Milica Stojadinovic-Srpkinja ( sr-cyr, Милица Стојадиновић Српкиња, ) (1828–1878) was a Serbian

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 ...

, sometimes called "the greatest female Serbian poet of the 19th century".

Life and work

Raised in the family of the priest Vasilije Stojadinović, she was among rare Serbian women in the early 19th century who could read and write both in Serbian and German languages. She started writing at a very young age and published her first poem ''Mladi Srbin'' (''The Young Serb'') in ''Srbski narodni list'' (''Serbian National Journal'') in 1845. Her first book of poems was published in 1850. Written in 1854, her journal ''U Fruškoj gori'' (''In Fruška Gora'') represents a unique collection of fairy tales, beliefs, sayings, and customs. The peak of her public activity was going to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1850 at the invitation of

Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...

, who used her materials for his work.

Career

As her fame spread beyond the confines of

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

culture of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, Prince Mihailo Obrenović would invite her to court when she came to Belgrade and

-based anthropologist and poet

Johann Gabriel Seidl Johann Gabriel Seidl (21 June 1804 – 18 July 1875) was an Austrian archeologist, poet, storyteller and dramatist. He wrote the lyrics to "" This was the 1854 version of the Austrian Imperial Anthem, music by Joseph Haydn (""). Born in Vi ...

devoted a poem to her. She corresponded extensively with writers Đorđe Rajković (1825–1886),

Ljubomir Nenadović Ljubomir Nenadović (14 September 1826 – 21 January 1895) was a Serbian writer, poet, translator, diplomat, minister of education and member of the Serbian Royal Academy. Family Ljubomir was born in Brankovina, Valjevo, Principality of Serbi ...

Vuk Stefanović Karadžić VUK or Vuk may refer to: *Vuk (name), South Slavic given name ** Vuk, Ban of Bosnia (), a member of the Kotromanić dynasty ** Vuk Karadžić (1787–1864), Serbian language reformer and folklorist, often referred to simply as Vuk * ''Vuk'' (film) ...

and his daughter Wilhelmine/Mina,

Božena Němcová Božena Němcová () (4 February 1820 in Vienna – 21 January 1862 in Prague) was a Czech writer of the final phase of the ''Czech National Revival'' movement. Her image is featured on the 500 CZK denomination of the Česká koruna. Biography ...

, and

Ludwig August von Frankl Ludwig August Ritter von Frankl-Hochwart (3 February 1810 – 12 March 1894) was a Jewish Bohemian-Austrian writer and poet. Biography Frankl was born on 3 February 1810, in Chrast, Bohemia. His brothers were David Bernhard Frankl (1820-1859), ...

. In 1891 an almanach ''Die Dioskuren'' was issued in Vienna by Ludwig von Frankl with a collection of letters written by Milica Stojadinović.

Reception

Her work, though, has been mostly out of the public eye and almost forgotten except by literary experts for most of the 20th century, first during fin-de-siècle

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

poeticism as an outdated poetic form of pre-1870s, and later, under

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

rule as an unacceptable expression of patriotism for only one of the six nations of

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 ...

(namely: Serbian). After

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

's death the awareness of her work was revived, and in the last quarter of a century a four-day poetry memorial is convened annually in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

in her honour, where a poetry prize bearing her name is awarded to prominent poets from Serbia.

Biljana Dojčinović Biljana Dojčinović-Nešić ( sr-Cyrl, Биљана Дојчиновић; born 1963) is a Serbian feminist academic, who specialises in Serbian literature and Gender Studies, and who co-founded the Center for Women's Studies in Belgrade. She is ...

has written on the role of Stojadinović-Srpkinja in the development of women's writing in Serbia, through a feminist framework.

Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja award

Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja literary award was established in her honor in 1994. It was awarded to many prominent authors, such as

Mira Alečković Mira Alečković (2 February 1924, Novi Sad – 27 February 2008) was a Serbian and Yugoslav poet. Biography She lived in Belgrade since age two, but spent her childhood between villages in Vojvodina, Dalmatia, Montenegro, and Kosovo, where her ...

Jara Ribnikar Jara Ribnikar ( sr-Cyrl, Јара Рибникар; born Jaroslava Hájková; 23 August 1912 – 30 April 2007) was a Yugoslavian and Serbian writer, translator, partisan fighter and politician. She was the second wife of Vladislav S. Ribnikar, jo ...

Matija Bećković Matija Bećković ( sr-Cyrl, Матија Бећковић, ; born 29 November 1939) is a Serbian poet, writer and academic. Life Bećković was born in Senta, in the multiethnic province of Vojvodina (then Danube Banate, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) ...

, Boško Petrović, etc. Since 2009 the rules have been modified so that the award can only be given to women poets.

Notes

References

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 Modern Serbian Literature (Belgrade, 1914, 1921), p. 208. Her biography was translated from Skerlić's Serbian into English for this entry in the Wikipedia.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stojadinovic Srpkinja, Milica 1828 births 1878 deaths 19th-century Serbian poets 19th-century Serbian women writers People from Petrovaradin Serbian women poets Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia Burials in Požarevac