Mihailo Vitković ( Eger, 25 August 1778-

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

, 9 September 1829) was a Serbian and Hungarian poet, translator and lawyer. The well-to-do Serbian lawyer was an active participant in the organization and efflorescence of Hungarian and Serbian cultural and literary development. He was a contemporary of

György Bessenyei ''György Bessenyei'' (1747–1811) was a Hungarian playwright and poet. Works * 1772 – Ágis tragédiája ''Ágis tragédiája'' is a Hungarian drama play, written by György Bessenyei. It was first produced in 1772 Events Jan ...

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, József Kármán, Ferenc Toldy,

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and Serbs

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and Lukijan Mušicki. Vitković carried an extensive correspondence with his prominent Hungarian contemporaries as well as his Serb writers and intellectuals. Two literatures—one Hungarian ( Mihály Vitkovics) -- and the other Serbian (Mihailo Vitković) -- claim him, and with equal right. He cultivated some of the genres (the epigramma, for example) with equal success in both Hungarian and Serbian. Mihailo Vitković started his career as a writer on the staff of a conservative Hungarian paper adopting a militant attitude with respect to the radical Hungarian reform programme. There can be no doubt as to his having been a bilingual poet and author: he wrote with equal ease in Hungarian and in Serbian, he was equally interested in Serbian and Hungarian literary events, and took an active part in the literary life of both. As for Mihailo Vitković, his background already was multilingual and multicultural. The Serbs sent their children to the Szeged Piarist School and then to one of the Protestant secondary schools in Debrecen and Sopron, or to other schools in the north of Hungary where they had more opportunities for better education. Vitković 's schooling was no different. In 1804 he graduated from the University of Pest with a law degree, passed his bar exam, and started his practice in the same city. Later, he became a member of the Diet of Hungary (Sabor).

Translations of novels

Serbian work that comes closest to Vitković trend is

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's autobiography

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. Mihailo Vitković, however, had another type of novel in mind. He was greatly attracted by the example of

, the most prominent figure of contemporary Hungarian literary life and language reform and by the possibility of combining the sentimental novel (adapted to his mother tongue) with a good strong plot. Therefore, he made a Serbian "orchestration" of József Kármán's novel, (Fanny's Testament).

Translations of poetry

Vitković's translations of Serbian poetry – (1819) – introduce Hungarian writers to a heroic style that initiates a new wave of Hungarian poetry in the .

Works in Serbian

* (a translation of Marmontel's work) * (1812) * (epigram) * (1817, sentimental city poems) * (sentimental poems)

References

* Translated and adapted from Jovan Skerlić's ''Istorija nove srpske književnosti'' (Belgrade, 1914, 1921) pages 150-152. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitkovic, Mihailo 1778 births 1829 deaths 19th-century Serbian poets 19th-century Hungarian poets Hungarian male poets Serbs of Hungary Serbian male poets 19th-century male writers