Jelena Skerlić Ćorović ( sr-cyr, Јелена Скерлић Ћоровић; 16 October 1887 – 16 February 1960) was a Serbian writer, translator,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and French language professor. She translated a large number of foreign literary works into Serbian. She was the sister of literary historian and critic

Jovan Skerlić Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as on ...

and the wife of historian

Vladimir Ćorović Vladimir Ćorović ( sr-cyrl, Владимир Ћоровић; 27 October 1885 – 12 April 1941) was a Serbian historian, university professor, author, and academic. His bibliography consists of more than 1000 works. Several of his books on the ...

Life

Jelena was born in 1887 in Belgrade to a well-to-do family. Her parents were Persida and Miloš Skerlić. Her brother was Jovan Skerlić, an influential Serbian literary critic. Jelena's mother Persida Skerlić, who died in 1893, was devoted to her children and family and had a great influence on them, encouraging them to learn and study. In 1907, Jelena graduated from the , a ''

grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles offer teaching, research and professional training in s ...

'' in Belgrade. She then enrolled as a part-time student at 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 ...

and studied French under the guidance of professor

Bogdan Popović Bogdan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Богдан Поповић; 20 December 1863 – 7 November 1944) was one of the most important literary critics and university professors in Serbia and later Yugoslavia and an academic. He was the brother of ...

, while also working as a French teacher in a private school in

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...

. During her studies, Jelena met

, whom she married in 1910. She had two daughters, Mirjana and Milica. The Ćorović family initially changed their place of residence frequently, living in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

(1910–1914),

Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, with ...

and

Banjaluka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

(1914–1917),

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, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

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 ...

, and

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

(1917–1919). In 1919 they returned to Belgrade and Vladimir Ćorović became a

tenured Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

professor at the

Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy ( sr, Филозофски факултет Универзитета у Београду), established in 1838 within the Belgrade Higher School, is the oldest Faculty at the University of Belgrade ...

. During the period 1920–1922, Jelena worked as a French teacher at a Gymnasium in Belgrade. Jelena remodelled her apartment into a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

, where the elite of the interwar period gathered every Tuesday to discuss literature, history, culture and current events. She died on 16 February 1960 in her home in Belgrade.

Works

Jelena translated works from French, Russian and English into Serbian. From French and Russian she mostly translated novels and short stories, namely the works of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

André Theuriet Claude Adhémar André Theuriet (; 8 October 1833 in Marly-le-Roi – 23 April 1907 in Bourg-la-Reine) was a 19th-century French poet and novelist. Life Theuriet was born at Marly-le-Roi ( Seine et Oise), and was educated at Bar-le-Duc in his ...

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ''bo ...

Octave Mirbeau Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...

Claude Farrère Claude Farrère, pseudonym of Frédéric-Charles Bargone (27 April 1876, in Lyon – 21 June 1957, in Paris), was a French Navy officer and writer. Many of his novels are based in exotic locations such as Istanbul, Saigon, or Nagasaki. One of ...

Nicolas Chamfort Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, known in his adult life as Nicolas Chamfort and as Sébastien Nicolas de Chamfort (; 6 April 1741 – 13 April 1794), was a French writer, best known for his epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary to Louis XVI's siste ...

Jules Lemaître François Élie Jules Lemaître (27 April 1853 – 4 August 1914) was a French critic and dramatist. Biography Lemaître was born in Vennecy, Loiret. He became a professor at the University of Grenoble in 1883, but was already well known for hi ...

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote influe ...

Henri Lavedan Henri Léon Emile Lavedan (9 April 1859 – 4 September 1940), French dramatist and man of letters, was born at Orléans, the son of , a well-known Catholic and liberal journalist. Lavedan contributed to various Parisian papers a series of witty ...

and others. Among her favourite Russian authors were

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

and

Maksim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...

. She also produced original works, including ''Srpski književni glasnik'', ''Narod'', ''Bosanska vila'', ''Književni jug'', ''Misli'', ''Prilozima za književnost, jezik, istoriju i folklor'' and ''Politika''. In 1932, she published a literary analysis of the poetry of Omar Khayyam, accompanied by an adaptation of nine rubaiyat based on Edward Fitzgerald’s translation, together with a second volume containing seventy-five rubaiyat which she adapted from the prosaic French translation of the original. She wrote a series of articles on

Milovan Glišić Milovan Glišić (6 January 1847 – 20 January 1908) was a Serbian writer, dramatist, translator, and literary theorist. He is sometimes referred to as ''the Serbian Gogol''. Legacy Glišić is considered to be one of the best translator ...

and

Pavle Popović Pavle Popović ( sr-cyr, Павле Поповић; 16 April 1868 – 4 June 1939) was a Serbian literary critic and historian, a professor and rector at the University of Belgrade. He is the brother of Bogdan Popović, also a well-known and equa ...

, as well as autobiographical sketches of her childhood. Towards the end of her life, Jelena predominantly worked on her memoirs – ''Život među ljudima'' ("Life Among People") – which included testimonies about her husband Vladimir Ćorović, brother Jovan Skerlić, and her friends

Isidora Sekulić Isidora Sekulić ( sr-cyr, Исидора Секулић, 16 February 1877 – 5 April 1958) was a Serbian writer, novelist, essayist, polyglot and art critic. She was "the first woman academic in the history of Serbia". Biography Sekulić was b ...

Desanka Maksimović Desanka Maksimović ( sr-Cyrl, Десанка Максимовић; 16 May 1898 – 11 February 1993) was a Serbian poet, writer and translator. Her first works were published in the literary journal ''Misao'' in 1920, while she was studying at th ...

Branislav Nušić Branislav Nušić ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Нушић, ; – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant. Life Bra ...

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical P ...

, as well as other contemporaries. Several translations and unfinished memoirs remained in her papers after her death.

Articles and other similar texts

* ''Knjiga jedne žene vojnika januar'' (1928) * ''Mara Đorđević - Malagurska: Vita Đanina i druge pripovetke iz bunjevačkog života'' (1933) * ''Jedna persiska pesma i jedna bosanska sevdalinka'' (1938) * ''Porodična pisma J.Skerlića'' (1964) * ''O Skerlićevim roditeljima: neke moje uspomene iz detinjstva i mladosti'' (1964) * ''Sećanje na Milovana Glišića'' (1997) * ''Bogdan i Pavle Popović'' (1998)

Incomplete list of translations

* '' Mečkari '' (1905) * '' Mala Roka '' (1909) * '' In the family '' (1910) * '' History of my books. Numa Rumestan '' (1912) * '' Mr. Paran '' (1912) * '' Field Restriction and Origin of Property (from "Penguin Island")'' (1913) * '' Protector '' (1914) * '' Maxims and Thoughts '' (1914) * '' Our Heart '' (1917) * '' Sebastian Roch '' (1919) * '' From Sailor's Life: Stories '' (1920) * '' Epicurus' Garden '' (1920) * '' The Life of Jesus '' (1921) * '' Skinny Cat '' (1921) * '' Buddhism '' (1921) * '' Dulcinea. On the Margins of Don Quixote '' (1923) * '' Excerpts from the diary of Mrs. Clelia Eponine Dipon (1795-179 ...). On the margins of General Bonaparte's proclamation '' (1923) * '' First thought. On the Margins of Zend-Avesta '' (1923) * '' Revenge '' (1923)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skerlić Ćorović, Jelena 1887 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Serbian women 20th-century Serbian women writers

Life

Works

Articles and other similar texts

Incomplete list of translations

See also

References