Toma Smiljanić ( sr-Cyrl, Тома Смиљанић; 18 June 1888 in

Tresonče Tresonče ( ) is a mountainous village located in the Mavrovo and Rostuša Municipality in western North Macedonia. It is a mountain village populated by Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian Eastern Orthodox, Orthodox Christians. There are also ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

– 10 May 1969 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 ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

), known by his nickname Bradina (), was a Serbian ethnographer,

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

and

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

from what is today

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. He is regarded as an ethnic Macedonian in North Macedonia.

Early life

Smiljanić was born in

to an old and distinguished family, the Bradinovci, who took its name after his great-grandfather Sardžo Karadža Bradina, a village leader at the beginning of the 19th century. He finished primary school in his native village and then went on to study at the Serbian high school in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

where he graduated in 1906. In the next five years he was a teacher in Serb schools in

, Dolno Melničani and

Galičnik Galičnik () is a mountain village in North Macedonia and along with Lazaropole is one of the two biggest and oldest Mijak villages in the region. Galičnik has well-preserved traditional architecture, including an amphitheater in the village sq ...

. As a holder of a scholarship from the Saint Sava Society in 1911 he started his studies at the Philosophical Faculty in Belgrade.

Military career

At the start of the First Balkans War, Smiljanić left the faculty to join the volunteer unit of Vojvoda Vuk in which he remained for the next four years, fighting with distinction in several battles. After the retreat of the Serbian army to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

as a promising student he was sent off to

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he studied and graduated geography and history. He fought in the

April War The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in "Füh ...

of 1941 and spent the rest of the occupation as a teacher in

Aleksinac Aleksinac ( sr-Cyrl, Алексинац) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of Southern and Eastern Serbia, southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 43,258 inhabitants. History Preh ...

Work

In 1920 he returned and started working as a professor at the grammar schools in

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

(1920-1921) and

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

(1921-1927) and then in Skopje's Trade Academy (1927-1930). From 1924 to 1929 he was the editor of ''Biblioteka Makedonija'' in

, which he founded (renamed in 1929 to ''Starovremska biblioteka''). He then went once again to

to finish his doctoral studies and obtained his PhD in 1931. Between 1931 and 1934 he was an MP for Galičnik-Debar county and after that an inspector (1935-1939) and head of the Educational board of Vardar Banate in

. After his retirement in 1946 he moved to

. He continued with his scientific research until his death, collaborating with

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 ...

and

Macedonian academy of sciences and arts The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts () is an academic institution in North Macedonia. History The Academy of Sciences and Arts was established by the Socialist Republic of Macedonia's assembly on 23 February 1967 as the highest scientifi ...

. Most of his scientific work was directed to studying of his native Mijaci clan, their customs, lands, famous persons. Apart from scientific work, Smiljanić was also a prose writer and

. Several of his writings, including his

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

, remain unpublished.Д-р Јованка Стојановска, ''Книжевното и научно дело на Томо Смиљаниќ-Брадина'', Скопје, 1994

Bibliography

* ''Na planini i druge pripovetke iz Makedonije'', Skopje, 1924 * ''Stojna i druge pripovetke iz Makedonije'', Skopje, 1924 * ''Plemenske osobine Mijaka'', Belgrade 1924 * ''Sedi kralj'', Skopje, 1925 * ''Kanonska vizitacija Reka'', Skopje, 1925 * ''Mijaci, Gorna Reka i Mavrovsko polje'', Belgrade 1926 * ''Maćedonski pečalbari''. Drama u pet činova s pevanjem, Prilep, 1927 * ''Pesmarica'', Skopje, 1929 * ''Prilozi za poznavanje stočarstva na našim visokim planinama''. Belgrade 1932 * ''Stočarstvo na Bistri, Stogovu, Krčinu i Kobaru'', Belgrade 1932 * ''Pleme Brsjaka'', Belgrade 1932 * ''Kralj slobodar'' – Kralj mirotvorac, Skopje, 1936 * ''Idealisti'' (first act of a drama), „Južni pregled“, Skopje, 1937

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomo Smiljanic Bradina 1888 births 1969 deaths People from Mavrovo and Rostuša Municipality People from Manastir vilayet Serbian ethnographers Serbian dramatists and playwrights Yugoslav ethnographers 20th-century Serbian people Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Yugoslav military personnel of World War II Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Serbia

Early life

Military career

Work

Bibliography

See also

References