Vasa Stajić (10 February 1878 — 10 February 1947) was a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

writer and philosopher. He was born in

Mokrin Mokrin ( sr-cyr, Мокрин) is the largest village in the Kikinda municipality, in the North Banat District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority (83.47%) with a present Ro ...

in 1878, and died in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

in 1947 where he spent most of his life. He was secretary of the Serbian Cultural Society from 1920-1922 and its president twice (1935-1936 and 1947). A statue of him appears in front of the Serbian Cultural Society. Stajić wrote several biographies of famous people and families. He was one of the most important figures of modern cultural and political

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

Early life

Stajić was born in

. He went to high school in

Kikinda Kikinda ( sr-Cyrl, Кикинда, ; hu, Nagykikinda) is a city and the administrative center of the North Banat District in Serbia . The city urban area has 38,069 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 59,453 inhabitants. The c ...

, Sremski and

Senj Senj (; it, Segna, la, Senia, Hungarian language, Hungarian and german: Zengg) is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress ( hr, Tvr ...

. As a student he was expelled from the

Karlovci Gymnasium The Karlovci Gymnasium ( sr, Карловачка гимназија, Karlovačka gimnazija) is the high school ( gymnasium) located in the town of Sremski Karlovci. It is the oldest secondary school in Serbia. This type of school is comparable ...

. He studied law, then philosophy in Budapest, Paris and Leipzig. He graduated in 1902 in Budapest. In 1904 and 1905, he taught at

Pakrac Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina. Name In Croatian the town is known a ...

and at Pljevlja gymnasium, where he had a colleague, professor and historian

Gligorije Elezović Gligorije Elezović ( sr-Cyrl, Глигорије Елезовић; 18 January 1879 — 17 October 1960) was a Serbian historian and member of the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scie ...

. Vasa Stajić published a socialist journal called ''Novi Srbin'' and ''Prosveta'' magazine and, because of his ideas, he was frequently arrested and questioned by the authorities. In Novi Sad, he became secretary of the

Matica srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Матица српска, Matica srpska, la, Matrix Serbica, grc, Μάτιτσα Σρπσκα) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national inst ...

, one of the most important Serbian cultural institutions of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

and of the

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 ...

, and in 1921 and 1936 he was editor of "Letopis" (Chronicle), the official organ of this institution. He has written more than twenty books, including '' Novosadske biografije '' (''Biographies of Novi Sad'') in six volumes and '' Velikokikindski dištrikt '' (''The District of Velika Kikinda''). He also published studies on

Svetozar Miletić Svetozar Miletić ( sr-cyr, Светозар Милетић; 22 February 1826 – 4 February 1901) was a Serbian lawyer, journalist, author and politician who served as the mayor of Novi Sad between 1861 and 1862 and again from 1867 to 1868. ...

(1926) and

Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Jovan Jovanović Zmaj ( sr-cyr, Јован Јовановић Змаj, pronounced ; 24 November 1833 – 1 June 1904) was a Serbian poet. Jovanović worked as a physician; he wrote in many poetry genres, including love, lyric, patriotic, poli ...

(1933) as well as more than 100 scholarly articles. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was president of Matica srpska, a position he held until his death. There are schools in Mokrin and Novi Sad named after him.

References

External links

Vasa Stajić
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stajic, Vasa Serbian political philosophers Serbian writers 1878 births 1947 deaths 20th-century Serbian philosophers Austro-Hungarian writers