Đorđe Novković (; 2 September 1943 – 6 May 2007) was a Croatian

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

who was known for his 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 ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Novković composed more than 2,500 songs and sold approximately 20 million records. He is also known as the father of popular Croatian singer

Boris Novković Boris Novković (born 25 December 1967) is a Croatian singer-songwriter. He has been active since the 1980s. Biography Novković was born in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. His interest in a musical career was cultivated by ...

Biography

Novković was born to a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

father Vukašin and a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

mother Danica during

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 ...

in the village of

Vladimirci Vladimirci () is a village and municipality located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. According to the 2011 census results, the population of the village is 1,662, while population of the municipality is 17,462. Name The name of the sett ...

on the German-occupied territory of what only a few years earlier used to be

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 ...

's Drina Banovina. He moved to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

at an early age, so his musical talent was discovered very early, and he joined the musical school in Sarajevo at the age of 6. After graduating

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

from Musical Academy in Sarajevo, he founded a band

Pro Arte Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

during the fall of 1967. In 1968, Đorđe's wife Ozana gave birth to their son Boris, and the family moved to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. Boris later became a rock singer-songwriter, but he split abruptly with his father at the age of 19. Đorđe's first hit came in 1969 with the song "Više se nećeš vratiti" (''You Will Not Return'') performed by

Mišo Kovač Mate "Mišo" Kovač (; born 16 July 1941) is a Croatian recording artist. He is the best selling artist from Croatia, with well over 20 million records, cassettes and compact discs sold to date, and is often regarded as one of the most popular mu ...

and sold in half a million copies, and a later version in 1985 had similar success. In 1973, Pro Arte merged with another Sarajevo pop group

Indexi Indexi was a Bosnian and former Yugoslav rock band popular in Yugoslavia. It formed in 1962 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and disbanded in 2001 when singer Davorin Popović died. Some of their most notable songs are "Svijet u kome živi ...

, but the experiment lasted only several months. Pro Arte existed in continuity until 1980, as well as off-and-on throughout the 1980s. In 1989 Novković moved to live in

Rovinj Rovinj (; it, Rovigno; Istriot: or ; grc, Ρυγίνιον, Rygínion; la, Ruginium) is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 14,294 (2011). Located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, it is a po ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. After Pro Arte, Đorđe Novković switched to writing songs, creating material for some of the hits of the former

. He collaborated with performers such as Mišo Kovač,

Neda Ukraden Neda Ukraden ( sr-Cyrl, Неда Украден; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbs of Croatia, Serbian-Croatian singer. Her professional career stretches back to 1967. Personal life Ukraden was born in Glavina Donja, a village near the small Socia ...

Zdravko Čolić Zdravko Čolić (, ; born 30 May 1951) is a Bosnian Serb singer and is widely considered one of the greatest vocalists and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia. Dubbed the " Tom Jones of the Balkans", he has garnered fame in Southeastern Europ ...

, Tomislav Ivčić,

Tereza Kesovija Tereza Ana Kesovija (; born 3 October 1938) is an internationally acclaimed Croatian recording artist. She was one of the most recognizable figures on the music scene in former Yugoslavia, and is renowned for her wide vocal range and operatic sty ...

Ivica Šerfezi Ivan "Ivica" Šerfezi (1 December 1935 – 29 May 2004) was a Croatian pop singer hailing from Zagreb. Ivan "Ivica" Šerfezi started singing in dance halls, and his first real success was a duet with Domenico Modugno at the Maksimir Stadium, ...

Gabi Novak Gabrijela "Gabi" Novak (; born 8 July 1936) is a Croatian pop and jazz singer. A wife of the prominent Croatian singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić, whom she married in 1973, Novak became popular in the 1960s. Biography Born in Berlin into a family ...

, Srebrna krila, Žanamari Lalić and others. After the

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

President of Yugoslavia The president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or the president of the Republic for short, was the head of state of that country from 14 January 1953 to 4 May 1980. Josip Broz Tito was the only person to occupy the office. Tito ...

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

, he composed the music for the song "Druže Tito mi ti se kunemo" (''

Comrade The term ''comrade'' (russian: товарищ, tovarisch) generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, term , literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin , meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. It may also ...

Tito, We Swear to You''), which was then performed by Zdravko Čolić which was then sold in 350,000 copies. Novković composed music for Sanja Trumbić's famous thank-you schlager " Danke Deutschland" produced in January 1992 by

Hrvatska radiotelevizija ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...

as a show of gratitude to Germany for their role in

international recognition Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accord ...

of Croatia's independence. In 1993, he wrote the song " Don't Ever Cry" for Put, the first Croatian representative in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. Since 1997, he co-owned and managed the

Croatia Records Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Zagreb ( Dubrava). Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer. It releases ...

label, together with

Miroslav Škoro Miroslav Škoro (; born 29 July 1962) is a Croatian musician, television host and politician. He is the founder and the first president of the conservative Homeland Movement party, which he established in February 2020 and led until July 2021. As ...

. In 2000, he moved to Zagreb again. In 2003, Novković gained a lot of popularity as judge of '' Story Supernova Music Talents'', a reality show for aspiring musicians similar to ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'' aired on Nova TV.

Death

He died suddenly at the age of 63, from an apparent stroke, in Zagreb. In a Roman Catholic funeral ceremony he was buried in Zagreb's

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, hr, Gradsko groblje Mirogoj), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery ( hr, Groblje Mirogoj), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members o ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novkovic, Dorde 1943 births 2007 deaths Croatian songwriters Yugoslav musicians Musicians from Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Croatian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Serbian descent Croatian people of Serbian descent Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Deaths from cerebrovascular disease Indexi Award winners