Ćamil Sijarić (18 December 1913 – 6 December 1989) was a Montenegrin novelist and short story writer. He enrolled in law school in 1936 and earned his degree four years later. Sijarić died in a car crash at the age of 75. His literally work introduced region of

Sandžak Sandžak (Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) is a historical and geo-political region in the Balkans, located in the southwestern part of Serbia and the eastern part of Montenegro. The Bosnian/ Serbian term ''Sandžak'' derives from the Sanjak of Novi Paza ...

and its rural

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

population into

Montenegrin literature Montenegrin literature may refer to: * Literature of Montenegro, the entire (historical and modern) corpus of literature created on the territory covered by modern Montenegro * Literature in Montenegrin language, literature created in Montenegrin ...

Life

He was born in Šipovice, near

Bijelo Polje Bijelo Polje (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бијело Поље, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Lim (river), Lim River. It has an urban population of 12,900 (2011 census). It is the ad ...

, in the

Kingdom of Montenegro The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe, present-day Montenegro, during the tumultuous period of time on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Officially it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolu ...

, to Muslim parents. He was of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

origin on his mother's side, and he considered

to be native to him. Both of his parents died while he was a child. He was raised thereafter by his aunts and uncles. Sijarić enrolled in the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, 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 me ...

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

and earned his degree in 1940. He was both a member of

Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sh-Cyrl, Црногорска академија наука и умјетности, ЦАНУ; ) is the most important scientific institution of Montenegro. History It was founded in 1973 as the Montene ...

, and Academy of Arts and Sciencies of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

, he spoke Albanian,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, French and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. During the Second World War, Sijarić worked as a clerk in the courts in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, Bosanska Gradiška,

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is the tr ...

and

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, cooperating all the time with the

Unitary National Liberation Front The Unitary National Liberation Front ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Јединствени народноослободилачки фронт, Jedinstveni narodnooslobodilački front, sh-Cyrl-Latn, ЈНОФ, JNOF, label=none) or simply the National Liberation ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. At the same time, he wrote and published poems in the

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and Sarajevo magazines ''Žena danas'' and ''Gajret'', and after the World War II also in ''Zora'', ''Nova žena'', ''Brazda'', ''

Oslobođenje The ''Oslobođenje'' ( sh-Cyrl, Ослобођење; ; 'Liberation') is the Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian national daily newspaper, published in Sarajevo. It is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fou ...

''. His first literary work was ''Ram-Bulja'' (1953), which he first wrote in Albanian but then later translated and first it in published Bosnian. It was thereafter re-translated into Albanian shortly after because, according to Sijarić, the characters there themselves can be seen as Albanians. His most acclaimed work is the novel ''Bihorci'' (1955). He spent most of his life in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

and later,

. However, almost all his major works are about

and the Bihor region around

. His works have been translated in more than a dozen languages, including

, German and French. Sijarić perished in a car crash in Sarajevo, shortly before his 76th birthday in December 1989. Not long before his death, Sijarić wrote a poem called ''Znam'' (''I Know''), which appears to show him foreshadowing his own death: Three schools bear the name of Ćamil Sijarić, in Sarajevo,

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...

, and Nemila. Several cities—including

Brčko Brčko ) is a city and the administrative seat of Brčko District, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies on the banks of Sava river across from Croatia. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants. De jure, the Brčko District b ...

, Novi Pazar,

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

, Tutin, and

Nova Varoš Nova Varoš ( sr-cyr, Нова Варош, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The municipality of Nova Varoš has a population of 13,507, while the town of Nova Varoš itself has a population of ...

—have streets named for Sijarić. In Novi Pazar, the Pero Ćamilo Sijarić literary prize is awarded, and in

there is a Day of Remembrance for Ćamilo Sijarić. A fountain was built in his memory in his native village of Šipovice.

Works

Some of his most important works are: * ''Ram-Bulja'' (stories, 1953) * ''Bihorci'' (novel, 1956) * ''Zelen prsten na vodi'' (stories, 1957) * ''Naša snaha i mi momci'' (stories, 1962) * ''Kuću kućom čine lastavice'' (1962) * '' Mojkovačka bitka'' (novel, 1968) * ''Sablja'' (stories, 1969) * ''Na putu putnici'' (stories, 1969) * ''Zapisi o gradovima'' (travelogues, 1970) * ''Konak'' (novel, 1971) * ''Kad djevojka spava, to je kao da mirišu jabuke'' (stories, 1973) * ''Carska vojska'' (novel, 1976) * ''Raška zemlja Rascija'' (novel, 1979) * ''Francuski pamuk'' (stories, 1980) * ''Oslobođeni Jasenovac'' (memoirs, 1983) * ''Rimski prsten'' (stories, 1985) * '' Herceg-Bosno i tvoji gradovi'' (travelogues, 1986) * ''Lirika'' (poems, 1988) * ''Koliba na nebu'' (poems, 1990) * ''Drvo kraj Akova'' (stories, 1990)

Awards

* Honorary citizen of

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

* Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1953) * First prize at the anonymous competition of the publishing company Narodna prosvjeta (1955) * Svjetlost Award for the best published story in that company 1945-1955 (1955) * Thirteenth of July Award (1971) * Award of the Society of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1962) *

Andrić Prize The Andrić Prize () is a Serbian and formerly Yugoslav annual literary award for short stories and short story collections written in Serbian, granted by the ''Zadužbina Ive Andrića'' ("Ivo Andrić Foundation") since 1975. History The prize ...

(1980) * Yugoslav award for the novel (1983)

References

External links

Ćamil Sijarić
1913 births 1989 deaths Montenegrin people of Albanian descent University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni People from Bijelo Polje Bosniaks of Montenegro Albanian male writers Montenegrin novelists Montenegrin short story writers Members of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts 20th-century novelists Road incident deaths in Yugoslavia 20th-century short story writers Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Albanian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Montenegrin descent Bosnia and Herzegovina writers {{montenegro-writer-stub