Margita Stefanović
Margita Stefanović Маргита Стефановић | |
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Background information | |
Born | Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia | 1 April 1959
Died | 18 September 2002 Belgrade, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia | (aged 43)
Genres | |
Instrument(s) | Keyboards |
Years active | 1982–2002 |
Formerly of |
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Margita "Magi" Stefanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Маргита "Маги" Стефановић; 1 April 1959 – 18 September 2002) was a Serbian musician best known as a keyboardist of a Yugoslav rock band Ekatarina Velika (EKV).
Biography
Born in
After graduating university in 1982, along with her then-boyfriend Srđan Vejvoda, the older brother of Goran Vejvoda,[2] she began to take an interest in Belgrade's underground music scene, which struck her as a completely different lifestyle from the one she was used to. During the spring of 1982, she was introduced to Milan Mladenović by her cousin Gagi Mihajlović. Soon thereafter, at one of Katarina II's early rehearsals, she got an offer to join the band. After returning from a three-month trip to South America, she decided to take the still-standing offer, joining Katarina II in late 1982.
Margita was Katarina II/Ekatarina Velika's member until its very end in late 1994. During her time with the band, she also collaborated on the albums of many other Yugoslav bands such as Karlowy Vary produced by Tomo in der Mühlen, Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors, Van Gogh, Babe etc.
She composed the score for several TV films (Prvi put s ocem na jutrenje, Vera Hofmanova, Povratak Vuka Alimpića, Plavi plavi) and theatre productions (Klasni neprijatelj, Tri sestre). In 1985, she was introduced as an actress (the role of Dragana) in the movie
After Milan's death and Ekatarina Velika's end, Magi continued her work as a musician. During 1994–95 she played in a band called Kurajberi, which gathered several Belgrade musicians and was focused mainly on performing covers at club gigs and
Sometime in 1996, Stefanović became a member of Ars Antibari writers society from Bar, which published several of her stories in two books (Izgleda da će jugo, Bar, 1996; and Da li da ti kažem ko te je ubio, Gea?, Belgrade, 1999). In 2002, she composed the music for the theatre play Kaput mrtvog čoveka directed by Hajdana Baletić, which turned out to be Stefanović's last music-related work.
However, from 1996 onwards her life was mostly spent struggling with heroin addiction and the physical effects of long-term drug use. Following the passing of her father in February 1996, Stefanović's drug problems intensified. In order to support her addiction, she sold pretty much all of her possessions including an apartment in Vračar. She used part of the money for a trip to India, and also to buy two smaller apartments in Zvezdara and Čubura.[4] Not long thereafter she sold those as well and eventually ended up living in a ramshackle modified garage in the suburb of Borča. By this time she was basically penniless, depending on charity and handouts for even the basics such as food.[5]
Margita Stefanović spent the last months of her life living in a homeless shelter in Voždovac. She was diagnosed to be HIV-positive, which she contracted through intravenous drug use. She died of toxoplasmosis on 18 September 2002 at the Belgrade Hospital for Infective Diseases, where she had been sequestered since August of the same year.[6]
Other
Magi played keyboards in Belgrade's band "The Glissers" 1995. and 1996. They performed on a weekly basis and released a CD "The Glissers Vol. 1" She also designed the cover for it. In 2019. it came out in vinyl form as an Album The Glissers.
- There is an urban legend about Margita being the subject of the first-ever VIS Idoli.[citation needed]
- In July 2008, a book Vrati unatrag by Aleksandar Ilić, featuring conversations with Magi was released.[7][8][9]
- In October 2011, a voluminous, richly illustrated intimate memoir titled "Osećanja. O. Sećanja" written by Magi's close lifelong friend Lidija Nikolić was released by the small publishing house "Cekic" in Belgrade. The book has already been reprinted once.
References
- ISBN 978-953-355-693-2.
- ISBN 978-953-355-693-2.
- ISBN 978-953-355-693-2.
- ISBN 978-953-355-693-2.
- ^ "Milosrdni anđeo". 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009.
- ISBN 978-953-355-693-2.
- ^ "Vrati unatrag" - razgovori sa Magi, POPBOKS, 12 July 2008
- ^ Objavljeni razgovori sa Magi iz EKV u knjizi "Vrati unatrag", Blic, 11 July 2008 (in Serbian)
- ^ Knjiga o EKV probudila duhove Archived 2008-09-21 at the Wayback Machine, Mondo portal, 20 September 2008 (in Serbian)