Lazar "Laza" Lazarević ( sr-cyr, Лазаp Лаза Лазаревић, 13 May 1851 – 10 January 1891) was a Serbian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

, and

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

Medical career

Lazarević was born in Šabac in 1851. He studied medicine at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

Medical School. After graduating, he became a physician in Belgrade and in 1881, he was appointed Head Doctor and Chief of the Internal Department of the General State Hospital in Belgrade. Later, he became King

Milan Obrenović IV Milan Obrenović IV ( sr-cyr, Милан Обреновић, Milan Obrenović; 22 August 1854 – 11 February 1901) reigned as the Prince of Serbia from 10 June 1868 until 1882, when he became King of Serbia, a title he held until his abdic ...

's personal doctor. As a physician, he made significant contributions to the development of medicine in Serbia. He published 72 medical and scientific papers, particularly on diseases targeting the nervous system. The first cataracts operation in Serbia was performed by Lazarević and in 1884 he was the first doctor to be sent as an envoy to Austria to learn about animal lymphatic systems. He founded the first modern geriatric hospital. He participated as a field doctor in the Serbo-Turkish War of 1876 and 1878 and he was a major organizer of the Great Reserve Hospital in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

during the

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War (, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', , ''Srpsko-bugarski rat''), a war between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria, erupted on and lasted until . Despite Bulgaria's statu ...

of 1885, initially as medical major and then vice-

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Writing

In addition to his native Serbian, Lazarević was fluent in Russian, French and German. Although he was a doctor by profession, writing took up a great deal of his time. He published nine short stories. His early writings were influenced by the socialist ideals of

Svetozar Marković Svetozar Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Марковић, ; 9 September 1846 – 26 February 1875) was a Serbian political activist, literary critic and socialist philosopher. He developed an activistic anthropological philosophy ...

before shifting to a more conservative position. Despite the small body of work, his stories have been analyzed for their artistic and social contexts. His contributions to Serbian literature are significant. He was a member of several Serbian

Learned Societies A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

, including

SANU The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel laureates Ivo ...

and his works were translated into numerous languages.

Legacy

He is included in

The 100 most prominent Serbs ''The 100 most prominent Serbs'' () is a book containing the biographies of the hundred most important Serbs as compiled by a committee of academicians at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The committee members were Sava Vuković (bishop) ...

and he was elected a member of

Parnassos Literary Society The Parnassos Literary Society () was founded in 1865 in Athens and has published various magazines. The oldest literary society in mainland Greece, it continues to be active today. The Society was founded on 24 June 1865 by the four children ...

Works

* ''Prvi put s ocem na jutrenje'', 1879 * ''Školska ikona'', 1880 * ''Na bunaru'', 1880 * ''U dobri čas hajduci'', 1880 * ''Verter'', 1881 * ''Švabica'', 1881 * ''Sve će to narod pozlatiti'', 1882 * ''Šest pripovedaka'', 1886 * ''Vetar'', 1888 * ''On zna sve'', 1890 * ''Pripovetke L. K. Lazarevića I'', 1898 * ''Pripovetke L. K. Lazarevića II'', 1899

References

Sources

Jovan Skerlić Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as o ...

, ''Istorija Nove Srpske Književnosti'' / History of New Serbian Literature (Belgrade, 1921), pp. 378–384.

External links

"New bibliography of scientific papers by Dr. Laza K. Lazarević"
Kanjuh Vladimir, Pavlović Budimir, ''Glas SANU – Medicinske nauke'', 2002, issue 46, pages 37–51 *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarevic, Laza 1851 births 1891 deaths 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century translators Belgrade Higher School alumni Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery People from the Principality of Serbia Serbian short story writers Serbian psychiatrists Serbian translators Translators from Russian Tuberculosis deaths in Serbia University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Writers from Šabac