This bronze figure in Nikšić’s Freedom Square depicts Čedomir “Ljubo” Čupić, a Yugoslav Partisan whose final photograph became one of Montenegro’s most powerful images of resistance. Captured by Chetnik forces during the Italian occupation, Čupić was condemned to death and publicly executed in Nikšić on 9 May 1942. Shortly before the firing squad killed him, he was photographed in chains with an unmistakable smile on his face despite having just been tortured. That expression of defiance became a symbol of resistance to fascism, and Čupić was posthumously declared a People’s Hero of Yugoslavia in 1953.
The statue was unveiled in 2018 and recreates Čupić’s cap, long coat and remarkable smile, although the sculptors have shown him standing freely rather than shackled to a chair. Fresh flowers had been tucked into his hands, coat and collar when we visited which made it feel that he had a living presence. It’s one of the statues that I’ll likely remember seeing on this trip, it felt very powerful.
And here’s the famous image which has made him a national icon and he has been declared as a “people’s hero” in the country. Shackled and facing death, I can imagine that his captors felt it quite sub-optimal that he smiled in this way and I very much like that his memory has outlived those who executed him.