Antonije Tona Hadžić (Serbian Cyrillic: Антоније Хаџић;

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

, 20 November 1831 -

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, 17 January 1916) was the secretary and president of the

Matica Srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Матица српска, Matica srpska, la, Matrix Serbica, grc, Μάτιτσα Σρπσκα) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national inst ...

, playwright, and director of the Serbian National Theater and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the ''Letopis'' (Chronicle) of the

Biography

Antonije was born on 20 November 1831 in

, to father Sava and mother Marija. In Subotica, he attended elementary school (1840-1843) and six grades of high school (1843-1850). He then completed the remaining two years of high school in

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

. In the same city, he studied philosophy (1850-1852) and law (1852-1857). As a pupil and student, he played in the Serbian amateur theater and was also the president of the Serbian youth association ''Peodnica'' in Pest.

Matica Srpska

At the General Assembly on 22 August 1859 in

, he was elected secretary of the

. One of the first tasks in office was to realize the initiative of the former president of the Matica,

Platon Atanacković Platon Atanacković (Sombor, Vojvodina, Habsburg monarchy, 10 July 1788 – Novi Sad, Habsburg Monarchy, 21 April 1867) was a writer, Linguistics, linguist, patron of Serb culture, bishop of the Eparchy of Bačka and president of ''Matica srpska''. ...

, to move the Matica from Pest to

, which he did in 1864 together with [Candić. He remained secretary until 1895 when he served as president (1896–1911). . As the editor of the ''Letopis'' (Chronicle) of Matica Srpska (1859-1869 and 1876-1895), he was extremely agile, and his editorial policy reflected the maturing of the political consciousness of the young towards the democratic and freedom-loving ideals of European citizenship. He also published Matica's magazine for literature and entertainment Matica three times a month, from 1865 to 1870.

Serbian National Theater

While he was with Matica in Pest, together with

Laza Kostić Lazar "Laza" Kostić ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар "Лаза" Костић; 12 February 1841 – 27 November 1910) was a Serbian poet, prose writer, lawyer, aesthetician, journalist, publicist, and politician who is considered to be one of the greatest ...

, he organized plays for the benefit of the Serbian National Theater. He also obtained statutes that could serve as a model for the first constitution for the ''Srpsko Narodno Pozorište'' (SNP), he collected decor, costumes, props, as well as plays for translation for the first repertoire, and he also personally translated and prepared some of them. When he moved to Novi Sad, he completely dedicated himself to the theater: he was the deputy's head, then the head of the Association for the ''Srpsko Narodno Pozorište'' (SNP), the president of the Theater Department, the manager, the playwright, and the director. From 1875 to 1903, he was represented as manager by Dimitrije Ružić, but Hadžić still managed the theater. Hadzic wrote literary and theater reviews, portraits of actors, short stories, historical articles, and minor discussions, translated plays from the Hungarian language, adapted domestic plays (''Grabancijas'' by Ilija Okrugić Sremac and ''Stanoje Glavaš'' by Djura Jakšić) for the theater, staged the Mountain Wreath by Njegoš with a prologue by

(1902). With

Gligorije Geršić Gligorije ( sr, Глигорије) is a masculine given name. It may refer to: *Gligorije Elezović (1879–1960), Serbian historian *Gligorije Trlajić (1766–1811), Serbian writer, poet, polyglot and professor {{given name See also *Grigorije ...

, Antonije Hadžić translated

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

(1886) and independently translated the third act of

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

(1873). He wrote a one-act comedy Love is not a joke (1871) and with

Jovan Djordjević Jovan Djordjević (born 22 January 1985), is a Serbian futsal player who plays for Marbo Intermezzo and the Serbia national futsal team The Serbia national futsal team represents Serbia in international futsal competitions such as the FIFA Fut ...

an allegory in two parts with music by Davorin Jenko's ''Markov Saber'' (1873). He initiated and edited the Theater (1871—1908) and the edition ''Zbornik pozorišnih dela'' of the ''Srpsko Narodno Pozorište'' (Serbian national Theatre) in 1872. He was an activist of the

United Serbian Youth The United Serb Youth ( sr, Уједињена омладина српска, Ujedinjena omladina srpska), also known as ''Omladina'' ("the Youth"), was a diverse progressive Serbian political, cultural and national movement active between 1866 an ...

and the

of its newspaper ''Mlada Srbadija'' (1870-1871) until he was transferred to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. Hadžić and poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj often corresponded with one another. In a letter to Hadžić, Zmaj referred to the great men of letters of both Hungary ( Vorosmarty, Petofi,

Arany Furmint (also known as Mainak) is a white Hungarian wine grape variety that is most noted widely grown in the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region where it is used to produce single-varietal dry wines as well as being the principal grape in the better kno ...

) and Serbia (

Branko Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko Babić ...

, Njegoš, Sarajlija and speculated how well they must be fraternizing in the celestial world before the Almighty. Antonije Hadžić was awarded the Order of Saint Sava I class, II class (1894) and III class (1898); the Order of Prince Danilo I, III degree (1895); the Cross of Franz Joseph I (1908), and he also received the title of court advisor. He was buried in the Almaški cemetery in

. A street in Novi Sad bears his name.

Sources

* ''Glasnik Istorijskog drustva u Novi Sadu'',

, 1931; * ''Matica srpska 1826-1926'',

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

. p. 534; * "Biography of Antonio Hadžić" on the website of the Encyclopedia of the Serbian National Theater". www.snp.org.rs. Retrieved August 8, 2018; * "Antonije Hadžić, secretary of Matica Srpska" - In: ''Školski list'', May 15, 1889; * "Encyclopedia of Novi Sad." Book 30, Fog-Schush. Novi Sad: Novi Sad Club "Good News". 2009. p. 107—109; * Acović, Dragomir (2012). "Glory and honor: Decorations among Serbs, Serbs among decorations". Belgrade: Official Gazette. p. 561; * "Thirty tombstones with graves of prominent political, cultural and public workers", at the Almaški cemetery in Novi Sad." www.spomenicikulture.mi.sanu.ac.rs.

Literature

* "Encyclopedia of Novi Sad". Book 30, Fog-Schush. Novi Sad: Novi Sad Club "Good News". 2009. p. 107—109.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadzic, Antonije 1831 births 1916 deaths Matica srpska Serbian theatre directors People from Subotica