Desanka Maksimović
Desanka Maksimović | |
---|---|
Born | 16 May 1898 Rabrovica, Serbia |
Died | 11 February 1993 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia | (aged 94)
Resting place | Holy Archangels Church, Brankovina |
Occupation | Poet, writer, translator |
Nationality | Serbian |
Alma mater | University of Belgrade University of Paris |
Period | 1920–1993 |
Spouse | Sergej Slastikov (1933–1970) |
Desanka Maksimović (
In 1933, Maksimović married Sergej Slastikov, a
To mark her 60th birthday, Maksimović was named the recipient of a string of honours and awards in 1958. In 1964, she published one of her most acclaimed works, a volume of reflective poetry entitled Tražim pomilovanje (I Seek Clemency). The work's veiled critique of the Tito government made it especially popular. The following year, she became a full-fledged member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Following her husband's death in 1970, Maksimović's poetry increasingly began to revolve around the subject of human mortality. Maksimović travelled extensively in the 1970s and 1980s, and some of her visits abroad inspired several of her works. She became involved in efforts to combat government censorship in the early 1980s and was active until her death in 1993.
Maksimović was the first female Serbian poet to gain widespread acceptance within Yugoslav literary circles and among the general public. One literary scholar notes that she served as an example for other Serbian women wishing to take up the craft. Maksimović's reputation, which was such that most of her contemporaries referred to her simply by her first name, has led one author to describe her as "the most beloved Serbian poet of the twentieth century".
Biography
Childhood
Desanka Maksimović was born in the village of Rabrovica, near
Early career
Upon completing high school, Maksimović moved to Belgrade, the capital of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. She enrolled in the University of Belgrade, and took courses in art history and comparative literature. By this time, Maksimović had been writing verse for a number of years. She gave some of her poems to one of her former professors, who in turn gave them to Velimir Masuka, the editor-in-chief of Misao (Thought), one of Serbia's leading artistic and literary publications.[2]
Maksimović's poetry first appeared in Misao between 1920 and 1921. She received what was to be the first of many literary awards when one of her poems was voted to be the journal's best by its readers. Within a few years, the Srpski književni glasnik (Serbian Literary Herald), then Belgrade's most influential and respected literary journal, began printing her poems, and several of her works appeared in an anthology of Yugoslav lyric poetry. In 1924, Maksimović published her first poetry collection, simply entitled Pesme (Poems). The collection was met with positive reviews. Maksimović graduated from the University of Belgrade around this time and received a fellowship from the Government of France for a year's study at the University of Paris. She returned to Belgrade in 1925, and upon her return, received a Saint Sava medal from the government for her literary achievements and became a professor at the city's elite First High School for Girls.[2]
By the late 1920s, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was mired by ethnic tensions. In 1929, King Alexander decreed that it be renamed Yugoslavia to mitigate growing nationalist resentment. Before long, the country's political disputes spilled over into literary discourse. Yugoslav writers could not agree on the political and artistic direction Yugoslav literature should take. Older writers favoured abiding by existing literary norms while younger ones promoted modernism as a means of explaining the contradictions of modern life and exploring the human subconscious. Maksimović's steadfast refusal to deviate from traditional literary forms and traditions prompted scathing critiques from many of her colleagues in the Yugoslav literary establishment. She would later note: "I would not have had as many friends as I have now if I had not been able to forget the biting jokes or critical remarks about my poetry or myself."[2] Yugoslavia had to endure difficult economic conditions during the Great Depression and the country's political landscape deteriorated further. During this time, Maksimović made poetry the main focus of her writing.[2] Many of her poems were first recited before her fellow writers in the home of Smilja Đaković, the publisher of Misao. In 1933, Maksimović married a Russian-born writer named Sergej Slastikov.[3]
Following the German-led Axis invasion and subsequent occupation of Yugoslavia, Maksimović was forcibly retired from her teaching position at the First High School for Girls at the behest of the occupational authorities. Impoverished, she resorted to giving private lessons, sewing children's clothes and selling dolls in the marketplace. In order to heat her apartment, Maksimović had to walk from downtown Belgrade to Mount Avala to collect firewood. She wrote patriotic poems in secret during this time but was only allowed to publish children's books.[3]
Later life
After the war, Yugoslavia became a
In 1964, Maksimović published a volume of reflective poetry entitled Tražim pomilovanje (I Seek Clemency), which dealt with the 14th-century reign of
Maksimović's husband died in 1970. Following his death, her poems increasingly began to deal with the topic of human mortality. In 1975, she received a Vuk Karadžić Award for Lifetime Achievement from the SANU, becoming only the second writer to receive the honour, after Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić. The following year, Maksimović published Letopis Perunovih potomaka (A Chronicle of Perun's Descendants), a poetry collection dealing with medieval Balkan history.[5] She travelled widely in the 1970s and 1980s, visiting many European nations, including the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, but also Australia, Canada, the United States, and China. Her visits to Norway and Switzerland inspired the poetry collection Pesme iz Norveške (Poems from Norway; 1976) and a travel book titled Snimci iz Švajcarske (Snapshots from Switzerland; 1978).[6] In 1982, Maksimović became one of the founding members of the Committee for the Protection of Artistic Freedom, which sought an end to government censorship.[7] In 1988, she published a poetry collection titled Pamtiću sve (I Shall Remember Everything). She died in Belgrade on 11 February 1993, aged 94.[6]
Legacy
"Maksimović ... marked a whole era with her lyrical poetry," the literary scholar Aida Vidan writes.
Serbian composer
Works
Source: Sljivic-Simsic (1995, pp. 127–128)
- Pesme (1924)
- Vrt detinjstvа, poems (1927)
- Zeleni vitez, poems (1930)
- Ludilo srcа, short stories (1931)
- Srce lutke spаvаljke i druge priče za decu (1931, 1943)
- Gozbа na livаdi, poems (1932)
- Kаko oni žive, short stories (1935)
- Nove pesme (1936)
- Rаspevаne priče (1938)
- Zаgonetke lаke za prvаke đаke (with Jovаnkom Hrvаćаnin; 1942)
- Šаrena torbicа, children's poems (1943)
- Oslobođenje Cvete Andrić, poem (1945)
- Pesnik i zavičаj, poems (1945)
- Otаdžbina u prvomаjskoj povorci, poem (1949)
- Sаmoglаsnici A, E, I, O, U (1949)
- Otаdžbino, tu sаm (1951)
- Strаšna igrа, short stories (1950)
- Vetrovа uspаvаnkа (1953)
- Otvoren prozor, novel (1954)
- Prolećni sаstаnak (1954)
- Miris zemlje, selected poems (1955)
- Bаjkа o Krаtkovečnoj (1957)
- Ako je verovаti mojoj bаki, short stories (1959)
- Zаrobljenik snovа (1960)
- Govori tiho, poems (1961)
- Prolećni sаstаnak (1961)
- Pаtuljkovа tаjna, short stories (1963)
- Ptice na česmi, poems (1963)
- Trаžim pomilovаnje, lirskа diskusijа s Dušаnovim zakonikom (1964)
- Hoću dа se rаdujem, short stories (1965)
- Đаčko srce (1966)
- Izvolite na izložbu dece slikаrа (1966)
- Prаdevojčicа, novel (1970)
- Na šesnaesti rođendаn, poems (1970)
- Prаznici putovаnjа, travel writing (1972)
- Nemаm više vremena, poems (1973)
- Letopis Perunovih potomаkа, poems (1976)
- Pesme iz Norveške (1976)
- Bаjke za decu (1977)
- Snimci iz Švajcarske, travel book (1978)
- Ničijа zemljа (1979)
- Vetrovа uspаvаnkа, children's poems (1983)
- Međаši sećаnjа, poems (1983)
- Slovo o ljubаvi, poems (1983)
- Pаmtiću sve (1989)
- Nebeski rаzboj (1991)
- Ozon zavičаjа (1991)
- Zovina svirаlа (1992)
Notes
- ^ a b Haag 2002, p. 120.
- ^ a b c d e f Haag 2002, p. 121.
- ^ a b c d e f Haag 2002, p. 122.
- ^ Banac 1988, p. 207.
- ^ Haag 2002, p. 123.
- ^ a b c Haag 2002, p. 124.
- ^ Miller 2007, pp. 250–251.
- ^ Vidan 2016, p. 494.
- ^ Hawkesworth 2000, p. 15.
- ^ Hawkesworth 2000, p. 203.
- ^ a b Juraga 2002, p. 204.
- ^ Hawkesworth 2015, p. 120.
- ^ Deliso 2009, p. 110.
- ^ Rubin 27 April 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-9617485-2-4.
- ^ a b Lucić 2007.
- ^ Šuber & Karamanić 2012, pp. 327–328.
References
- ISBN 978-0-80142-186-0.
- Deliso, Christopher (2009). Culture and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-34436-7.
- Haag, John (2002). "Desanka Maksimović (1898–1993)". In Commire, Anne (ed.). Women in World History. Vol. 10. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Publishing. pp. 120–124. ISBN 978-0-78764-069-9.
- Hawkesworth, Celia (2000). Voices in the Shadows: Women and Verbal Art in Serbia and Bosnia. Budapest, Hungary: Central European University Press. ISBN 978-9-63911-662-7.
- Hawkesworth, Celia (2015) [1991]. "Feminist Writing in Eastern Europe: The Problem Solved?". In Forsås-Scott, Helena (ed.). Textual Liberation: European Feminist Writing in the Twentieth Century. London, England: Routledge. pp. 100–129. ISBN 978-1-31757-815-4.
- Juraga, Dubravka (2002) [2000]. "Maksimović, Desanka". In Willhardt, Mark; Parker, Alan Michael (eds.). Who's Who in Twentieth-Century World Poetry. London, England: Routledge. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-41516-356-9.
- Lucić, J. (22 August 2007). "Spomenik na Tašu najomiljenijoj pesnikinji 20. veka". Politika. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- Miller, Nick (2007). The Nonconformists: Culture, Politics, and Nationalism in a Serbian Intellectual Circle, 1944–1991. Budapest, Hungary: Central European University Press. ISBN 978-9-63977-613-5.
- Rubin, Alissa A. (27 April 2014). "On Bridges in Paris, Clanking With Love". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-81035-708-2.
- Šuber, Daniel; Karamanić, Slobodan (2012). "Symbolic Landscape, Violence and the Normalization Process in Post-Milošević Serbia". In Šuber, Daniel; Karamanić, Slobodan (eds.). Retracing Images: Visual Culture After Yugoslavia. Leiden, Netherlands: BRILL. ISBN 978-9-00421-030-1.
- Vidan, Aida (2016). "Serbian Poetry". In Greene, Roland; Cushman, Stephen (eds.). The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 492–494. ISBN 978-1-40088-063-8.
External links
- Works by or about Desanka Maksimović at Wikisource
- Media related to Desanka Maksimović at Wikimedia Commons