Abdulah Sidran (born 2 October 1944), often referred to by his

hypocoristic A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as '' Izzy'' for ...

nickname ''Avdo'', is a Bosnian poet and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the poetry book Sarajevski Tabut and the scripts for ''

When Father Was Away on Business ''When Father Was Away on Business'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Otac na službenom putu, Отац на службеном путу) is a 1985 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica. The screenplay was written by the Bosnian dramatist Abdulah Si ...

'' and '' Do You Remember Dolly Bell?''.

Early life and family

Abdulah Sidran, the second of four children, was born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

on 2 October 1944, although several sources inaccurately give his date of birth as 29 September 1944. He was born to

Bosnian Muslim The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

parents; father Mehmed Sidran (1915–1965) was born in

Kiseljak Kiseljak (Кисељак) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies in the valley of the Fojnica River, the Lepenica and the Kreševka ...

and worked as a locksmith at a railway workshop, while his mother Behija (née Jukić) was a housewife. Sidran has three siblings Ekrem (born 1942; deceased), Nedim (born 4 February 1947) and Edina (born 1953). He was named after his paternal uncle, a

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), a ...

and compositor, who perished in 1943 at the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration and extermination camp established in the village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The concentration camp, one of the ...

. The Sidran family roots trace back to the hamlet Biograd near

Nevesinje Nevesinje ( sr-cyrl, Невесиње) is a town and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,162 inhabitants, while the municipality has 12,961 inhabitants. Geograp ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Abdulah's paternal grandfather Hasan Sidran relocated to Sarajevo from

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

in 1903.

Personal life

After spending most of his life in Sarajevo, Sidran lived in

Goražde Goražde ( cyrl, Горажде, ) is a city and the administrative center of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Drina river. As of 2 ...

before moving to a small village near Tešanj where he currently lives. In 2019, Sidran, together with some thirty world intellectuals met with French President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

. A meeting of world intellectuals with the president of France was initiated by the prominent French philosopher, writer and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy.

Works

His major works include ''Šahbaza'', ''Bone and Meat'', ''The Sarajevo Tomb'' (''Sarajevski tabut''), ''Why is Venice Sinking'' (''Zašto tone Venecija''), several books of poetry, and screenplays for movies from the former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, such as ''

'' and '' Do You Remember Dolly Bell?'', directed by

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

, and '' Kuduz'', directed by Ademir Kenović.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidran, Abdulah 1944 births Living people Writers from Sarajevo Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims 20th-century male writers Yugoslav screenwriters Bosnia and Herzegovina screenwriters Male screenwriters Yugoslav poets Bosnia and Herzegovina poets Bosniak poets Golden Arena winners Bosnia and Herzegovina male writers