Those were the times...

A boat trip was organized for Sofia and Karl. They were delighted by the beaches of Kamenovo, Jaza, Trsten, Drobni pijeska... There was also a native of Cetinje, Pule Vujović, attaché at the Embassy of the SFRY in Rome.

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Sofija Loren and Milo Medigović, Photo: Private archive
Sofija Loren and Milo Medigović, Photo: Private archive
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Sixty-three years ago, the Register of Emigrants of Montenegro was established in Titograd. On January 19, 1962, in the crowded, former "Small Hall" of the Parliament of Montenegro, in the presence of numerous distinguished Montenegrin personalities, an institution was formed that will take care of Montenegrin emigration. He was elected president of Matica Milo Medigović, whose many descendants, the Paštrovići, and his close relatives, the Medigovići, lived all over the world; reached the United States of America, Latin America, Australia...

At that time, people of integrity, educated, with knowledge of several languages, and maximally dedicated to the work they were engaged in, came to important positions.

The vice president of Matica was a prominent Montenegrin scientist, Dr. Đorđije - Đoko Pejović (author of the book "Emigration of Montenegrins in the 19th century"), and the secretary Vlado Đurković, who was replaced by the professor Ante Slovinić, former editor-in-chief of "Pobjeda". Šjor Ante, as fellow journalists affectionately called him, graduated in 1926 in Serbo-Croatian language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.

At the Founding Assembly of Matica, the initiator of its founding, Montenegrin emigrant, revolutionary, journalist, vice president of the Parliament of Montenegro, sat in the first row. Nikola Kovačević Stari.

I remembered him as a boy; he was distinguished by his big appearance and a special elegance, characteristic of people who lived in a big, wide world. He lived in Canada from 1937 to the end of 1945, performing during the Second World War at various gatherings, on behalf of Tito's partisans. He edited the expatriate newspaper "Novosti", conveying the truth about the People's Liberation struggle against fascism. His role was great in collecting aid for the war-ravaged homeland, to which at the beginning of 1945 over twenty wagons of goods were sent from Canada...

He died in 1964 in Herceg Novi. His wife Ljubica, native of Spadiera, she lived in Novi. One day, back in the seventies, I went to Herceg Novi together with my good friend, poet and journalist, Ratko Vujošević, where we talked for a long time with Ljubica.

In 1969, Milo Medigović was elected president of the Municipality of Budva.

It was a time of booming Montenegrin tourism. Sveti Stefan, a reconstructed ancient town of Pastrov, officially opened on the Day of the Uprising of the Montenegrin People, July 13, 1960, was a summer resort for many crowned and uncrowned heads, celebrities, and even a writer. Alberto Moravia... President Tito was also a guest of the Hotel and Tourism Company "Sveti Stefan".

It is there, along with the catering veteran Anastas Popović, said the young mani from Budva Liješević Road, later an icon of the London "Savoy", where he served fourteen times Winston Churchill.

And then the news broke: the heroine of a world film has arrived on Sveti Stefan, Sophia Loren with her husband, a producer, Karlom Pontijem.

Little Montenegro appeared on the front pages of major world newspapers.

The famous married couple flew from Rome on a private plane to Titograd, from where they continued their journey to Sveti Stefan, where they were met and welcomed on the Sveti Stefan waterfront by the President of the Municipality of Budva, Milo Medigović, Director of the Hotel and Tourism Company "Sveti Stefan". Vlado Mitrović (his father, Laza, r, was an expatriate in America) and a representative of the Tourist Association of the Municipality, Ljubo Radjenovic.

The tall guests looked around curiously; impressed by what they saw, they almost unanimously clicked: "Una belleza da vero" ("One beauty indeed"). They stayed in the famous Villa 18. In their honor, the President of the Municipality of Budva, Milo Medigović, hosted a festive dinner. There were several other guests at the dinner. Mrs. Loren was sitting next to Milo. And yet, for me - you can't say! It is prepared only for top guests of St. Stefan.

- The dinner took place in a very pleasant atmosphere. The mood of those present at the highest level. They discussed very different topics - remembered Vlado Mitrović.

A boat trip was organized for Sofia and Karl the next day. They were delighted by the beaches of Kamenovo, Jaza, Trsten, Drobni pijeska... There was also a man from Cetinje, Pule Vujović, Attaché at the Embassy of the SFRY in Rome.

The next day they visited Kolašin and Lake Biograd.

During Loren and Ponti's stay in Montenegro, the translator was Ante Slovinić, then head of the Protocol of the Parliament of Montenegro.

- Ponti was interested in tourism in Montenegro, especially in the area of ​​Sveti Stefan and Miločer - says Vlado Mitrović.

He wanted to build his own villa somewhere near Saint Stephen.

Mitrović wholeheartedly supported the initiative to provide the famous couple with a free plot of land for the construction of a villa.

They said that they would come to Montenegro again.

After their stay in Sveti Stefan, Sofia Loren and Carlo Ponti traveled to Brione where they were received by President Tito and his wife Jovanko. Sofija is later with her son as a guest Brozov's spent fifteen days on Brioni.

Those were the times...

Bonus video: