Dositej Obradović

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Dositej Obradović
Доситеј Обрадовић
Ivan Jugović
Personal details
Born
Dimitrije Obradović

17 February 1739 (1739-02-17)
Tschakowa, Kingdom of Hungary, Habsburg monarchy
(now Ciacova, Romania)
Died7 April 1811 (1811-04-08) (aged 72)
Belgrade, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
(now Belgrade, Serbia)
NationalitySerbian
Signature

Dositej Obradović (

polyglot and the first minister of education of Serbia.[1] An influential protagonist of the Serbian national and cultural renaissance, he advocated Enlightenment and rationalist ideas, while remaining a Serbian patriot and an adherent of the Serbian Orthodox Church
.

Life

Dositej Obradović was born Dimitrije Obradović, probably in 1739, in the Banat village of Čakovo, in the Habsburg monarchy, now Ciacova, in present-day Romania. From an early age, he was possessed with a passion for study. Obradović grew up bilingual (in Serbian and Romanian) and learned classical Greek, Latin, modern Greek, German, English, French, Russian and Italian.[2]

On 17 February 1757 he became a

Srem region, and acquired the name Dositej (Dositheus).[3] He translated into Serbian many European classics, including Aesop's Fables
.

Having devoured the contents of the monastery library, he hungered for further learning. On 2 November 1760 he left the monastery of Hopovo, bound for Hilandar, Mount Athos.[4]

Plaque in Clement Lane.[where?]

In 1761 he went to

Joseph II and the German Enlightenment. Additionally, he was an Anglophile and influenced by English educators, seeing England as the land of spiritual freedom and modern civilization.[6]

Besides these countries, his forty year travel journeys across Europe and Asia Minor also took him to

Karađorđe Petrović, to become, in the newly organized government, Serbia's first minister of education.[7]

Obradović wrote first individual biographies and quickly the genre expanded to the form of biographical collection modelled on examples of Nepos, Suetonius, Plutarch, or Diogenes Laertius.

Obradović helped introduce to the Serbs the literature of certain western European countries.[8] He and Vuk Karadžić, whom Obradović influenced,[9] are recognized as the fathers of modern Serbian literature. Because the Serbian populace often suffered famine, Obradović also introduced potato cultivation to Serbia.

Dositej Obradović died in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1811.

Works

  • Slovo poučiteljno Gosp. Georg. Joakima Colikofera, Leipzig, 1774, 31 pp.
  • Pismo Haralampiju, 1783.
  • Život i priključenija D.O., Leipzig, 1783.
  • Sovjeti zdravago razuma, Leipzig, 1784, 119 pp.
  • Ezopove i pročih raznih basnotvorcev basne, Leipzig, 1788, 451 pp.
  • Pesme o izbavleniju Serbije, Vienna, 1789, 4 pp.
  • Sobranije raznih naravoučitelnih veščej, Pécs, 1793, 2 + 316 pp.
  • Etika ili filozofija naravnoučitelna, Venice, 1803, 160 pp.
  • Vostani Serbije, 1804.
  • Mezimac, Budim 1818, 230 + 11 pp.
  • Ižica, 1830
  • Pisma, Budapest, 1829, 126 pp.
  • Prvenac, Karlštat 1930, 17 + 168 pp.
  • Jastuk roda moga (lost), 1813

Translations

  • Slovo poučitelno, 1784.
  • Istina i prelest, (short story), 1788.
  • Put u jedan dan, (short story), 1788.
  • Aesop's Fables
  • Hristoitija
  • Bukvica
  • Etika
  • Venac
  • Damon
  • Ingleska izrečenija

In popular culture

See also

References

  1. ^ "Biography (Serbian)". Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  2. ^ The south Slav Journal / "Dositey Obradovich Circle". - London : South Slav Research & Study Centre 1.1978 - 5. ISSN 0141-6146
  3. ^ Skerlić 1914, p. 58.
  4. ^ a b Skerlić 1914, p. 59.
  5. ^ Skerlić 1914, pp. 59–60.
  6. ^ Skerlić 1914, p. 63-64.
  7. ^ Skerlić 1914, pp. 59–61.
  8. ^ Wladimir Fischer: The Role of Dositej Obradovic in the Construction of Serbian Identities During the 19th Century. In: spacesofidentity vol. 1.3 (2001)[permanent dead link]
  9. .
  10. ^ Pillow of my grave on IMDB
  11. YouTube
    TV miniseries, 1 part
  12. YouTube
    TV miniseries, 2 part

Sources

Further reading

Government offices
Preceded by
Post established
Minister of Education of Serbia

1807–1811
Succeeded by
Ivan Jugović