On the 6th of December 2019, we continued the cycle dedicated to the Serbian Civil Code and Jovan Hadžić with a lecture entitled “Portraits of Contemporaries in Jovan Hadžić’s Journal”. The lecture was given by Prof. Dr Radoslav Eraković from the Department of Serbian Literature of the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy. Weaving a colorful tapestry of words, he showed us what was Jovan Hadžić’s view of Prince Miloš and the leaders of the Defenders of the Constitution, the Turkish vizier, Russian and Austrian emissaries… From Hadžić’s first journey through Serbia and a visit to the grave of Karađorđe (which was politically controversial at the time), through his clash with Vuk Karadžić, and up until Miloš’s exile and the establishment of the Defenders of the Constitution, we could see a Serbia that was only beginning to shed the shackles of the Ottoman Empire through the eyes of an educated expat – one who often had a hard time adjusting to the environment in Serbia, but whose patriotism is unquestionable. Prof. Eraković pointed out that there is a modern reprint of Hadžić’s journal, published in 2013, and not really known to the wider public, which allows anyone who might take an interest to get better acquainted with his memories.