Izet Sarajlić (16 March 1930 in

Doboj Doboj ( sr-cyrl, Добој, ) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Bosna river, in the northern region of the Republika Srpska. As of 2013, it has a population of 71,441 ...

– 2 May 2002 in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

) was a Bosnian historian of philosophy, essayist, translator and poet. Sarajlić was

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

's best-known poet after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and the

former 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 Yu ...

's most widely translated poet.

Biography

Sarajlić was born in

in 1930. His mother was not yet eighteen when she married his father, a railway worker. Sarajlić's childhood was spent in

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of Trebišnjica river in the r ...

and

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

; he moved to

in 1945, where he would remain for the rest of his life. In Sarajevo, Sarajlić attended the boys’ gymnasium, and would enter the world of Yugoslav poetry at age nineteen with the collection, "U susretu" ("In meeting"). He graduated with a degree in philosophy at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest ...

's department of philosophy and comparative literature, later receiving a doctorate in philosophical sciences. During his studies at university, Sarajlić worked as a journalist. After graduating, Sarajlić became a full-time professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, a position he would hold for the rest of his life. He was a member of both the

Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

and the Writers' Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the association of intellectuals, "Krug 99" ("Circle 99"). Together with Husein Tahmiščić,

Ahmet Hromadžić Ahmet Hromadžić (11 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was a Bosnian writer. Bibliography *Labudova poljana, novel, Sarajevo, 1952. *Patuljak iz Zaboravljene zemlje, novel, Sarajevo, 1956. *Patuljak vam priča, short stories, Sarajevo, 1957. ...

, Velimir Milošević and Vladimir Čerkez, he founded "Sarajevo Poetry Days" as an international book festival in 1962. During his lengthy career, Sarajlić published over 30 books of poetry, some of which have been translated into fifteen languages, as well as numerous memoirs, political writings and translations. Sarajlić's manuscript "Sarajevo War Journal," written during the first weeks of the

siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then be ...

, was published in 1993 in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. When talking about it, Sarajlić would say, "This is the only collection of which I can say that I would love never to have written it." Sarajlić is reported to have believed that he "belonged to the 20th century." When the 21st century arrived, he would date letters to friends as "1999+1," "1999+2," etc. He died in

on 2 May 2002, at the age of 72. His literary work is a part of common heritage of Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins and Bosniaks.

References

External links

Izet Sarajlić on ezgeta.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarajlic, Izet 1930 births 2002 deaths Writers from Sarajevo People from Doboj Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina poets Bosniak writers Bosniak poets Bosnia and Herzegovina historians of philosophy 20th-century poets