Olivera Katarina (; sr-cyr, Оливера Катарина, ; born 5 March 1940), also previously known as Olivera Vučo ( sr-cyr, Оливера Вучо) and Olivera Šakić ( sr-cyr, Оливера Шакић), is a Serbian actress, singer and writer. She was one of the leading stars of

Yugoslav cinema The Cinema of Yugoslavia were the films produced in Yugoslavia. Overview The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had an internationally acclaimed film industry. Yugoslavia List of Yugoslav submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign ...

in the 1960s and the 1970s, and is probably the best known for her performance in Aleksandar Petrović's film ''

I Even Met Happy Gypsies ''I Even Met Happy Gypsies'' is a 1967 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Aleksandar Petrović. Its original Serbian title is ''Skupljači perja'', which means ''The Feather Gatherers''. The film is centered on Romani people's life in a village ...

'' (1967), which won the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

at the

1967 Cannes Film Festival The 20th Cannes Film Festival was held from 27 April to 12 May 1967. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to the ''Blowup'' by Michelangelo Antonioni. The festival opened with '' J'ai tué Raspoutine'', directed by Robert Hosse ...

. As a singer, Olivera Katarina has performed music of various genres, varying from Serbian traditional to

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

, and in numerous languages. Her version of " Đelem, đelem", which she performed in ''I Even Met Happy Gypsies'', has been considered one of the best renditions of that song ever recorded.

Early life

Olivera Katarina was born Olivera Petrović to father Budimir, a naval captain, and mother Katarina (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Jovančić) on 5 March 1940 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

. She adopted Olivera Katarina in 1969 to honor her mother, who had died on 4 January 1969. She spent her childhood in Belgrade,

Dobanovci Dobanovci ( sr-Cyrl, Добановци) is a suburban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Surčin. Dobanovci is located in the eastern Syrmia region, 25 km west of downtown Belgrade, between the Bel ...

and

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,07 ...

. As a child, Olivera Katarina attended

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

lessons. In 1959, she went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and enrolled the

Alliance Française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

school in order to improve her

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 ...

skills. Olivera Katarina initially enrolled 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 ...

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

before switching to the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. Among her mates at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts were

Milena Dravić Milena Dravić ( sr-Cyrl, Милена Дравић, ; 5 October 1940 – 14 October 2018) was a Yugoslav and Serbian film, television and theatre actress. Biography Born in Belgrade, Dravić became involved with performing arts at the age of fou ...

and

Petar Kralj Petar Kralj ( sr-cyr, Петар Краљ; 4 April 1941 – 10 November 2011) was a Serbian theater, film and television actor. Biography Kralj was born in Zagreb to a Serb family from Banija. During World War II his family fled to Syrmia, w ...

Career

She studied at the academy for

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

in Belgrade. Started her career as a student with a major role as

Koštana ''Koštana'' ''(Serbian Cyrillic: Коштана'') is a popular play, written by Borisav Stanković. It is set in Stanković's native Vranje, a town in southern Serbia. It features many themes of Serbian folklore and patriarchal customs which we ...

in a same name play in a

National Theater in Belgrade The National Theatre ( sr-cyr, Народно позориште, Narodno pozorište) is a theatre located in Belgrade, Serbia. Founded in the later half of the 19th century, it is located on the Republic Square, at the corner of Vasina and Fr ...

. There she met Vuk Vučo, a theater critic whom she later married. For a role in ''

Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment ''Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment'' (german: Goya – oder der arge Weg der Erkenntnis) is a 1971 East German drama film directed by Konrad Wolf. It was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Special Prize. ...

'' in 1971 (as Olivera Katarina), she was awarded at festivals in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. Her major success was in Aleksandar Petrović's ''

'', where she played a gipsy singer named Lenče. Film was nominated for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

40th Academy Awards The 40th Academy Awards honored film achievements of 1967. Originally scheduled for April 8, 1968, the awards were postponed to two days later, April 10, 1968, because of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Bob Hope ...

, for a

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

, and for Best Foreign-Language film at the 26th Golden Globe Awards. It won the

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival. Olivera closed this festival with a concert together with

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Ger ...

and

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

. She also had a very prominent singing career. She recorded in

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...

, as well as in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, and

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. She sang

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

Serbian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

songs and

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

songs. In famous

Paris Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra G ...

she held 72 consecutive concerts. In 1969, she participated in the national choice to represent

Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980 and 1985. Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the contest. ...

1969 with the song "Poigraj, poigraj, devojče". Olivera Katarina is also known as "the only woman

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

knelt in front of", being amazed by her beauty and voice, after her concert in Paris. In 2007, Katarina contributed songs for

Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audienc ...

's '' Balkan Erotic Epic'', and portrays a goddess in Uroš Stojanović's film ''

Čarlston za Ognjenku ''Tears for Sale'', also known internationally as ''Charleston & Vendetta'' or also as ''Funeral Brides'' (original title in sr, Чарлстон за Огњенку, Čarlston za Ognjenku, literal translation ''Charleston for Ognjenka'', french: ...

''.

