Anđelko Krstić ( sr-Cyrl, Анђелко Крстић;

Labuništa Labuništa (; ) is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia. Name Labuništa is an old name dating back to the time of the arrival of Slavic peoples to the Balkans. The origins of the name Labuništa are Greco-Latin from the topon ...

, near

Struga Struga ( ; , sq-definite, Struga) is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of North Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality. Name The name Struga ...

, 1 November 1871 – Labuništa, near Struga, 6 May 1952) was a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

writer and patriot. During the struggles to free

Old Serbia Old Serbia () is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the Serbian Empire in 1346–71. The term does ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

from the Ottoman yoke, the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

(1912–1913) and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Krstić fought as a Chetnik

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Life

Krstić was born in the village of

in the Drimkol area (known as ''Mala

Šumadija Šumadija ( sr-Cyrl, Шумадија, ) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of t ...

'') north of

(present-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, then in

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

) into a Serb family of ''pečalbari'', whose work took them away from their homeland to earn for living but always kept close connections to their homeland. His father, Martin, worked as a milkman in

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 Anđelko joined him at a young age. Unhappy about this work, he wanted to get an education and enroll in an evening course in

Saint Sava Saint Sava (, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; Glagolitic: ; ; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbs, Serbian prince and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, abbot of Studenica Monastery, Studeni ...

school for teachers. His father opposed his decision, took him back to native

and pressed him to marry, aged only 17. However, Anđelko decided to oppose his father more resolutely when he wanted to take him to work with him in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Instead, he returned to

and started working as a milkman assistant with his compatriot Marko Šumenković while in the evenings he attended school lessons. Professors soon noticed his diligence and helped him with a small stipend. He graduated in August 1889 with excellent grades. Despite an offer to stay in Belgrade Krstić decided to go back to his native village.

World War I and After

Back in

, despite many obstacles imposed by the Ottoman authorities and the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate (; ) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953. The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) ...

, he managed to open Serbian schools in the neighboring village of Podgorec and often collaborated with the Chetniks (members of the

Serbian Chetnik Organization The Serbian Revolutionary Organization () or Serbian Chetnik Organization (Српска четничка организација / Srpska četnička organizacija) was a paramilitary revolutionary organization with the aim of liberation of Old Se ...

). He was arrested by Turkish authorities for his patriotic work several times. In 1911 he became the head principal of all the Serb schools in the areas of

Debar Debar ( ; , sq-definite, Dibra or Dibra e Madhe) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ethnic Albanian majorit ...

Štip Štip ( ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2021 census, the city of Štip had ...

and

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

. Following October 1915 invasion of Serbia during

at the hands of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

and Bulgarian armies, the Serbian army retreated through Albania, an event sometimes called the ''Albanian Golgotha''. Kostić was among the lucky ones who survived and from Thessaloniki he participated in the Serbian army's offensive. Serbian and French forces retook limited areas of Macedonia by recapturing

Bitola Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

on 19 November 1916. They finally made a breakthrough; this breakthrough was significant in defeating Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, which led to the final victory of World War I. In 1924 he was offered by Bora Stanković a post in the Ministry of Education in

. Although he hesitated in 1940 he was appointed as an editor of ''Glas juga'' newspaper from

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 ...

, where he remained until the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation in 1941. Krstić, modest as he was, spent the most of his life where he was born. He died in 1952 and was, by his own wish, buried on a hill underneath Mount Jablanica.

Works

His first writing, descriptions of local customs, appeared in 1904 in ''Carigradski glasnik'', a Serb newspaper printed in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. He wrote under the pen name ''Drimkolac'' (Drimkol is the name of the

area). His first short story saw the light of day in 1903 in the same newspaper. It was called ''Pečalba'' – the theme that will preoccupy his opus. Until 1914 he published ten stories but was little noticed in literary circles. The breakthrough came in 1932 when a collection of his short stories was published in Belgrade. In the same year, he also published ''Trajan'', a novel that includes many autobiographical elements. For both books, he received praise and won several literary awards. He also wrote a drama ''Zatočnici'' (1937) that was performed in

that same year, as well as another book of short stories published in 1951. An autobiographical book entitled ''Sećanja'' appeared in the year 2000. His books are written in the dialect of his native Drimkol. In his style of writing Krstić was a strict realist.Jovan Deretić, ''Kratka istorija srpske književnosti'' http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_11.html

References

* ''Anđelko Krstić, Prosvetiteljski bard iz Labuništa'' http://www.srbi.org.mk/sr/drushtvo/20-istorija/71-andjelko-krstic {{DEFAULTSORT:Krstic, Andelko Serbian writers 1871 births 1952 deaths Serbs from the Ottoman Empire

Life

World War I and After

Works

See also

References