Stevan Vladislav Kaćanski - "Stari Bard" ( Srbobran, Habsburg Empire, 19 December 1828 -

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 ...

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, 4 May 1890) was a popular Serbian poet of the second half of the 19th century at the most turbulent time in Europe during the Revolutions of 1848 in general and the

Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire The Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire were a set of revolutions that took place in the Austrian Empire from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalist character: the Empire, ruled from Vienna, incl ...

in particular Most of his poems were inspired by the poetic dream of Serbian liberation and unification. Today he is considered Serbia's national poet, who was one of the key figures of the Serb Revolution of 1848. He is best known as the author of ''Noćnica'', which is said to have inspired the Serbs to seek independence from the Kingdom of Hungary though within the territories of the Austrian Empire.

Biography

Stevan Vladislav Kaćanski was born into a respectable family, in Srbobran, in Bačka. His parents were Trifon and Julijana , inhabitants of Srbobran. The family got its surname from the village of Kać, from where they moved at the end of the 18th century. Originally from

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, their last name was Vladisavljević, which is why Kaćanski always put it in front of his last name, or signed it only as Vladislav. He finished primary school in

Varadin Varadin is a village in the municipality of Medveđa, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and C ...

and Srbobran, and started high school in Sremski Karlovci and finished in Szeged with the support from his uncle Sergije Kaćanski who later became bishop of the Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac, a very learned man and one of the most distinguished clerics there. Already in high school, Kaćanski began writing patriotic songs and became the president of the literary association of Serbs in the Szeged high school. After high school, he enrolled at the Faculty of Philosophy in

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 ** ...

, but left it very quickly and went on to study law at Jegra ( Kingdom of Hungary). His studies were interrupted by the Serb Revolution of 1848-1849.{{cite web , title = Birth of Serbian Anthems (9): Serbian Marseillaise , url = http://www.vesti-online.com/Vesti/Srbija/209882/Radanje-srpskih-himni-9-Srpska-Marseljeza-, work=vesti-online.com, publisher="Vesti "d.o.o. , accessdate = 14 November 2013 , author = M. Djordjevic , location = Belgrade , date = 13 March 2012{{cite web , title = Katalog Napokretnih kulturnih dobara na područje grada Beograda - Kuća Stevana Kaćanskog , url=http://beogradskonasledje.rs/kd/zavod/stari_grad/kuca_stevana_kacanskog.html , work = Kulturna dobra Beograda , publisher = Službeni list grada Beograda , accessdate = 12 November 2013 , location = Belgrade Thanks to his determination and clarity, he quickly gained the trust of the national champions with his poems. With the help of uncle, the Serbian Orthodox bishop of

Gornji Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 census, its population was 55,705. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located on the Zagreb-Rijeka highway and railway line, south-west of Zagreb ...

, Kaćanski was elected to the

delegation Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. It is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person,Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole ...

, which in Zagreb negotiated with

Josip Jelačić Count Josip Jelačić von Bužim (16 October 180120 May 1859; also spelled ''Jellachich'', ''Jellačić'' or ''Jellasics''; hr, Josip grof Jelačić Bužimski; hu, Jelasics József) was a Croatian lieutenant field marshal in the Imperial-Roy ...

on a joint struggle against nationalist goals of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. He took part in the defense of Srbobran, in the battles near Bačko Gradište and Sremski Karlovci. He became famous with the patriotic song "Noćnica".

Works

* ''Skupljene pesme'' (Collected Poems) * ''Od Balkana do Adrije'' (From the Balkans to Adria){{Cite web, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMCjPgAACAAJ&q=%22Stevan+Vladislav+Ka%C4%87anski%22, title = (Od Balkana do Adrije): Pesme, last1 = Kaćanski, first1 = Stevan Vladislav, year = 1913 * ''Grahov laz''{{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXZpAAAAMAAJ&q=Stevan+Vladislav+Ka%C4%87anski:+grahov+laz, title=Tokovi istorije: časopis Instituta za noviju istoriju Srbije, date=1997, publisher=INIS., language=bs * ''Narodni zbor'' * ''Ljuba Nenadović'' (amanet sa neba)'''' * ''Kralj Nikola''

References

* translated and adapted from Riznica srpska
Stevan Vladislav Kaćanski (1829—1890)
{{reflist {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaćanski, Stevan 1828 births 1890 deaths People from Srbobran People from Sremski Karlovci People from Szeged 19th-century Serbian poets Serbian revolutionaries Austro-Hungarian rebels Writers from Belgrade