Svetlana Velmar-Janković ( sr-cyr, Светлана Велмар-Јанковић, , 1 February 1933 – 9 April 2014) was a Serbian novelist, essayist, chronicler of

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 first female laureate of the Isidora Sekulić Award. She was considered to be one of the most important Serbian female authors of her time. In 2001, the French President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

honored her with the Chevalier medal of

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

because ''she always took care to preserve the

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

values which unite her and her country with the rest of Europe''.

Life and work

Svetlana Velmar-Janković was born in

, in the city which should remain the center of life for her whole life until death. She grew up in city quarter Dorćol and was one of two daughters of Vladimir Velmar-Janković, appointed deputy minister of education of the

Government of National Salvation The Government of National Salvation (; , VNS), also referred to as Nedić's government or Nedić's regime, was the colloquial name of the second Serbian Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborationist List of World War II ...

in the German Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, who escaped from Yugoslavia in September 1944. He left his wife and children behind. They had to accept serious social consequences because of that in communist Yugoslavia, and that was not easy to endure for the remained family members. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium, late efforts of his daughters to get him officially rehabilitated, ran into opposition. A brief statement by his famous daughter gives an idea of the long-term suffering of the family, and a question asked at the beginning of this millennium by a contemporary witness and representative of the post-war state, who was nobody else than Tito's official German language interpreter during state visits and receptions, brings up this issue to the point. After completion of her

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

education, she graduated with maturity diploma at IV gymnasium for girls in 1951, she began studying

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

at the Philological Faculty of Belgrade's University, and completed with diploma in 1963. In 1953, still while her education at university, she became journalist and wrote contributions to the youth magazines ''Dečje štampe'' and '' Pioniri''. From 1959 to 1975, she was editor of the literary journal ''Književnost'' of Prosveta publishing house, and in 1971 she became member of the editorial board of this company, where she worked until 1989. In the meantime, she edited Prosveta's publication series ''Baština'' (Heritage) which consists of

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and

essays An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

of numerous Serbian authors. She was elected corresponding member of the

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts 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 Prize, Nobel la ...

since 2006, and became a full member three years later. From 2007 to 2013, she was chairwoman of the board of directors of the

National Library of Serbia The National Library of Serbia () is the national library of Serbia, located in the capital city of Belgrade. It is the biggest library, and oldest institution in Serbia, one that was completely destroyed many times over in the last two centuries ...

. Svetlana Velmar-Janković was married twice, her first marriage to journalist Miodrag Protić ended with his death in 1974, after twenty one years of wedlock, and her son Đorđe (born in 1966) comes from this relationship, he emigrated to the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. She is interred in an honorary grave of the Belgrade New Cemetery. Her second husband was Žarko Rošulj (born in 1940), who worked at Nolit publishing as a graphic editor from 1978 to 1996 and died in 2018. In its obituary, the newspaper

Politika ( sr-Cyrl, Политика, lit=Politics) is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and ownership is publ ...

cites the deceased lady once again who will never be passed away in collective memory and lives on in her books about places, people and generations. Her complete work is already including one or several editions in Bulgarian,

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 ...

, English, French, Hungarian,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Korean, Macedonian and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

translation, most of all published in French. Internationally best known book from her complete work is the novel ''Lagum'', which has also been published in Bulgarian, English (two editions in 1996 and 2002), French, German, Italian and Spanish translation. ''Lagum'', a term of Turkish origin, refers to a dark dungeon-like underground passage, in which no light falls, as are numerous under the Kalemegdan fortress, and scene of the plot is the city of Belgrade, written from the perspective of the wife of a professor of Belgrade University.

Protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

Milica Pavlović, first-person narrator, tells life events from her time period between 1928 and 1984. When her husband, the well-respected Dušan Pavlović, tried to save as many people as possible from the Ustashe extermination camps in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

during the war and therefore co-operated with Serbian Quisling government, the couple became increasingly estranged. Above that, Milica hides a wounded partisan in the servant room of her apartment without her husband's knowledge and children. The takeover of power by the communist resistance fighters become the fate of the family: Dušan is executed as a collaborator, the apartment is ransacked by neighbors who hastily turned into zealous and cruel henchmen of the new regime. Milica is reviled as a traitor by people whom she and her husband had saved years ago. So also from that partisan who recovered hidden in family's flat. It is a sensitive but relentless portrait of society, a profound analysis of human contradictions, character weaknesses and political

opportunism 300px, ''Opportunity Seized, Opportunity Missed'', engraving by Theodoor Galle, 1605 Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances — with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opport ...

