Gavrilo Zmejanović was born on 25 August 1847 in Dobanovci in Srem, to father Mihailo, a priest, and mother Eva - née Andrejević.
[2] Zmejanović became a monk at the invitation of Serbian Patriarch Herman Andjelic, in 1882 in the Krusedol monastery.
Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I awarded him the Golden Cross with a crown for his educational work.
While sitting in the episcopal chair, Zmejanović was at enmity with the Vršac radicals, who condemned him through their newspapers for his "Hungarianness"[6] and derisively called him "Gabor" instead of Gavrilo.
[7] On the first day of Pentecost in 1898, Mita Popović from Vršac allegedly tried to assassinate a bishop who went to church in full force.
At the beginning of 1901, Zmejanović took a long leave of absence from the Serbian patriarch for treatment and recovery.
[9] Zmejanović played "devil's advocate" to ingratiate himself with the Habsburg Court in order to improve the living conditions of his flock (Serbs, Romanians, and Greeks alike).
On 1 August 1908, the Serbian Church Council in Karlovac unanimously elected him Patriarch of Serbia.