Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj
Encyclopedia
Jovan Jovanović Zmaj was one of the best-known Serbia
n poets. He was a physician by profession, like his literary predecessor writer Jovan Stejić (1803-1853).
He wrote in many of the genres of poetry, including love
, lyric
, patriotic
, political
, youth's, etc. But he is best known for his children's poetry
. His nursery rhyme
s have entered the Serbia
n national consciousness and people sing them to their children even without knowing who wrote them. He also translated the works of some of the great poets, Russia's Lermontov and Pushkin; Germany's Goethe and Heine
; and America's Longfellow
.
His nickname Zmaj (Змај, meaning "dragon
") derives from May Assembly
date, 3 May 1848, in Serbian Cyrillic: 3.мај / Змај.
, Austrian Empire
), on November 24, 1833. He finished elementary school in the town, and secondary school in Pozony
(today Bratislava), later studying in Budapest
, Prague
and Vienna
. In 1870, he returned to Novi Sad to work as a doctor, motivated by the fact that his wife and children were from and eventually died from tuberculosis
.
His family was an old and noble family. In his earliest childhood he showed a great desire to learn
by heart the Serbian national songs
which were recited
to him, and even as a child he began to compose poems.
His father, who was a highly cultivated and wealthy
man, gave him his first education in his native
city. After this he went to Budapest
, Prague
, and
Vienna
, and in these cities he finished his studies in law.
This was the wish of his father, but his own inclinations
prompted him to take up the study of medicine. He
then returned to his native city, where a prominent
official position was offered him, which he accepted;
but so strong were his poetical instincts that a year later
he abandoned the post to devote himself entirely to
literary work.
His literary career began in 1849, his first poem being printed in 1852, in a journal called Srbski Letopis ("Serbian Annual Review"); to this and to other journals, notably Neven and Sedmica, he contributed his early productions. From that period until 1870, besides his original poems, he made many translations to Serbian from Hungarian of works by Sándor Petőfi
and János Arany
, two of the greatest Hungarian poets, from Russian of the works of Lermontov,
as well as from German of several German and Austrian poets. In 1861 he edited the comic journal, Komarac ("The Mosquito"), and in the same year he started the literary journal, Javor, and to these papers he contributed many poems.
In 1861, he married, and during the happy years that followed he produced his admirable series of lyrical poems called Đulići, which probably remain his masterpiece. In 1862, greatly to his regret, he discontinued his beloved journal, Javor, a sacrifice which was asked of him by Svetozar Miletić
, who was then active on a political journal, in order to insure the success of the latter.
In 1863, he was elected director of the Tekelianum, at Budapest. He
now renewed the study of medicine at the university,
and took the degree of doctor of medicine
.
Meanwhile he did not relax his literary labors. He also
devoted himself greatly to education of Serbian youth. During his
stay in Budapest he founded the literary society, Preodnica,
of which he was president, and to which he devoted
a large portion of his energies. In 1864 he started his famous satirical journal, "Zmaj"
("The Dragon"), which was so popular that the name
became a part of his own. In 1866, his comic play
"Šaran" was given with great success.
Since 1870, Zmaj has pursued his profession as a physician
.
He was an earnest advocate of cremation
, and
has devoted much time to the furtherance of that cause.
In 1872, he
had the great pain of losing his wife, and, shortly after,
the only child who outlived her mother, out of his five children.
How much these misfortunes affected
him is plainly perceptible from the deeply sad tone of
the poems which immediately followed. In 1873 he
started another comic journal, the Žiža. During the
year 1877 he began an illustrated chronicle of the Russo-Turkish War, and in 1878 appeared his popular comic
journal, Starmali. During all this period he wrote
not only poems, but much prose, including short novels,
often under an assumed name. The best of these is
probably Vidosava Brankovićeva. In that period
he published a great many charming little poems for
children.
wrote in 1866 that it was a great pity that so gifted a poet should be preoccupied with humour, for otherwise literature would have benefited more greatly. Later on Laza Kostić, a friend of the poet, and a well-known propogator of Shakespeare among the Serbs, regretted that in this case, as in the second poem of the Iliad
, the "dragon" (Zmaj) had swallowed the bird: the politician had swallowed the lyric poet.
In retrospect, someone should speak as a historian, asking not what would have become of Zmaj under different circumstances, but how he fulfilled the mission entrusted to him by Svetozar Miletić and what he did where he was placed, as by Plato's Socrates.
