Zaim Topčić (28 February 1920 – 15 July 1990) was a Bosnian writer of novels. He twice won the Annual Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the novels '' Lump of Sun'' and '' Black Snows'' (his son

Zlatko Topčić Zlatko Topčić (born 30 April 1955) is a Bosnian screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He has written a number of films, including: ''Remake (2003 film), Remake'', ''The Abandoned (2010 film), The Abandoned'', ''Miracle in Bosnia''; theater p ...

is also a double winner of this award).

Early life and family

Topčić was born in

Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Glamoč in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the fo ...

to a

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

family on 28 February 1920 and lived most of his life in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. His wife Naila was a member of the Selimić family (her grandfather was a municipal councilor, landowner, benefactor and philanthropist Zaim-beg Selimić, who was the owner of the Kravica waterfall). He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

Career

Topčić actively participated in

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was Invasion of Yugoslavia, invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis powers, Axis forces and partitioned among Nazi Germany, Germany, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), It ...

from the beginning of 1941, on the Partisans side. After liberation he was the editor of Sarajevo radio station. Topčić was the secretary general of the

Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (, Друштво писаца Босне и Херцеговине) is a professional organisation of poets, essayists, novelists, and other writers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ''Društvo pis ...

(then ''Udruženje književnika Bosne i Hercegovine'', now ''Društvo pisaca Bosne i Hercegovine'', whose founder, secretary general, from 1993 to 2001, and a board member, from 2006 to 2010, was his son Zlatko). He is the author of the important historical novel ''Country of Heretics''. Professor Enes Duraković has included it in the edition of the 100 books of Bosniak literature. He has published a collections of stories ''Above the Abyss'' and ''Towards the Day''; novels ''Lump of Sun'', ''Black Snows'', ''Sea Between Poplars'', ''Country of Heretics'', ''Obtained World'', ''Man Hunt Jasenovac'' and ''Valter, Matoš''; drama ''Shadows of Autumn'' and travelogues ''Panorama of Our Time''. Topčić was a member of the

and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). His works have been translated into several languages.

Personal life

He lived in

with his wife Naila Selimić, son Zlatko and daughter Vesna. As a

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 ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was trapped in the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia durin ...

in 1943. One street in

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a spa town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and i ...

is called ''Street Zaim Topčić''.

Bibliography

Collections of stories

*''Above the Abyss'', 1952 *''Towards the Day'', 1955

Novels

*'' Lump of Sun'' (''Grumen sunca'', 1958) *'' Black Snows'' (''Crni snjegovi'', 1962) *''Sea Between Poplars'' (''More među jablanima'', 1966) *''Country of Heretics'' (''Zemlja heretika'', 1972) *''Obtained World'' (''Dobijeni svijet'', 1979) *''Man Hunt Jasenovac'' (''Ljudolovka Jasenovac'', 1985) *''Valter, Matoš'', 1991 (published posthumously)

Dramas

*''Shadows of Autumn''

Travelogues

*''Panorama of Our Time'', 1958

Awards

*The Annual Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for novel ''Lump of Sun'', 1958 *The Annual Award of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for novel ''Black Snows'', 1962 *27 July Award of Bosnia and Herzegovina

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topcic, Zaim 1920 births 1990 deaths People from Glamoč Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims Yugoslav writers Bosnia and Herzegovina novelists 20th-century novelists Jasenovac concentration camp survivors