Stevan Vladislav Kaćanski - "Stari Bard" (

Srbobran Srbobran ( sr, Србобран, ; hu, Szenttamás) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town is located on the north bank of the Danube-Tisa-Danube canal. The town ...

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, 19 December 1828 - Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia, 4 May 1890) was a popular Serbian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

of the second half of the 19th century at the most turbulent time in Europe during the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

in general and the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire 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 A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbo ...

, 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 The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

though within the territories of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

Biography

Stevan Vladislav Kaćanski was born into a respectable family, in Srbobran, in

Bačka Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hunga ...

. His parents were Trifon and Julijana , inhabitants of Srbobran. The family got its surname from the village of

Kać Kać () is a suburban settlement of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. The town has a Serb ethnic majority and its population was 11,612 at the 2011 census. Name In Serbian, the town is known as ''Kać'' or Каћ, in Croatian as ''Kać'', in Hunga ...

, from where they moved at the end of the 18th century. Originally from Herzegovina, 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 and Srbobran, and started high school in

Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ; hu, Karlóca; tr, Karlofça) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danu ...

and finished in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

with the support from his uncle Sergije Kaćanski who later became bishop of the

Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac The Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac ( sr-Cyrl, Епархија горњокарловачка, hr, Eparhija gornjokarlovačka; "Eparchy of Upper Karlovac") is an eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church seated in the city of Karlovac, Croatia. It cover ...

, a very learned man and one of the most distinguished

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

s 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, but left it very quickly and went on to study law at Jegra (

). 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 The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

bishop of Gornji Karlovac, Kaćanski was elected to the delegation, which in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

negotiated with Josip Jelačić on a joint struggle against nationalist goals of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although t ...

. He took part in the defense of Srbobran, in the battles near Bačko Gradište and

. 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