Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић, ; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, biographer, diarist,

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist and the first minister of education of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. 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 The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

Life

Early life and education

Dositej Obradović was born Dimitrije Obradović, probably in 1739, in the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

village of Čakovo, in the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, now Ciacova, in present-day

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. 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. On 17 February 1757 he became a monk in the Serb Orthodox monastery of Hopovo, in the Srem region, and acquired the name ''Dositej'' (Dositheus). He translated into Serbian many

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an classics, including ''

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

''. 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. Dositej Travel Map

Further education and travel

In 1761 he went to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

where he studied Latin. From 1761 to 1763 he was a teacher in a Serbian school in Kninsko Polje. For a brief period, he taught at a monastery in the Bay of Kotor before he was ordained as a priest by Vasilije Petrović. After falling ill, he returned to teach in Dalmatia in the village of Golubić near Knin. He then went to Corfu where he studied Greek before going to Venice and then coming back to Dalmatia where he became a teacher again, in Plavno. He enrolled at the University of Halle in 1782, where he studied philosophy. In 1783, he transferred to the University of Leipzig and published his first work. He was a student of Johann Eberhard who himself was a disciple of Christian Wolf. More than a third of his life was spent in Austria where Obradović became influenced by the ideas of 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. In 1785 Obradović presented his books printed in Leipzig to the British Museum Library in London. These were the first modern Serbian books acquired by the British Museum Library. Besides these countries, his forty-year travel journeys across Europe and Asia Minor also took him to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Later life and death

At the time of the First Serbian Uprising (1804) Obradović was in Italy, where he published his pivotal poem Rise O Serbia (Vostani Serbije) in honor of Karađorđe Petrović and the insurgents. In Dositej's song, Serbia is pictured as a ‘sleeping Beauty’, asleep for centuries. The verses call upon her to wake up and give an example to her ‘sisters’, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Montenegro. In 1807 Obradović moved to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

at the invitation of Karađorđe Petrović, to become, in the newly organized government, Serbia's first minister of education. In 1809 he founded Higher School, the first higher education institution in Serbia that later developed into a university. The school was located in a two-story building in Zajrek, one of the oldest parts of Belgrade. The building now serves as the Museum of Vuk and Dositej. Obradović wrote first individual biographies and quickly the genre expanded to the form of biographical collection modelled on examples of Nepos, Suetonius,

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, or Diogenes Laertius. Obradović helped introduce to the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

the literature of certain

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

an countries. He and Vuk Karadžić, whom Obradović influenced, 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

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, in 1811. He was honored with a large funeral procession and buried in St Michael's Cathedral. A monument to Obradović was errected by the Kalemegan park entrance in 1914. It was moved in 1930 to a prominent spot at the newly opened Academic Park, close to the University of Belgrade administration and governance building, where it still stands.

In popular culture

*', a television miniseries based on the biography of Dositej Obradović and directed by Sava Mrmak, was produced in 1990 by the Serbian broadcasting service RTS.

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''

Life

Early life and education

Further education and travel

Later life and death

In popular culture

Works

Translations

See also

References

Sources

Further reading