Aleksa Šantić | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Aleksa Šantić,c. 1920 | |
| Native name | Алекса Шантић |
| Born | (1868-05-27)May 27, 1868 Mostar,Bosnia Vilayet, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | February 2, 1924(1924-02-02) (aged 55) Mostar, Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Resting place | Mostar Old Cemetery |
| Occupation | Poet |
Aleksa Šantić (Serbian Cyrillic:Алекса Шантић,pronounced[ǎleksaʃǎ:ntitɕ] (listenⓘ); 27 May 1868 – 2 February 1924) was aBosnian Serb poet and writer fromMostar,Bosnia and Herzegovina. Šantić wrote about the urban culture of his hometown Mostar andHerzegovina, the growing national awareness of Bosnian Serbs,social injustice, nostalgic love, and theunity of theSouth Slavs. He was the editor-in-chief of the magazineZora (1896–1901). Šantić was one of the leading persons of Serbian literary and national movement in Mostar.[1][2] In 1914 Šantić became a member of theSerbian Royal Academy.
Aleksa Šantić was born 1868 into a Herzegovinian Serb family, inMostar, at the time, under theOttoman Empire.[3][4] His father, Risto, was a merchant; his mother, Mara, came from Mostar's well-off Aničić family.[5] Aleksa had two brothers, Jeftan and Jakov, and one sister, Radojka, known as Persa; another sister, Zorica, died in infancy.
Just as Šantić turned 10 years of age,Bosnia Vilayet (including Mostar) wasoccupied byAustria-Hungary, in accordance with the decision made by theEuropean Great Powers at theCongress of Berlin during the summer of 1878.
When his father Risto died, it was Risto's brother Miho, Aleksa's uncle known as Adža, who got a full custody of Aleksa and his siblings. The family did not have much patience for Aleksa'slyrical talents, so in 1880 and 1881, Šantić attended a Merchant school inTrieste inItalian language. While studying in Trieste, Šantić lived with his other two uncle's, Lazar and Todor Aničić, who were merchants in Trieste.[6] In 1881, Šantić moved to a merchant school inLjubljana, also known asMarova Akademija, where the lectures were given inGerman.[7] In 1883, he returned to Mostar with a knowledge of Italian and German languages.[8]
As followers ofVojislav Ilić'sromanticism,Svetozar Ćorović,Jovan Dučić and Aleksa Šantić were among leaders of cultural and national movement of Bosnian and Herzegovina Serbs.[9]
Šantić and Ćorović intended to establish a journal for Serb children calledHercegovče (lit. 'Young Herzegovinian'), not only for kids from Herzegovina, but for all Serb children in the country.[10]
Šantić was one of the notable members of the Bosnian Serb cultural societyProsvjeta. The hymn of the society was authored by Šantić.[11]
Šantić presided over the Serbian Singing Society"Gusle" established in 1888.[12] In this society Šantić was not only its president but also a lead singer of its chorus, composer and lecturer.[13] Theliterary magazinZora (lit. 'Dawn'; 1896–1901) was published under patronage of"Gusle".[14] Šantić became the editor-in-chief of the magazineZora, published bySerbian Cultural Society in Mostar, which was important institution in struggle for the preservation of Serb cultural autonomy and national rights in amulticultural Bosnia and Herzegovina.[15] TheZora became one of the best Serbian literary magazines.[16] The journalZora gathered members of the Serb intelligentsia who strived to improve education of Bosnian Serb population necessary to reach economic and political progress.[17]
In 1903 Šantić was also among the founders of the Serbian Gymnastics Society"Obilić".[18] In this capacity Aleksa came into focus of regional social life, which, by its cultural and national consciousness, showed an opposition to the GermanKulturträger. In the spring of 1909, theBosnian Crisis caused by the annexation ofBosnia and Herzegovina byAustria-Hungary, forced Aleksa Šantić to escape toItaly together withNikola Kašiković and Svetozar Ćorović.[19] In 1910, the Šantić family bought a country house in the villageBorci, on theplateau belowPrenj mountain and aboveBoračko lake betweenKonjic and Glavatičevo. They purchased it from Austro-Hungarian baron Benko who built it in 1902.[20] The house was lit to fire during theBosnian war, but after the war villa is inscribed aNational monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina by theKONS.
