Antun Branko Šimić (18 November 1898 – 2 May 1925) was a Bosnian and Herzegovinian and Croatian expressionist

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, 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 language, Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography were standardized in the late 19th centu ...

of the 20th century.

Life

He was born to a

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

family from Drinovci 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 of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

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 Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg () is a city and the regional capital of West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. the town itself had a population of 6,149 and the municipality of 28,929. Name ...

. He decided to change schools in the fourth form. He went to

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 ...

. Afterwards, to

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city settlement's population was 28,111 in the 2021 census, while the total population was 30,842, making it the largest town of the county. It is a local tr ...

( Gymnasium Vinkovci). His unruly spirit made him change his surroundings again, and so he continued his education 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, 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 the 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 (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

s, literary and art critiques, and 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 North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

he met Tatjana Marinić to whom he dedicated his only collection, ''Preobraženja'' (''Metamorphoses'') in 1920. Between 1918 and 1919, he immersed himself in 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 returned 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), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

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

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

, and spent time recuperating in a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

Cavtat Cavtat (, ) is a village in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic Sea coast south of Dubrovnik and is the centre and the main settlement of Konavle municipality. History Antiquity The original city was founded by the ...

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

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

and was buried in

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, ), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery (), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members of all religious groups: Catholic, Orthodox, M ...

Works

Šimić did not write an extensive 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 expressionist spirit. In his collection ''Preobraženja'' (Metamorphoses), using free verse, he wrote tersely, rhythmically, gnomically and logically. He would also sometimes resort to the decasyllabic line and the

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

lament. His topics are the

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

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

, the poor,

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

and

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

("death is something quite human"). When he turns to the man, he warns him: Be careful not to go, small as thou art, 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). Šimić published his essays in his journals that defended the principles of

expressionism 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 ...

, which influenced his later poetry. In particular, his views were based on the tenets of

German Expressionism 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 radi ...

. The image of A.B. Šimić can be seen on Federation of BiH issue of the 20 km

banknote A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...

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 Croat writers from Bosnia and Herzegovina Expressionist poets Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery 20th-century Croatian poets 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Yugoslavia

Life

Works

See also

References

Bibliography

External links