Jovan Ćirilov (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Јован Ћирилов; ; 30 August 1931 – 16 November 2014) was a Serbian

theatrologist Theatre studies (sometimes referred to as theatrology or dramatics) is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psychological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also enco ...

, philosopher, writer, theatre selector, and poet.

Biography

Ćirilov was born in

Kikinda Kikinda ( sr-Cyrl, Кикинда, ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Banat District in Serbia. The city's urban area has 32,084 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 49,326 inhabit ...

. the only son of Milivoj Ćirilov, a council clerk, and his wife, Jelica (''née'' Ivačković). His parents later divorced. After finishing school in his home town, he enrolled and graduated philosophy at 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 ...

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 ...

in 1955. He was at the head of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre from 1985–1999, and before that he had worked as a

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

since 1956, as well in

Atelje 212 Atelje 212 ( sr-Cyrl, Атеље 212) is a theatre located in Belgrade, Serbia. Established in 1956 on the premises of the '' Borba'' building in front of 212 chairs, its opening play was the staging of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's '' Faust'' dir ...

since 1967 to 1985. Since establishment in 1967 to 2014, Jovan was the artistic director and selector of

BITEF The Belgrade International Theatre Festival (abbr. BITEF) is a theatre festival that takes place every September annually in Belgrade, Serbia. History Founded in 1967, BITEF has continually followed and supported the latest theatre trends. It h ...

festival, longest in the history of international theatre festivals. In 2000, he received a Special Prize by the Jury of the

Europe Theatre Prize The Europe Theatre Prize ''(Premio Europa per il Teatro)'' is an award of the European Commission for a personality who has "contributed to the realisation of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peo ...

, awarded to BITEF. Since 2001 to 2007, he was the President of the National Commission of Yugoslavia, then

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. He wrote the plays ''Room for four'' and ''House of Silence'' (with Miroslav Belović),

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

s for the Vladimir Slijepčević film ''Real state of situation'', ''Ward'', ''Where after the rain'' (shown in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Moscow and

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

), radio plays ''Windy Roads'' (in German language, Radio Hamburg), ''Mechanical secretary'' and others. Adapted for the stage of ''The Damned Yard'' by

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...

, and together with Belović ''Discovery'', by

Dobrica Ćosić Dobrica Ćosić (, ; 29 December 1921 – 18 May 2014) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician, writer, and political theorist. Ćosić was twice awarded the prestigious NIN award for literature and Medal of Pushkin for his writing. His books hav ...

. He was the author of novels, several collections of poems, theatrological essays, books of memories, an anthology of plays (Serbian contemporary drama in English, British and American contemporary drama, The shortest plays in the world, etc...) and vocabularies. He had translated plays by

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially '' The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

, Stoppard,

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

, Marber and the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

''. Writer of

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s in NIN magazine, (named "Word of the week", since 1986 to this day), two columns a week in the ''Blic'' newspaper, (named "Pozorištarije" and "With hands in pockets") and theater news in the Ludus theatre newspapers. As a member of the

League of Communists of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats ...

, he was the first person who publicly called for decriminalisation of male same-sex relations ("sodomy laws") in the 1980s. He spoke German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Serbian and studied Chinese.

Death

He died 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 ...

after a short illness on 16 November 2014. He is interred in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens in the

Belgrade New Cemetery The New Cemetery ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ново гробље, Novo groblje) is a cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, ...

Works

Published books

* ''Путовање по граматици'', ''The journey for grammar'', poems, 1972. * ''Неко време у Салцбургу'', ''Some time in Salzburg'', a novel, 1980. * ''Узалудна путовања, песме'', ''Trip in vain, songs'', 1989. * ''Реч недеље'', ''Word of the Week'', a collection of articles (columns), 1997. and 2006. * ''Пре и после гнева'', ''Before and after anger'', зборник савремене британске драме, repertory of modern British drama, 2001. * ''Пре и после Косе'', ''Before and after Kosa'', зборник савремене америчке драме, repertory of modern American drama, 2002. * ''Сви моји савременици'' I-II, ''All of my contemporaries'', collection of short biographies, 2010/11. * ''Мајке познатих'', ''Mothers of the famous'', collection of short biographies, 2011.

Theatrical works

* ''Путовање по позоришту'', ''Travels in Theatre'', 1988. * ''Драмски писци моји савременици'', ''Dramatic writers my contemporaries'', 1989. * ''Позориштарије'', ''Pozorištarije'', 1998. * ''Дневници'', ''Diaries'', 1999.

Dramas, plays and scripts

*''Room for four'', play (with Miroslav Belović) *''House of Silence'', play (with Miroslav Belović) *''The Real State of Affairs'', movie script for the Vladan Slijepčević film *'' The Climber'', movie script *''Where after the rain?'', movie script (shown in

, Moscow and

) *''Windy Roads'' (in German language, Radio Hamburg), radio play *''Mechanical secretary'', radio play *''The Damned Yard'' by

, adapted for the stage *''Discovery'', by

, together with Belović, adapted for the stage

Dictionaries

* ''Речник нових речи'', ''Dictionary of new words'', 1982. * ''Речник песничких слика'', ''Dictionary of poetic images'', 1985. * ''Нови речник нових речи'', ''New Dictionary of new words'', 1991. * ''Српско-хрватски речник варијаната (иначица)'', ''Serbo-Croatian Dictionary of variants (inacica)'', 1989. And 1994.

Anthologies

* ''Najkraće drame na svetu'' (''The shortest plays in the World'', short dramas, KOV, Vršac, 1999) * ''Kratke kraće i najkraće drame na svetu'' (''Short, shorter and shortest plays in the world'', short dramas, KOV, Vršac, 2008)

Awards

* Two ''Sterija Awards'', awarded by

Sterijino pozorje Sterijino pozorje ( sr-Cyrl, Стеријино позорје) is an annual theater festival held since 1956 in the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, featuring the national theaters of Serbia and previously Yugoslavia. It is the most prestigi ...

, for newspaper theater critics and for special merits in the promotion of theater arts. * '' The Statuette of Joakim Vujić'', awarded by Knjaževsko-srpski teatar in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

(1990) * ''Foundation "Braća Karić" Award'', for journalism * ''October Award of Belgrade'', for lifetime achievement * ''Order of "Knight of Art and Literature"'', awarded by France, 1992 * Sretenje Order, awarded by

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, 2012

External links

*
Jovan Čirilov
page at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cirilov, Jovan 1931 births 2014 deaths Writers from Kikinda Theatrologists Serbian LGBTQ rights activists Serbian male poets 20th-century Serbian philosophers 21st-century Serbian philosophers University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy alumni 20th-century Serbian poets Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Serbian editors