Antun Branko Šimić (18 November 1898 – 2 May 1925) was a Croatian

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

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 ...

, considered to be one of the most important poets of

Croatian literature Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia, and Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography was standardized in the late 19th century, it also covers t ...

of the 20th century.

Life

He was born to 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 ...

family from

Drinovci Drinovci is a village in the municipality of Grude in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geographical location Drinovci are located on the southeast side of the Imotski karst field. The relatively large area of the town and 2,569 inhabitants, according ...

near

Grude Grude () is a town and a municipality located in West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geography Grude is located 49 kilometers from Mostar, 19 kilometers from Imotski, and 1 ...

on 18 November 1898, in the family of Vida and Martin Šimić. He attended primary school in his native village, and then the first three

forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...

of the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

classical

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Široki Brijeg , , nickname = , motto = , image_map = BiH municipality location Široki Brijeg.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location o ...

. He decided to change school in the fourth form and went to

Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...

and afterwards to

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surround ...

( Gymnasium Vinkovci). His unruly spirit made him change his surroundings again and so he continued his education 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 ...

, in the upper town grammar school. In 1917, he started the journal for art and culture, '' Vijavica'' (Whirlwind), which forced him to leave school. This is when he lost his parents' support and it also meant a hard life overpowered by many illnesses. After four issues of ''Vijavica'', taking the example of German journal ''Der Sturm'', he also launched another journal, '' Juriš'' (Attack), which likewise had a short life of three issues only. He went on writing

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

s, literary and art critiques and also translating. At the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

he met Tatjana Marinić to whom he dedicated his one and only collection, ''Preobraženja'' (''Metamorphoses'') in 1920. Between 1918 and 1919, he immersed himself into writing poems whilst staying in a hamlet of Drinovci, Dubrava Majići, in a cottage where his mother grew up. Some of his first expressionist works were created here, most notably "Ja pjevam" (I Sing), "Povratak" (The Return) and "Ljubav" (Love). His modest income and dedication to his literary work left a mark on his health, so he went back to Drinovci in December 1923 and made up with his father. When he returned to Zagreb in spring 1924 he launched his third journal, '' Književnik'' (Writer). Some time in 1924, he contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

, for which he received treatment later that year in a hospital in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

, and spent time recuperating in a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Cavtat Cavtat (, it, Ragusa Vecchia, lit=Old Ragusa) is a village in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic Sea coast south of Dubrovnik and is the centre of the Konavle municipality. History Antiquity The original city was ...

. However, after his return to Zagreb in February 1925, his condition rapidly worsened. He died on 2 May 1925 in a hospital in

and was buried in

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 ...

Works

Šimić did not write a large literary opus during his lifetime. However, some of his poems could be called anthological, like "Pjesnici" (Poets), "Veče i ja" (The Evening and I), "Opomena" (Warning), "Ručak siromaha" (The Poor Man's Dinner), "Žene pred uredima" (Women in Front of Offices), "Smrt i ja" (Death and I), "Pjesma jednom brijegu" (Poem to a Mountain), "Smrt" (Death), and some others. After writing under the influence of Matoš, Kranjčević, Vidrić and Domjanić, he bore down on the traditionalists and started favouring an unrestrained expression and

spirit. In his collection ''Preobraženja'' (Metamorphoses), using a free verse, he wrote tersely, rhythmically, gnomically and logically. He would also sometimes recourse to the

decasyllabic Decasyllable (Italian: ''decasillabo'', French: ''décasyllabe'', Serbian: ''десетерац'', ''deseterac'') is a poetic meter of ten syllables used in poetic traditions of syllabic verse. In languages with a stress accent (accentual ...

line and the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

lament. His topics are the

man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

, pain, poverty, stars, Herzegovina, the poor,

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

and

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 ...

("death is something quite human"). When he turns to the man he warns him: Be careful not to go, small as thou are, under the stars, man, (from the poem Warning). When he writes about the mystery and perseverance, he says: We watch each other silently. Mountain and man. I'll never know where our different meanings meet- (Poem to a mountain). In his journals, Šimić published his essays that defended the principles of expressionism, which influenced his later poetry. In particular, his views were based on the tenets of

German Expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

. The image of A.B. Šimić can be seen on

Federation of BiH The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own govern ...

issue of the 20 km

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20090303214312/http://maratoncafe.com/Iluzije/poezija/simic.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20090618002956/http://povijest.net/sadrzaj/zivotopisi/hrvatske-licnosti/302-antun-branko-simic.html
Translated Works by Antun Branko Šimić
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simic, Antun Branko 1898 births 1925 deaths People from Grude People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina writers Expressionist poets Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery 20th-century poets 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Croatia

Life

Works

See also

References

Bibliography

External links