| Honorific Prefix: | General |
| Kosta S. Protić | |
| Order: | 7th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbia |
| Term Start: | 19 January 1889 |
| Term End: | 7 March 1889 |
| Predecessor: | Nikola Hristić |
| Successor: | Sava Grujić |
| Birth Date: | 29 September 1831 |
| Birth Place: | Požarevac, Principality of Serbia |
| Death Place: | Brestovačka Banja, Kingdom of Serbia |
| Occupation: | Military |
| Party: | Independent |
| Monarch1: | Milan I |
| Office1: | 7th Minister of Army the Principality of Serbia |
| Predecessor1: | Milojko Lešjanin |
| Primeminister1: | Jovan Ristić Jovan Marinović Aćim Čumić Danilo Stefanović |
| Successor1: | Tihomilj Nikolić |
| Termstart2: | 21 September 1883 |
| Termend2: | 7 February 1884 |
| Termstart1: | 22 October 1873 |
| Termend1: | 19 August 1875 |
| Monarch2: | Milan I |
| Office2: | Minister of Construction of the Principality of Serbia |
| Primeminister2: | Nikola Hristić |
| Termend3: | 23 March 1886 |
| Termstart3: | 2 May 1885 |
| Monarch3: | Milan I |
| Primeminister3: | Milutin Garašanin |
| Office5: | 3rd Chief of the General Staff of the Principality of Serbia |
| Termend5: | 1879 Acting |
| Termstart5: | 1878 |
| Monarch5: | Milan I |
| Office4: | 8th Minister of Army of the Kingdom of Serbia |
| Primeminister4: | Sava Grujić Nikola Hristić Himself |
| Termstart4: | 14 April 1888 |
| Termend4: | 22 February 1889 |
| Monarch4: | Milan I |
| Predecessor4: | Sava Grujić |
| Predecessor5: | Jovan Dragašević (acting) |
| Successor4: | Dimitrije Đurić |
| Successor5: | Milojko Lešjanin |
| Office6: | Head of the Regency Council of Serbia |
| Alongside6: | Jovan Ristić Jovan Belimarković |
| Termend6: | 4 June 1892 |
| Termstart6: | 6 March 1882 |
| Successor6: | Alexander I (as king) |
| Predecessor6: | Milan I (as king) |
Kosta Protić (Serbian: Коста Протић; 29 September 1831 – 4 June 1892) was the first Serbian General[1] and the Chief of the Serbian General Staff.
During the Herzegovinian Uprising in 1875, Kosta Protić was sent by the Serbian government to Russia to investigate the possibilities for a war loan. Ivan Aksakov received Protić, instructed him and gave him letters of recommendation to the right persons in Saint Petersburg; moreover, since Aksakov's wife was a former lady-in-waiting with connections at the court, she introduced Protić to the empress Maria Alexandrovna and to the heir, the future Alexander III of Russia. The two were in favor of helping the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina rid themselves of the Turks, more so than their government. Through their intercession public subscription for a loan was authorized by the tsar.
Protić served as a military officer during the Serbian-Ottoman War (1876-1877) and the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). He served as the Chief of the Serbian General Staff during the Russo-Turkish War. He later briefly served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbia during 1889. Upon the abdication of King Milan, Protić was appointed to a Regency council with Jovan Ristić and Jovan Belimarković for the underage Alexander I, on which he served until his death.[2]