Zaim Topčić (28 February 1920 – 15 July 1990) was a Bosnian writer of novels. He twice won the Annual Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the novels '' Lump of Sun'' and ''

Black Snows Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

'' (his son

Zlatko Topčić Zlatko Topčić (born 30 April 1955) is a Bosnian screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He has written a number of films, including: ''Remake'', '' The Abandoned'', ''Miracle in Bosnia''; theater plays: ''Time Out'', '' I Don't Like Mondays'', ' ...

is also a double winner of this award).

Early life and family

Topčić was born in

Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the foothills of Stareti ...

on 28 February 1920 and lived most of his life 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 ...

. His wife Naila was a member of the Selimić family (her grandfather was a municipal councilor, landowner, benefactor and philanthropist Zaim-beg Selimić, who was the owner of the Kravica waterfall). He graduated from the

Faculty of Economics 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 ...

of the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...

Career

Topčić actively participated in

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the US ...

from the beginning of 1941, on the Partisans side. After liberation he was the editor of Sarajevo radio station. Topčić was the secretary general of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (then ''Udruženje književnika Bosne i Hercegovine'', now ''Društvo pisaca Bosne i Hercegovine'', whose founder, secretary general, from 1993 to 2001, and a board member, from 2006 to 2010, was his son Zlatko). He is the author of the important historical novel ''Country of Heretics''. Professor Enes Duraković has included it in the edition of the 100 books of Bosniak literature. He has published a collections of stories ''Above the Abyss'' and ''Towards the Day''; novels ''Lump of Sun'', ''Black Snows'', ''Sea Between Poplars'', ''Country of Heretics'', ''Obtained World'', ''Man Hunt Jasenovac'' and ''Valter, Matoš''; drama ''Shadows of Autumn'' and travelogues ''Panorama of Our Time''. Topčić was a member of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). His works have been translated into several languages.

Personal life

He lived in

with his wife Naila Selimić, son Zlatko and daughter Vesna. As a communist, 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 opposing ...

, he was trapped in 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 ...

in 1943. One street in

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and is ...

is called ''Street Zaim Topčić''.

Bibliography

Collections of stories

*''Above the Abyss'', 1952 *''Towards the Day'', 1955

Novels

*'' Lump of Sun'' (''Grumen sunca'', 1958) *''

'' (''Crni snjegovi'', 1962) *''Sea Between Poplars'' (''More među jablanima'', 1966) *''Country of Heretics'' (''Zemlja heretika'', 1972) *''Obtained World'' (''Dobijeni svijet'', 1979) *''Man Hunt Jasenovac'' (''Ljudolovka Jasenovac'', 1985) *''Valter, Matoš'', 1991 (published posthumously)

Dramas

*''Shadows of Autumn''

Travelogues

*''Panorama of Our Time'', 1958

Awards

*The Annual Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for novel ''Lump of Sun'', 1958 *The Annual Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for novel ''Black Snows'', 1962 *27 July Award of Bosnia and Herzegovina

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topcic, Zaim 1920 births 1990 deaths People from Glamoč Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims Yugoslav writers Bosnia and Herzegovina novelists 20th-century novelists Jasenovac concentration camp survivors