Grigorije "Grigor" Vitez ( sh-Cyrl, Григорије "Григор" Витез; 15 February 1911 – 23 November 1966) was a Yugoslav writer and translator. He is best remembered as the author of

children's poetry Children's poetry is poetry written for, appropriate for, or enjoyed by children. Children's poetry is one of the oldest art forms, rooted in early oral tradition, folk poetry, and nursery rhymes. Children have always enjoyed both works of p ...

and other forms of literature for children and youth.

Biography

He was born to a SerbЗорица Турјачанин, ''Свежањ нових кључева. Студије и есеји из књижевности за дјецу'', Бања Лука 1999, pp. 71. family from north

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

, which had previously used the surname Alavanja. One of his ancestors held the honorary title of knight ( sh, vitez), which became the family surname. He went to elementary school in Okučani and to a gymnasium in Nova Gradiška. As a high school student he started collection folk poetry of the area. Vitez went on to finish the state school for teachers. In 1933, he joined the Communists and fought in the World War II as a member of the Yugoslav Partisans. After the World War II, he worked in the Ministry of Education and as editor for ''Mladost'' publishing house, in charge for children's and youth edition. Vitez was also working for the ''Novo pokoljenje ''publishing company. He edited thirteen publishing series for children and youth. When Borislav Pekić authored an anthology of

, Vitez criticised him because, even though Serbian literature for children is '' de facto'' richer than

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

, he should have included more poets from Croatia. Vitez was a prolific translator, mostly from Russian. He translated poems by Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov,

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...

Sergei Yesenin Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin ( rus, Сергей Александрович Есенин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ jɪˈsʲenʲɪn; ( 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one o ...

, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Eduard Bagritsky, Vera Inber, Alexey Surkov, Mikhail Golodny,

Stepan Shchipachev Stepan Petrovich Schipachev (russian: Степа́н Петро́вич Щипачёв; 7 January 1898 – 1 January 1980) was a Russian Soviet poet. He is best known for the poem ''Lines of Love'' and poetry collections ''Musings'' (1962), ''A ...

, Aleksandr Tvardovsky etc., and prose from the works of Leo Tolstoy,

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

, Maxim Gorky and Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy. He also translated

Pavel Golia Pavel Golia (10 April 1887 – 15 August 1959) was a Slovenian poet and playwright. Life Pavel Golia was born in a relatively wealthy family in Trebnje. Between 1907 and 1915, he served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army. In 1918, he was ...

Fran Levstik Fran Levstik (28 September 1831 – 16 November 1887) was a Slovene writer, political activist, playwright and critic. He was one of the most prominent exponents of the Young Slovene political movement. Life and work Levstik was born in 183 ...

, Srečko Kosovel, Matjaž Klopčič,

Alojz Gradnik Alojz Gradnik (August 3, 1882 – July 14, 1967) was a Slovenian poet and translator. Life Gradnik was born in the village of Medana in the Gorizia Hills region, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is today in the Municipality of ...

, Cene Vipotnik, Tone Pavček, Janez Menart and other Slovenian poets. Alongside Russian and Slovenian he translated works from

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

. He held a correspondence with Nobel Prize winning writer

. Vitez died at the age of 55 and was buried in his hometown.

Prosvjeta The Serbian Cultural Society "Prosvjeta" (abbreviated: SKD "Prosvjeta" or sr-cyrl, СКД "Просвјета") in Zagreb, Croatia is an independent, non-governmental cultural and scientific organization that takes special responsibility for pro ...

published his selected works in 2011, marking 100 years of his birth. Most of the works by Serbian writers was removed from the textbooks and schools from Croatia during and after the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

, but Vitez's works was continuously part of the school curriculum in Croatia. Grigor Vitez Award for literature written for children was established in 1967. It is the oldest awards of its kind in modern-day Croatia. He was awarded the Yugoslav Order of Labour, Order of the Republic and Award of the city of Zagreb.„Григор Витез и његово књижевно дјело“, ''Просвјета. Мјесечник Српског културног друштва Просвјета'' (27) 1967 Schools in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

Sveti Ivan Žabno Sveti Ivan Žabno is a municipality in the Koprivnica-Križevci County in Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Bea ...

, Poljana and Zagreb are named after him, as well as the local library in Gornji Bogićevci.

Works

* ''San boraca u zoru'', Nakl. Navod Hrvatske, Zagreb, 1948 * ''Pjesme'', Zora Državno izdavačko poduzeće Hrvatske, Zagreb, 1950 * ''Naoružane ruže'', Kultura, Zagreb, 1955 * ''Vesele zamke'', Mladost, Zagreb, 1955 * ''Prepelica'', Prosvjeta, Zagreb, 1956 * ''Lirika o Slavoniji'', urednik, Slavonija danas, Osijek, 1956 * ''Povjerenje životu'', Narodna prosvjeta, Sarajevo, 1957 * ''Sto vukova, i druge pjesme za djecu'', "Svjetlost", Sarajevo, 1957 * ''Perzijske bajke'', Mladost, Zagreb, 1958. * ''Kad bi drveće hodalo'', Mladost, Zagreb, 1959 * ''Kao lišće i trava: pjesme'', Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 1960 * ''Maksimir'', Mladost, Zagreb, 1960 * ''Iza brda plava: izbor pjesama za djecu'', Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 1961 * ''Jednog jutra u gaju'', editor, 1961 * ''Hvatajte lopova'', "Svjetlost", Sarajevo, 1964 * ''Gdje priče rastu'', Mladost, Zagreb, 1965. * ''Zekina kuća'', Mladost, Zagreb, 1965 * ''Igra se nastavlja'', posthumous, 1967 * ''Pjesme četiri vjetra'', editor, 1968 * ''Nevidljive ptice'', Mozaik knjiga, 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitez, Grigorije Serbian writers Croatian writers 20th-century Serbian people 20th-century Croatian people 1911 births 1966 deaths People from Brod-Posavina County Serbs of Croatia