[2] His father Kosta St. Pavlović was a diplomat, who was personal secretary of Vojislav Marinković, the Yugoslav Foreign Minister;[5] his grandfather, also named Stevan K. Pavlović, was an influential lawyer, interpreter and diplomat who had served with the Ministry of Foreign affairs, was a member of the Yugoslav delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919–1920, and had received the Legion of Honour.
[7] Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the family followed the Yugoslav royal government to the United Kingdom[8] where his father was appointed chief of the Cabinet of the Prime Ministers Dušan Simović, Slobodan Jovanović[a] and Miloš Trifunović then in 1943 First Secretary of the Yugoslav Embassy.
[11] In 1965, he joined the staff of the University of Southampton and in 1997 became the emeritus professor of Balkan history, and was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
[11] He was the emeritus professor of Balkan history at the University of Southampton and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
[1] Pavlowitch was a contributor for the 1992 Radio Television of Serbia documentary series entitled Yugoslavia in War 1941–1945.