The product of his patriotic inspiration during theBalkan Wars of 1912–1913 is the bookNa starim ognjištima (lit. 'On the Old Hearths'; 1913). Šantić belonged to poets who wrote whole collections of songs glorifying victories ofArmy of Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars, includingOn the coast ofDrač (Serbian:На обали Драча) which glorifies liberation of the ancient city that once was part of theSerbian Kingdom underKingMilutin.[21][22] On 3 February 1914, Šantić became a member of the Serbian Royal Academy (precursor of the modernSerbian Academy of Sciences and Arts).[23]
DuringWorld War I, he was taken by theAustrians as hostage, but he survived the war. Šantić moved from Mostar to the village Borci near Konjic in 1914, when suspect urbanSerb population of Mostar was evacuated from the town.[24] On 13 November 1914, Austrian governor inSarajevo banned Šantić's collection of poemsPjesme published in 1911.[25]
Šantić was a prolific poet and writer. He wrote around 800 poems, seven theatrical plays and some prose. Many of the writings were of high quality and aimed to criticize the establishment or advocate diverse social and cultural issues. He was strongly influenced byHeinrich Heine, whose works he translated. His friends and peers in the field of culture were Svetozar Ćorović,Jovan Dučić andMilan Rakić. One of his sisters, Radojka (Persa) married Svetozar Ćorović.
Šantić worked as merchant for his father and read a lot of books before he decided to write poetry and met another young merchant,Jovan Dučić from Trebinje who published his first poem in 1886 in the youth literature magazinePidgeon (Serbian:Голуб) inSombor (modern-day Serbia).[26] Following example of his friend Jovan Dučić, Šantić also published his first song in literature magazinePidgeon, its 1887 New Year's Eve edition.[27]
The first poems Šantić published were inspired by older Serbian poets likeNjegoš,Zmaj,Vojislav Ilić andJakšić.[28] The first collection of Šantićs songs was published in Mostar in 1891. He awarded all income from its sales to erecting the monument ofSima Milutinović Sarajlija.[29] In 1901Bogdan Popović wrote negative critics of Šantić's poetry. Popović's critics had positive and stimulative effect on young Šantić and the quality of his future works.[30]
Theoeuvre of Aleksa Šantić, widely accessible yet acutely personal, is a blend of fine-tuned emotional sensibility and clear-eyed historical awareness, steeped in the specifics of local culture. He worked at the crossroads of two centuries and more than other poets of his generation, combined theoretical and poetic suffering nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the same time, Šantić writes about his personal troubles – the loss of close and dear people (his mother, brothers Jeftan and Jakov, and brother-in-lawSvetozar Ćorović), the health that was a lifetime problem and loneliness that accompanied him to the end. Drawing themes and imagery from his hometownMostar, the atmospheric capital ofMediterraneanHerzegovina, and its surroundings, his poetry is marked in equal part by the late-Ottoman urban culture in the region, its social distinctions, subdued passions and melancholy, as well as theSouth Slavic national awareness.[31][32]
He was influenced mostly by the poetsJovan Jovanović Zmaj,Vojislav Ilić andHeinrich Heine, whom he was translating. He is said to have reached his greatest poetic maturity between 1905 and 1910, when he wrote his best poems.[34] Šantić's poetry is full of emotion, sadness and pain of love and defiance of social and national disempowered people whom he himself belonged. His muse is at the crossroads of love and patriotism, beloved ideal, and suffering people. The topics and images of his poems ranged from strong emotions for social injustices of his time to nostalgic love. His poems about Mostar and theNeretva river are particularly praised. Šantić wrote a number of love songs in the style of the Bosnian love songs,sevdalinkas. His most well known poem-turned-sevdalinka isEmina, to which music was composed and it is often sung at restaurants (kafanas). The ambiance of his love poems include the neighborhood gardens, flowers, baths, fountains, and girls who appear in them are decorated with a necklace, the challenging but the hidden beauty. This is right about the song "Emina". The spirit of this song is so striking that it became the nation's favorite and sings as sevdalinka. In love songs the most common motive is the desire. The poet watches his beloved from afar and longing often turns into sadness because of unrequited love and the failure of life. His patriotic poetry is poetry about his motherland and her citizens ("My homeland"). In some of his most moving poems Šantić sings about the suffering of those who leave the country forever and go into an unknown and alien world ("Stay here", "Bread"). Šantić emphasizes suffering and martyrdom as the most important moments in the historical destiny of the people ("We know destiny").[35]
During his life he wrote six volumes of poetry (1891, 1895, 1900, 1908, 1911, 1913), as well as some dramatizations in verse, the best of which arePod maglom (In the Fog; 1907) andHasan-Aginica (1911). He also translated Heine'sLyrisches Intermezzo (1897–1898), prepared an anthology of translated German poets,Iz nemacke lirike (From German Lyrics; 1910), made Bosnian renderings of Schiller'sWilhelm Tell (1922) and translatedPjesme roba (Poems of a Slave; 1919) from the Czech writerSvatopluk Čech. He also translated successfully from German. Šantić was one of the founders of the cultural newspaper "Dawn" as the president of theSerbian Singing Society "Gusle".[12] There he met and socialized with famous poets of that era:Svetozar Ćorović,Jovan Dučić,Osman Đikić,Milan Rakić.