Personal life

In her early youth Olivera Katarina dated water polo goalkeeper Milan Muškatirović for several years during the late 1950s. During her time at the film academy she met journalist Vuk Vučo and quickly married him. The marriage lasted only a year and a half. She then for seven years lived in a common-law relationship with the powerful Yugoslav Security Service (

UDBA The State Security Service ( hr, Služba državne sigurnosti, sr, Служба државне безбедности; mk, Служба за државна безбедност; sl, Služba državne varnosti), also known by its original name ...

) operative and Avala Film chairman Ratko Dražević. In 1970, Olivera Katarina married Miladin Šakić, an administrator who later became the president of the

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

football club, with then

Mayor of Belgrade The Mayor of Belgrade ( sr, Градоначелник Београда / ''Gradonačelnik Beograda'') is the head of the City of Belgrade (the capital and largest city of Serbia). The Mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an executive ...

Branko Pešić Branko Pešić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко Пешић, ; 1 October 1922 – 4 February 1986) was a Serbian politician in SFR Yugoslavia. Pešić was a member of the Yugoslav Partisans during the Second World War and was the Mayor of Belgrade from 196 ...

as Šakić's best man. The couple's only son Mane, a painter based in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, was born on 1 February 1971. Later in 1971, Šakić died in a car accident near

Mladenovac Mladenovac ( sr-cyr, Младеновац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 53,050 inhabitants, while the urban area has 23,314 inhabitants. Name Its name stems ...

. In an interview for the ''

Blic ''Blic'' (Cyrillic: Блиц, ) is a daily middle-market tabloid newspaper in Serbia. Founded in 1996, ''Blic'' is owned by Ringier Axel Springer Media AG, a joint venture between Ringier media corporation from Switzerland and Axel Springer AG ...

'' daily in 2011, Olivera Katarina claimed she had not been in a relationship with a man after Šakić.

Filmography

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Olivera Katarina'' (1974) * ''Alaj mi je večeras po volji'' (1974) * ''O. K. (U ime ljubavi)'' (1976) * ''Ciganske pesme'' (1977) * ''Osvetnica'' (1979) * ''Zarudela zora na Moravi'' (1980) * ''Idu momci u vojnike'' (1982) * ''Retka zverka'' (1984) * ''Romanija/Pleme moje...'' (1999) * ''Tajna'' (2009)

Compilation albums

* ''Alaj mi je večeras po volji – Najlepše pesme'' (1999)

Singles

* "Nije to, ljudi, istina" / "Šošana" / "'Ajde da igramo" / "Ne dam, ne dam" (1966) * "Ja ništa ne znam" / "Bosonoga Sendi (Marioneta)" / "Moj je ceo svet (

Uno Tranquillo "Uno tranquillo" ("Quiet One") is a song by Italian singer Riccardo Del Turco, released as a single in 1967. It was not as successful as his previous single, "Figlio unico", which was a top-ten hit in Italy, and "Uno tranquillo" only peaked at nu ...

)" / "''

A Man and a Woman ''A Man and a Woman'' (french: Un homme et une femme) is a 1966 French film written and directed by Claude Lelouch and starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Written by Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, the film concerns a young widow a ...

'' Theme Song" (1967) * "Neću tebe (Doksa to teo)" / "Suliram" / "Svu noć je padao sneg" / "Jer ljubav to je miris belog cveća" (1967) * " Đelem, đelem" / "Rino" / "Trajo, trajo" / "Bida" / "Niška Banja" / "Čerde Mile" (1967) * "Balade" (1968) * "Poigraj, poigraj, devojče" (1969) * "Himna čoveku" (1969) * "Šu, šu" / "Tula" / " Baš sam srećna ja (La felicidad)" / "Eri (Irene Erini)" (1969) * "Ža, ža" / "Lidu, lidu" / "Verka kaluđerka" / "Kaljina, maljina" (1969) * "To je naše more, to su naše gore..." (1971) * "Vatra" / "Ljubav" (1971) * "Budi moj" / "Imam nešto da ti dam" (1971) * "Tam deka ima" / "Dimitrijo" (1971) * "Treperi jedno veče" / "Htela bih da znam" (1972) * "Wakamono ha kaeranakatta" / "Koi ha..." (1973) * "Alba" / "Plovi lađa Dunavom" (1973) * "Ne dodiruj moje lice" / "Ne reci nikom" (1974) * "Pričaj mi o ljubavi" / "Pada noć" (1974) * "Alaj mi je večeras po volji" / "Kamerav" / "Čep, čep u slavinu" / "Verka kaluđerka" (1975) * "Žena" / "Sada i nikada više" (1975) * "Sanjam" / "Bilo je tako lepo sve" (1976) * "Crvena jabuka" / "Sijerinska banja" (1977) * "Nikad ne zaboravi dane naše ljubavi" / "Slatke male laži" (1979)

Bibliography

* ''Beli badnjaci'' (''White Yules'') * ''Aristokratsko stopalo'' (''Aristocratic Foot'')

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Katarina, Olivera 1940 births Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia Living people Singers from Belgrade Actresses from Belgrade 20th-century Serbian women singers Serbian film actresses Serbian folk singers Serbian non-fiction writers Serbian women poets Serbian stage actresses Serbian television actresses Serbian women writers Serbian writers University of Belgrade alumni University of Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts alumni University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Yugoslav actresses Yugoslav women singers 20th-century Serbian actresses 21st-century Serbian actresses