Jovan Grčić Milenko
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Jovan Grčić Milenko ( sr-cyr, Јован Грчић Миленко; 15 November 1846 – 25 May 1875) was a
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...
poet, writer and a physician. The freshness of his lyrical poetry places him in the succession of
Branko Radičević Aleksije "Branko" Radičević ( sr-Cyrl, Алексије Бранко Радичевић, ; 28 March 1824 – 1 July 1853) was a Serbian poet who wrote in the period of Romanticism. Biography Branko Radičević was born in Slavonski Brod on 1 ...
and he is also noted for his power of natural description. He translated
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
,
Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...
and
Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–1883) ...
into
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...
, and his own poems into
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
.


Biography

Jovan Grčić was born in the village of
Čerević Čerević () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Beočin municipality, in the Vojvodina province. Although, the village is geographically located in Syrmia, it is part of the South Bačka District. The village has a Serb ethnic majority ...
in the municipality of
Beočin Beočin ( sr-Cyrl, Беочин, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The population of the town is 7,274, whilst Beočin's municipality population is 13,875 (2022 ce ...
in
Srem Syrmia ( Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is ...
,
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
as the oldest of three children (Jovan, Djordje and Katica) of Todor and Ana Grcki. His family was of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
origin. His father Todor, a merchant, died young (1850), leaving his wife to raise the children. Jovan was educated in Serbian in Čerević, and in German in
Petrovaradin Petrovaradin ( sr-Cyrl, Петроварадин, ) is a historic town in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, now a part of the city of Novi Sad. As of 2011, the urban area has 14,810 inhabitants. Lying on the right bank of the Danube, across the m ...
,
Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...
and Pozun. In 1863 Jovan Grčić began his brief but sensational career as a lyric poet. For a span of five years he wrote five books of poems and three short stories. He began with "Ne boj mi se" (Have no fear), a poem which appeared in the literary periodical ''Danica'' in 1863. He was a regular contributor with translations from German from 1864 to 1867. Instead of proceeding to the university, he went to visit his parents back home, in Čerević. There he fell in love with the young Milena Stefanović, and through her parents he became acquainted with physician and poet
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Jovan Jovanović Zmaj ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Јовановић Змаj, pronounced ; 24 November 1833 – 1 June 1904) was a Serbian poet, translator and physician. Jovanović worked as a physician; he wrote in many poetry genres, including Lo ...
, Milan Kujundžić-Aberdar,
Laza Kostić Lazar Kostić ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар Костић; 12 February 1841 – 27 November 1910) was a Serbian poet, prose writer, lawyer, aesthetics, aesthetician, journalist, publicist, and politician who is considered to be one of the greatest minds ...
and other men of letters of the time. Milena Stefanović died suddenly at the age of 16, while Jovan was away preparing for his medical studies in Pozun. Shocked and horrified by Milena's sudden death, he began seriously writing poems, dedicating an entire cycle of poems to her memory. He wrote: "From your name 'Mileno' .... I baptize myself 'Milenko'." He would eventually change his surname Grčki to Grčić and add his first love's name to his. It was from then on that he was known as Jovan Grčić-Milenko. In 1867 he moved from Pozun to Vienna to continue his medical studies at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
's School of Medicine. There he became seriously ill and had to drop out before graduating. In 1873 he returned to his native village of Čerević, but his tuberculosis progressed so much so that Abbot German, a friend of the family, intervened and took Jovan to the
Beočin monastery The Beočin Monastery () is a Serbian Orthodox monastery, located just outside Beočin, on Fruška Gora mountain in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. The date of its founding is unknown. It was first mentioned in Ottoman Turkish recor ...
, where he could receive better clinical care than at home. He died in the Beočin monastery in Fruska Gora on 25 May 1875 at the age of 29. He was buried near the entrance of the monastery. The funeral was attended by his medical colleagues,
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Jovan Jovanović Zmaj ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Јовановић Змаj, pronounced ; 24 November 1833 – 1 June 1904) was a Serbian poet, translator and physician. Jovanović worked as a physician; he wrote in many poetry genres, including Lo ...
, Ilija Ognjenović-Abukazem, Lazar Stanojević and others.


Prose and influences

He was best known for his lyrical poetry than his prose. However, he also wrote three extremely well-written short stories with fantastic elements which are: ''U gostionici kod Poluzvezde na imendanu šantavog torbara'' (1868); ''Sremska ruža'' (1868-1869); and ''Zmijina košuljica'' (Matica, 1868). All three short stories were printed and distributed by the publishing house of
Matica srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Матица српска, Matica srpska, ) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national institution. It was founded on June 1, 1826, in Pest, ...
in
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
under the supervision of Antonije Hadžić. Analyzing the fantastic stories of Jovan Grčić-Milenko with reference to
Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...
and
E. T. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist.Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in ...
, the similarity between Gogol and Grcic is not an essential one. It originates from the imperative of time and the political orientation of Grčić Milenko and especially from the use of similar sources: folk fantastic and folk beliefs. The similarities between Grčić and Hoffmann is more general. It cannot be seen at once, but many components of the fantastic are common to both writers. These are: the protagonists feeling being cut off from the others and being exceptional, the feeling of foreboding, and complete interaction between the plot, the main hero and nature. These similarities are not found in single parts of the stories but throughout the narrative.


Legacy

He has been called a "Nightingale of Fruška Gora", for his lyrical work. A selection of his works has been included in various anthologies and literary histories, such as the
Anthology of Modern Serbian Lyric ''Anthology of Modern Serbian Lyric'' () is an anthology published in 1911 by Matica hrvatska in Zagreb, Austria-Hungary (modern day Croatia). The foreword for this book was written by Bogdan Popović. It was the first attempt to create a literary ...
. A school in his hometown is named after him.


Selected works

* ''Pesme. Spevao ih Milenko ''(1869) * ''U gostionici kod 'Polu zvezde' na imendan šantavog torbara'' (1868) * ''Sremska ruža'' (1868-1869) * ''Mozaik'' (1875-1876)


References


Sources

* *


Further reading

* Zorana Opačić, ''Anthology Of serbian Children's Poetry before the Period of Zmaj's Poetry''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Grcic Milenko, Jovan 1846 births 1875 deaths Serbian male poets Serbian children's writers Serbian people of Greek descent Poets from Austria-Hungary Children's writers from Austria-Hungary Tuberculosis deaths in Austria-Hungary 19th-century Serbian people 19th-century poets