Julije Balović

Julije Balović or Giulio Ballovich (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Јулије Баловић; 24 March 1672 – 10 September 1727) was an entrepreneur, polyglot, judge, sea captain Venetian military officer, and collector of epic poetry from Venetian held Perast (modern-day Montenegro). Some sources speculated that he authored some of the literature works he collected. Balović wrote several manuscripts which are considered as significant literature works and historical sources. His multilingual dictionary is one of the earliest records of Albanian.

Julije Balović belonged to the noble Balović family from Perast. Following his father's footsteps, he became a sailor in the Venetian navy and advanced from the rank of ship's scribe to shipmaster. He received numerous awards and gratitude letters for his successful participation in battles against pirates and Ottomans during the Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18).