or Ivan Albanez  (second half of the 17th century – c. 1732) was a military officer of Serbian origin who led the first group of colonists from the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy to the Russian Empire in the first half of the 18th century. Albanez was from Podgorica.

Establishment of Serb Hussar Regiment
Due to Rákóczi's War of Independence (1703–1711), the position of Serbian militiamen in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy was endangered. In 1704 the first Serbian attempts were made to offer their services to the Russian Empire in the latter's struggle against the Ottomans. Before the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War (1710–11) Russian Emperor Peter the Great invited Serbian militiamen and Serbs in general to join the Russian forces. During this period, a small group of Serbs, including Jovan Albanez, emigrated to Russia. A small Serb unit commanded by then-Captain Albanez distinguished itself in the Pruth River Campaign (1710–11), so Peter the Great decided to expand this unit and turn it into a separate Serbian Hussar Regiment.

In 1723 Peter the Great sent Albanez to the Pomorišje and Potisje regions of the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy to recruit additional Serbian militiamen. The invitation letter carried by Albanez was signed by Peter the Great on 23 October 1723. Every military men who emigrated to Russia with his wife and children would be granted arable land, while those who emigrated with larger numbers of people were promised additional privileges.

Albanez was quite successful with recruitment. On 5 May 1724, Albanez reported from Serbia that he had recruited ten officers, including one colonel. According to some sources, 459 Serbs emigrated to Russia in 1724, and 600 in 1725. A detailed list of the military unit commanded by Albanez was made in 1726. They formed a small military unit commanded by Albaniez and referred to as the Serb Command. In 1727 Albanez was appointed the first commander of the newly established Serb Hussar Regiment.