Timothy John Byford (; 25 July 1941 – 5 May 2014) was an author, film director, translator, and educator. Byford was born in England, but spent most of his life 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 ...

. He became a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of Serbia in 2004. He directed children's television programmes, first in the UK for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and later in Yugoslavia, for

TV Belgrade The Serbian Broadcasting Corporation, more commonly referred to as Radio Television of Serbia (), or RTS (), is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Serbia. RTS has four organizational units – radio, television, music pro ...

and

TV Sarajevo TVSA or Televizija Kantona Sarajevo (Sarajevo Canton Television) is a public broadcasting, public TV channel founded by Assembly of Sarajevo Canton. Headquarters of TVSA is located in capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo (along with ...

. His children's TV series enjoyed great success in former Yugoslavia, and continue to be popular.

Biography

Born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, Byford started his TV career directing films for the BBC ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

'' programme. His first TV documentary ''"I Want to Be a Showjumper"'' won a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Harlequin "Rediffusion Star Award" (for Children's Programmes) in 1970. In 1971 he moved to

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 ...

, where he married and continued to write and direct children's television programmes during the 1970s and 1980s. He is best known for his children's TV series: ''Neven'' ('Marigold'), ''Babino unuče'' ('Granny's Boy') and ''Poletarac'' ('Fledgling'), all for

, as well as ''Nedeljni zabavnik'' ('Sunday Magazine'), 'Musical Notebook' and ''Tragom ptice Dodo'' ('On the Trail of the Dodo'), all for

. 'Fledgling' won a Grand Prix at the

Prix Jeunesse Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who a ...

International Festival in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in 1980. He spent his last fifteen years teaching English, writing and translating. In 2006, after 40 years of working with children, he joined the Children's Cultural Centre Belgrade, where he wrote and directed programmes, taught English and translated. He has written and published a self-portrait trilogy, ''"Pigs Do Not Eat Banana Skins"'', completed a collection of seven short stories under the title ''"The Golden Candlestick"'', and completed his official autobiography, ''"Warts and All"''. His name is also associated with a park in the southern suburbs of

Banjica Forest Byford's Forest () is a forest in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac and until 2015 was known as Banjica Forest (), the name still used in news reports. The forest covers an area of and has been under va ...

, as during the late 1980s he campaigned for it to have special protection because of the large number of

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, ...

s and other species of birds that nest in it. The wood is now an officially protected natural habitat and has its name changed officially to ''Byford's Forest'' in 2015. On 1 April 2010, Byford celebrated the 50th year of his artistic career with the opening of his photograph exhibition, ''Joy in 100 Pictures'', consisting of photographs he took at the 'Joy of Europe' festivals in 2008 and 2009. The same year, he appeared on screen as a cricket umpire in a television advert for Mivela water during the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. The ad featured players from the Serbia national cricket team and Serbian footballer

Radosav Petrović Radosav Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Радосав Петровић, ; born 8 March 1989) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Cypriot First Division club APOEL. He represented Serbia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup ...

Pension issue

Byford moved to Belgrade, Serbia, former Yugoslavia in 1971 and as a foreigner he was not allowed to participate in the state's

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...

system. Since his wife was from former Yugoslavia (now Serbia), he should inherit the citizenship right after a certain number of years spent in marriage. He received Serbian citizenship only at the age of 65 after intervention of Serbia's then president

Boris Tadić Boris Tadić, (born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. He later worked as a journalist ...

. It was too late to become a pension fund participant, since he would be at the age of 80 before he gains the right for a minimal pension. On 1 January 2011, Serbian newspaper agency

Blic ''Blic'' (Cyrillic: Блиц, ) is a Serbian web portal covering politics, economy, entertainment, and current events. The first printed edition of Blic was published in 1996, its online portal was launched in 1998, and Blic TV began broadcasting ...

wrote an article about Mr. Byford being rejected for a national recognition award for his contribution and previous work (which effectively provides the right to a national pension), despite being nominated by several of his colleagues as described in an interview. Rejecting Mr. Byford's requests for the pension caused significant discontent among people who remember his work from their childhood. Two weeks later after the original article was published, Mr. Byford applied for and received a regular pension, giving him the right to apply for a National Pension. In a later article Byford thanked many supporters who offered their help and started a petition on a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

social network. As a result, Mr. Byford received several job offers, but many of them he had to turn down due to his specific health issues. Mr. Byford eventually returned to RTS as a consultant in the Children's Programmes Department. In January 2012 he received national recognition and was awarded a National Pension.

Death

In 2005 Byford was diagnosed with

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

, a type of cancer formed by malignant plasma cells. He died of the illness on 5 May 2014 in Belgrade. Byford was cremated at the Belgrade's Novo Groblje cemetery on 12 May 2014. He was survived by his former wife Ljudmila "Mila" Stanojević; wife Zorica and three sons : Justin, Jovan, Andrej. Bajford: "Pamtite me po pticama"
Danas.rs, 12.5.2014.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Byford, Timothy John 1941 births 2014 deaths People from Salisbury Serbian writers English film directors Serbian film directors English television directors Serbian television directors Serbian translators Serbian educators Serbian people of English descent Deaths from multiple myeloma Deaths from cancer in Serbia English emigrants Immigrants to Yugoslavia Naturalized citizens of Serbia 20th-century translators 20th-century Serbian educators 21st-century English writers 21st-century Serbian educators