Šantić died on 2 February 1924 in his hometown oftuberculosis. He is interred at the Mostar Old Cemetery.
His portrait is on avers of ten (10)Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible marks banknote.[35]In his hometownMostar, a life size statue is erected[33] In 1920Sokol Union in Mostar was named after Šantić.[36] In 1969 the Assembly of the Mostar municipality established theLiterature Award "Aleksa Šantić" in honor ofcentennial of his birth.[37]
A village inSerbia is named afterAleksa Šantić, while a bust of him is erected inKalemegdan Park inBelgrade, Serbia.[38]
In the 1980s a TV film and series titledMoj brat Aleksa (My Brother Aleksa) was produced in his memory.[39]
... мајка Алексе Шантића, Мара, била осећајна, душевно отмена и даровита жена из веома угледне и такође обдарене мостар- ске куће Аничића,...
U Mostaru, na rijeci Neretvi, osnovano je još 1888. godine Srpsko kulturno društvo "Gusle", pod čijim pokroviteljstvom izlazi godine 1896. časopis "Zora" i u kome sarađuju Aleksa Šantić, Svetozar Ćorović i Jovan Dučić
у Соколску жупу Мостар "Алекса Шантић" основану 1920. године. Жупа је добила име по песнику и оснивачу Српског гимнастичког друштва Обилић 1903. године у Мостару.
СКА: дописник (Академије уметности) од 3. II 1914.
Међу овим последњим био је и Алекса Шантић. Наче- та здравља, исцрпен телесним и душевним патњама, осе- тљиви мостарски песник прешао је из Мостара у Коњиц и на Борачко Језеро у време када је из Мостара било евакуисано грађанско становништво, у првом реду сумњиво српско. ...
"Пјесме" Алексе Шантића, издање Српске књижевне за- друге од године 1911, биле су забрањене наредбом сарајевске земаљске владе од 13 новембра 1914 године
Шантић се повлачи у очеву радњу. Највише чита, из доколице проба перо ... Кад је доцније стега попустила, Шантић помишља на активнији рад и долази у додир са једним младим трговцем – Требињанином, Јованом Дучићем,
Прву песму је објавио у сомборском омладинском листу Голуб 1887. године.
Прва збирка Алексе Шантића "Пјесме" издата је у Мостару 1891 године, а чист приход од издања те збирке намењен је подизању споменика књижевнику и песнику Сими Милутиновићу Сарајлији.
Сви ће се сетити По- повићеве критике из 1901. године, коју је објавио у Српском књижевном гласнику.12 И готово сви ће говорити о "позитив- ном" утицају Поповићеве критике. ..
... у Соколску жупу Мостар "Алекса Шантић" основану 1920. године. Жупа је добила име по песнику и оснивачу Српског гимнастичког друштва Обилић 1903. године у Мостару.
Žiri književne nagrade "Aleksa šantić", koju je Skupština opštine Mostar ustanovila 1969. godine, povodom obi1ježavanja stogodišnjice pjesnikovog rodenja,
Алекса Шантић и други објавили су читаве збирке стихова у славу српских победа. ...
