Vladan Desnica ( sr-cyr, Владан Десница; 17 September 1905 – 4 March 1967) was a Yugoslav writer and translator.
Life
He was born in
Zadar
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
to Uroš Desnica (von Desnica), a politician from the noble
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Serbian family from
Obrovac and
Islam Grčki
Islam Grčki is a village within the town of Benkovac, in the Zadar County, Croatia.
Geography
Islam Grčki is located in the Ravni Kotari area, away from Benkovac and away from Zadar. The village is also only away from the Adriatic Sea but i ...
, descendant of
Stojan Janković, and his mother Fani Desnica was from a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Croatian family Luković from
Prčanj
Prčanj ( Montenegrin and Serbian: Прчањ, ) is a small town along the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 1128 people.
It is located 5 kilometres west of Kotor, opposite to Dobrota and betwe ...
near
Kotor
Kotor ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative ...
in what is today
Montenegro
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.
He wrote poems, short stories, science fiction and novels, usually dealing with life in cities and villages of Northern
Dalmatia.
His best work is the novel ''Proljeća Ivana Galeba'' (''The Springs of Ivan Galeb''), published in 1957,
in which he gives a first-person account of an intellectual lying in a hospital bed and meditating about illness and mortality. He died 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 ...
.
Like many writers who used to work in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, he is claimed both by Croatian and Serbian literature.
His talents were also used for the medium of film. In 1954 he wrote the script for ''
Koncert'', one of the most important titles in the history of Yugoslav cinema.
Vladan Desnica is buried in the
Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint George, next to the castle of
Stojan Janković in
Islam Grčki
Islam Grčki is a village within the town of Benkovac, in the Zadar County, Croatia.
Geography
Islam Grčki is located in the Ravni Kotari area, away from Benkovac and away from Zadar. The village is also only away from the Adriatic Sea but i ...
. The church was destroyed by Croatian paramilitaries in
Operation Maslenica
Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Masl ...
in January 1993, during which Desnica's gravestone was damaged.
Selected works
*''Zimsko ljetovanje'', 1950.
*''Olupine na suncu'', 1953.
*''Tu, odmah pored nas'', 1956.
*''Slijepac na žalu'', 1956.
*''Proljeća Ivana Galeba'', 1957.
*''Fratar sa zelenom bradom'', 1969.
*''Efemernost filma'', article, 1973.
*''Progutane polemike'', 2001.
*''Ljestve Jakovljeve''
*''O pojmovima tipičnog i njihovoj neshodnosti na području estetike''
See also
*
Ognjeslav Utješenović
Ognjeslav Utješenović Ostrožinski (spelled Utješinović in some sources; sr-Cyrl, Огњеслав Утјешеновић Острожински; 21 August 1817 – 8 June 1890) was a politician and writer. He is mainly remembered for his ...
*
Petar Preradović
Petar Preradović (19 March 1818 – 18 August 1872) was a Croatian poet, writer, and military general. He was one of the most important Croatian poets of the 19th century Illyrian movement and the main representative of romanticism in Croatia.
...
*
August Harambašić
August Harambašić (14 July 1861 – 16 July 1911) was a Croatian writer, poet, publisher, politician and translator from the 19th century.
He was born in Donji Miholjac, and studied law in Vienna and Zagreb. Politically he followed the sharp ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desnica, Vladan
1905 births
1967 deaths
Writers from Zadar
People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia
Yugoslav science fiction writers
Yugoslav novelists
Burials at Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches