Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš was born Radivoje "Rade" Petrović on in the mountain village of Njeguši, near Cetinje. His father, Tomislav "Tomo" Petrović (b. 1762–63), was a member of the Petrović clan of the Njeguši tribe of Katuni "nahiya". Njegoš's mother, Ivana Proroković, hailed from the hamlet of Mali Zalaz and was the daughter of Njeguši captain Lazo Proroković. There is no reliable information about her exact year of birth, but it is believed that she was about ten years younger than her husband. Tomo and Ivana had five children; their eldest son was Petar ("Pero"), Rade was their middle son and Jovan ("Joko") was their youngest. The couple's daughters were named Marija and Stana; Marija was married to a Montenegrin chieftain named Andrija Perović, the "serdar" (count) of Cuce, while Stana was married to Filip Đurašković, the "serdar" of Rijeka Crnojevića.
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
By 1849, Njegoš began experiencing an incessant cough and soon a doctor from Kotor discovered that he had tuberculosis. By early 1850, it was clear that the condition was life-threatening. Painfully aware that Montenegro did not have a single trained physician, he travelled to Kotor in the spring and composed his last will and testament, intending for it to prevent the power struggle that had preceded his own accession to the position of "vladika". He mailed the will to vice-consul Gagić in Dubrovnik with a message asking him to return the document unopened in the event that he regained his health. Njegoš then headed to Venice and Padova, where he spent much time resting and seemingly succeeded in containing his illness. His cough returned after eight days; he left Padova and went back to Montenegro in the hope that the country's fresh mountain air would alleviate his symptoms. He spent the summer of 1850 resting and writing poetry. His condition prevented him from lying down, so he had to keep in a constant upright position, even when sleeping. By November 1850, the cough abated and Njegoš undertook another journey to Italy. He reached Italy in January 1851, and travelled through Venice, Milan, Genoa and Rome. He visited the ruins of Pompeii with Serbian writer Ljubomir Nenadović, and the two men travelled together along Italy's western coast discussing philosophy and contemporary politics. The journey was documented in a book Nenadović published following Njegoš's death, titled "Letters from Italy".