Gavrilo Princip

Gavrilo Princip, the son of a postman, was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina in July, 1894. Gavrilo was one of nine children, six of whom died in infancy. His health was poor and from and early age suffered from tuberculosis.

Princip attended schools in Sarajevo and Tuzla, but in May 1912, left Bosnia for Belgrade to continue his education. while in Serbia, Princip joined the Black Hand secret society. For the next two years he spent most of his spare time with other nationalists who also favoured a union between Bosnia and Serbia.

When it was announced that Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austro-Hungarian Empire, was going to visit Bosnia in June 1914, Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the chief of the Intelligence Department in the Serbian Army and head of the Black Hand, sent Princip and two other men to Sarajevo to assassinate him.

Each man was given a revolver, two bons, and a small vial of cyanide. the were to commit suicide after the Archduke had been killed because it was important that the men did not have the opportunity to confess who had organised the assassination.

On Sunday, June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife arrived in Sarajevo by train. The Governor