Branko Miljković (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Бранко Миљковић; 29 January 1934 – 12 February 1961) was a Serbian poet.

Biography

Miljković was born in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, whi ...

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 Gligorije Miljković, who hails from

Gadžin Han Gadžin Han ( sr-cyr, Гаџин Хан) is a village and municipality located in the Nišava District of the southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the municipality has 8,389 inhabitants, from which 1,223 live in Gadžin Han itself. Geograp ...

, 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 Marija Brailo, who hails from Trbounje near

Drniš Drniš is a town in Croatia, located in inland Dalmatia, about halfway between Šibenik and Knin. History The name Drniš was mentioned for the first time in a contract dated March 8, 1494. However, there are traces of older Middle Ages' fortr ...

. He was best known throughout

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

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and other countries of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

for his influential writings. At a time when no one could have foreseen anything but a bright future for the poet, he died prematurely in 1961 at the age of 27. He was found hanging from a tree in

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 ...

, today's

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 = , capi ...

. This controversial incident was officially recorded as a suicide. In his one-line poem "Epitaph", he writes "''Ubi me prejaka reč''" ("''I was killed by a word too strong''") almost sensing his premature end of life. During the last years of his life, he published five books of poetry (''I Wake Her in Vain'', ''Death against Death'', ''The Origin of Hope'', ''Fire and Nothing'', ''The Shining Blood'', criticism, and translations of the French Symbolists and Russian poet

Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam ( rus, Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the A ...

. He continues to influence poets to this day.

Legacy

A biopic about Miljković's life and poetry ''Vatra i ništa'' ('Fire and Nothing') was produced in 1995. It was written and directed by , and produced by Ivan Zdravković. Goran Milev played the role of Branko Miljković. He is sometimes called "the Serbian prince of poetry".

Works

* ''Uzalud je budim'',

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 ...

, 1957 * ''Smrću protiv smrti'', (co-written with Blažo Šćepanović), Belgrade, 1959 * ''Vatra i ništa'', Belgrade, 1960 * ''Poreklo nade'', Zagreb, 1960 * ''Krv koja svetli'', Belgrade, 1961

References

External links

Translated works by Branko Miljković

Short biography written by Kosta Dimitrijević and published on Poemhunter website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miljkovic, Branko 1934 births 1961 suicides Serbian people of Croatian descent Writers from Niš 20th-century Serbian poets Serbian male poets Suicides by hanging in Yugoslavia Suicides by hanging in Croatia Death conspiracy theories University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy alumni Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery 1961 deaths