. Celia Hawkesworth, English translator of the novel ''Lagum'', describes this work as follows: For the past three decades of her life, Svetlana Velmar-Janković was not only a recognized ''Grande Dame'' of Serbian literature, but also a loud voice of conscience who courageously and unequivocally advocated

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, based on

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

and European values of the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

. Many possible examples could illustrate this, but only two are briefly presented here: an excerpt from her speech during the 1991 protests including the beginning of the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

and her statement about the Serbian declaration on

Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by unit ...

. She was also a member of the ''

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

'' (Komisija za istinu i pomirenje).

Bibliography

Novels *''Ožiljak'' (Scar), 1956 *''Lagum'' (Dungeon), 1990 *''Bezdno'' (Bottomless), 1995 *''Nigdina'' (Nowhere), 2000 *''Vostanije'' (Uprising), 2004 Essays *''Savremenici'' (Contemporaries), 1967 *''Ukletnici'' (Cursed Ones), 1993 *''Izabranici'' (Chosen Ones), 2005 *''Srodnici'' (Kinfolk), 2013 Memoirs *''Prozraci'' (Ventilation), 2003 and 2015 (second volume, posthumous) Short Stories, Narrations *'' Dorćol'', 1981 *''

Vračar Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a popul ...

'', 1994 *''Glasovi'' (Voices), 1997 *''Knjiga za Marka'' (Book for Marko),

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, 1998 *''Očarane naočare: priče o Beogradu'' (Spellbound Spectacles: Stories About Belgrade), 2006 *''Sedam mojih drugara'' (Seven of my Friends), 2007 *''Zapisi sa dunavskog peska'' (

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Sand Records), 2016 (posthumous) Monograph *''Kapija Balkana: brzi vodič kroz prošlost Beograda'' (Gate of the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

: Quick Guide Through Belgrade's History), 2011 Theatre Plays *''Žezlo'' (Sceptre, contains ''

Stefan Dečanski Stefan Uroš III, , known as Stefan of Dečani ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Дечански, Stefan Dečanski, ( – 11 November 1331), was King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. Dečanski was the son of King Stefan Milutin (). He ...

'' and '' Knez

Mihailo Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) is a South Slavic masculine given name. It is a variant of the Hebrew name ''Michael (given name), Michael'', and its cognates include Mihajlo and Mijailo. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon sur ...

''), 2011 *''Knez Mihailo'', Premiere at Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 1996 *''Lagum'', dramatized by Gordana Gocić, Premiere at

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 ...

, 1995 English editions *''Dungeon'' (Lagum), translated by Celia Hawkesworth, Dereta and UCL, Belgrade and London 1996, .

Honors

* Isidora Sekulić Award 1967 for ''Savreminici'' *

Andrić Prize The Andrić Prize () is a Serbian and formerly Yugoslav annual literary award for short stories and short story collections written in Serbian, granted by the ''Zadužbina Ive Andrića'' ("Ivo Andrić Foundation") since 1975. History The prize ...

1981 for ''Dorćol'' * Meša Selimović Award 1990 for ''Lagum'' *Award for ''the most read book'' of the

1991: ''Lagum'' * Borisav Stanković Award 1994 for ''Vračar'' *Đorđe Jovanović Award 1994 for ''Vračar'' * NIN Award 1995 for ''Bezdno'' *Neven Award 1998 for ''Knjiga za Marka'' * Politikin Zabavnik Award 1998 for ''Knjiga za Marka'' *'' Mišićev dukat'' 2001 for life achievement *

(Chevalier medal) 2001 * Ramonda Serbika Award 2002 of Književna kolonija „Sićevo“ * Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša Award 2002 for literary life achievement *Award of ''Udruženje Beogradjana “ 6. april 1941”'' for her complete literary work about Belgrade, 2007 * Gordana Todorović Award for life work of women writers 2008Kroz lagume duše
Sve Vesti, retrieved 2020-01-10.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velmar-Jankovic, Svetlana 1933 births 2014 deaths University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology alumni Writers from Belgrade Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia Serbian non-fiction writers Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Serbian women novelists 20th-century Serbian novelists 20th-century Serbian women writers Serbian women essayists Serbian women journalists Serbian children's writers Serbian women children's writers Serbian dramatists and playwrights Serbian women dramatists and playwrights Serbian women short story writers Serbian short story writers 21st-century Serbian women writers Serbian book publishers (people) Knights of the Legion of Honour Yugoslav women writers Yugoslav journalists Yugoslav women journalists Yugoslav essayists Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery