Dušan Kovačević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Ковачевић, ; born 12 July 1948) is a Serbian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, scriptwriter, film director and academic best known for his theatre plays and movie scripts. He also served as the ambassador of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Biography

Kovačević was born in

Mrđenovac Mrđenovac ( sr, Мрђеновац) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Šabac municipality, in the Mačva District. The village has a Serbs, Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 697 people (2002 census). See also

*List ...

near

Šabac Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city p ...

PR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

, graduated from Svetozar Marković Gymnasium in

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 ...

, and received a bachelor's degree in dramaturgy from the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

in 1973. From 1973, he worked as a dramaturge at ''TV Beograd'' for five years. Since 1998, he has been the artistic director of ''Zvezdara teatar''. In 2003 he directed his first movie, ''Profesionalac'' ('' The Professional''). Kovačević's prolific work is well known and popular in Serbia. His comedies have been translated into 17 languages, but his work didn't become available in English until the mid-1990s. One of his plays, ''Balkan Spy'' was being rehearsed in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

at the time of

Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

, only to be cancelled by the authorities. A declared

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

, Dušan Kovačević is a member of the Crown Council of Aleksandar Karađorđević. He is also a member of the

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...

. In 2020 he was awarded the Sretenje order of the Republic of Serbia. His daughter

Lena Kovačević Lena Kovačević ( sr-cyr, Лена Ковачевић, born on 25 February 1982) is a Serbian singer. She is the daughter of Dušan Kovačević. Kovačević debuted in her father's 2003 movie '' The Professional'', where she performed the song ...

is a jazz singer.

Selected works

Plays

* ''Radovan Treći'' - Radovan III (1973) * ''

Maratonci trče počasni krug ''The Marathon Family'' ( sr, Маратонци трче почасни круг / Maratonci trče počasni krug, lit. ''Marathon Runners Do a Lap of Honour'', or often simply ''Maratonci'', lit. ''The Marathon Runners'') is a 1982 Cinema of Yugo ...

'' - The Marathon Runners Run a Victory Lap of Honor (1973) * '' Proleće u januaru'' - The Spring in January (1977) * ''

Sabirni centar ''The Meeting Point'' (''Sabirni centar'') is a 1989 Yugoslavian fantasy/comedy-drama film directed by Goran Marković and starring Rade Marković, Bogdan Diklić, Dragan Nikolić, Mirjana Karanović and Anica Dobra. It is based on Dušan Kovač ...

'' - The Gathering Place (1982) * '' Balkanski špijun'' - Balkan Spy (1982) * '' Sveti Georgije ubiva aždahu'' -

St. George Shoots the Dragon ''St. George Slays the Dragon'' ( sr, Свети Георгије убива аждаху, ) is a Serbian war drama film directed by Srđan Dragojević and written by Dušan Kovačević. The movie premiered on March 11, 2009. With a budget of ar ...

(1984) * ''Klaustofobična Komedija '' - Claustrophobic Comedy (1987) * ''

Profesionalac ''The Professional'' ( sr, Професионалац / ''Profesionalac'') is a 2003 Serbian comedy/drama film, written and directed by Dušan Kovačević and based on his 1990 play of the same name. The film enjoys cult status and is a dark come ...

'' - The Professional (1990) * ''Urnebesna Tragedija'' - Roaring Tragedy (also translated as Tragedy Burlesque; 1990) * ''Lari Tompson, tragedija jedne mladosti'' - Larry Thompson, the Tragedy of a Youth (1996) * ''Kontejner sa Pet Zvezdica'' - Five-Star Dumpster (1999) * ''Doktor Šuster'' - Doctor Shoemaker (2001) * ''Generalna proba samoubistva'' - Dress Rehearsal for a Suicide (2009) * ''Život u tesnim cipelama'' - Life in tight shoes (2011) * ''Kumovi'' - Godfathers (2013) * ''Rođendan gospodina Nušića'' - The birthday of Mr Nušić (2014) * ''Hipnoza jedne ljubavi'' - Hypnosis of one love (2016)

Screenplays

* ''Bestije,''1977 * ''Poseban tretman,'' 1980 (''Special Treatment'') * ''Ko to tamo peva,'' 1980 (''

Who's Singing Over There? ''Who's Singin' Over There?'' ( sh, Ko to tamo peva) is a 1980 Yugoslav film written by Dušan Kovačević and directed by Slobodan Šijan. It is a dark comedy and features an ensemble cast. The film tells a story about a group of passengers tra ...

'') * ''Maratonci trče počasni krug,'' 1982 ( ''The Marathon Runners Run a Victory Lap of Hono''r) * ''Balkanski špijun,'' 1984 ''(

Balkan Spy ''Balkan Spy'' ( sr, Балкански шпијун / Balkanski špijun) is a 1984 Yugoslav comedy drama film directed by Serbian directors Dušan Kovačević and Božidar Nikolić. Plot Ilija Čvorović (Bata Stojković), a former Stalinist who ...

'') * ''Sabirni Centar,'' 1989 (''The Gathering Place'') * ''Pod zemlja,'' 1995 (''

Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

'' ), directed by

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

, won the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. His adaptation of his play called ''Proleće u januaru'' (''Spring in January).'' * ''Profesionalac,'' 2003 ('' The Professional''), also director. * ''Sveti Georgije ubiva aždahu'', 2003 ('' St. George Kills the Dragon'') * ''Nije loše biti čovek,'' 2021 ( Not Bad to be a Human),also director. His adaptation of his play ''Kumovi.''

Poetry

* ''Ja to tamo pevam'' (2020)

References

* Barnett, Dennis. An interview with Dusan Kovacevic, Belgrade, August 1997. * Kovačević, Dušan. ''Odabrane Drame I'', Vreme Knjige:Beograd, 1994. * Kovačević, Dušan. ''Odabrane Drame II'', Vreme Knjige:Beograd, 1994. * Kovačević, Dušan. ''Odabrane Drame III'', Vreme Knjige:Beograd, 1998.

External links

Zvezdara Theater
*
Intervju: Dušan Kovačević
''Wine Style'', March 12, 2009
Srbiju trese pljačkaška groznica
''Blic'', May 3, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacevic, Dusan 1948 births Living people Writers from Šabac Serbian dramatists and playwrights Ambassadors of Serbia to Portugal Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts University of Belgrade alumni Golden Arena winners Serbian screenwriters Male screenwriters