When Svetozar Miletić was imprisoned, then fell ill, and was no longer the national leader, there remained, however, the poet (Zmaj) who had learned to write poems on the dreams and desires of a people resigned to its fate. Zmaj remained alone, and he tried both to save the program and the party that was breaking up, and to bring about harmony between the semi-socialistic new generation and the old liberalism. When this proved impossible, Zmaj became estranged from his former friends and followed the current, in the belief that he would thus better serve the freedom he had loved from his childhood. He died on June 3, 1904 in Kamanc
(Serbian: Sremska Kamenica, today in Serbia). He was then a member of the governing body of the Radical party in the Vojvodina.
is Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, also known as the poet of sympathy. In his lyric songs under the collective titles Đuljiči (Little Rosebuds) and Đuljiči Uveoci (Faded Little Rosebuds), he touches the highest point of his creative genius. There are six large volumes of his Pevanija (The Book of Songs), and several smaller collections including the satires, epigrams, and children's songs. To the American literary world Zmaj is known partly through the renderings of Robert Underwood Johnson, editor and publisher of New York City's Century Magazine and a good friend of Nikola Tesla
. In the following we have the poet's definition of poetry that few would think of contending for even in these days:
Where is Pain and dire Distress,
Songs shall soothe like soft caress;
Though the stoutest courage fails,
Song's an anchor in all gales;
When all others fail to reach,
Song shall be the thrilling speech;
Love and friends and comfort fled,
Song shall linger by your bed;
And when Doubt shall question, Why?
Song shall lift you to the sky.
The Zmaj Children Games
(Serbian
: Змајеве дечје игре / Zmajeve dečje igre), one of the biggest festivals for children in Serbia
and the Novi Sad region, are named after Jovan Jovanović Zmaj.
City of Sremska Kamenica
beared name Zmajeva Kamenica (Zmaj's Kamenica), in his honour.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n poets. He was a physician by profession, like his literary predecessor writer Jovan Stejić (1803-1853).
He wrote in many of the genres of poetry, including love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, lyric
Lyric poetry
Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...
, patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
, political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, youth's, etc. But he is best known for his children's poetry
Children's poetry
Children's poetry is poetry written for, a stupid reson as she says or appropriate for children. This may include folk poetry ; poetry written intentionally for young people Children's poetry is poetry written for, a stupid reson as she says or appropriate for children. This may include folk...
. His nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
s have entered the Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n national consciousness and people sing them to their children even without knowing who wrote them. He also translated the works of some of the great poets, Russia's Lermontov and Pushkin; Germany's Goethe and Heine
Heine
Heine is a German family name. The name comes from "Heinrich" or the Hebrew "Chayyim" . When mentioned without a first name it usually refers ti the poet Heinrich Heine...
; and America's Longfellow
Longfellow
Longfellow may refer to:* Longfellow, Minneapolis, United States** Longfellow , Minneapolis, United States* Longfellow, Oakland, California, United States* Longfellow , one of America's first great thoroughbred racehorses...
.
His nickname Zmaj (Змај, meaning "dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
") derives from May Assembly
May Assembly
May Assembly was the national assembly of the Serbs in Austrian Empire, held in 1 and 3 May 1848 in Sremski Karlovci, during which the Serbs proclaimed autonomous Serbian Vojvodina. This action was later recognized by the supreme Austrian authority in Vienna...
date, 3 May 1848, in Serbian Cyrillic: 3.мај / Змај.
Biography
Zmaj was born in Novi Sad, then a city in Batsch-Bodrog County (Kingdom of HungaryKingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
), on November 24, 1833. He finished elementary school in the town, and secondary school in Pozony
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
(today Bratislava), later studying in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. In 1870, he returned to Novi Sad to work as a doctor, motivated by the fact that his wife and children were from and eventually died from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
.
His family was an old and noble family. In his earliest childhood he showed a great desire to learn
by heart the Serbian national songs
Serbian epic poetry
Serb epic poetry is a form of epic poetry written by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centuries...
which were recited
to him, and even as a child he began to compose poems.
His father, who was a highly cultivated and wealthy
man, gave him his first education in his native
city. After this he went to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and
Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and in these cities he finished his studies in law.
This was the wish of his father, but his own inclinations
prompted him to take up the study of medicine. He
then returned to his native city, where a prominent
official position was offered him, which he accepted;
but so strong were his poetical instincts that a year later
he abandoned the post to devote himself entirely to
literary work.
His literary career began in 1849, his first poem being printed in 1852, in a journal called Srbski Letopis ("Serbian Annual Review"); to this and to other journals, notably Neven and Sedmica, he contributed his early productions. From that period until 1870, besides his original poems, he made many translations to Serbian from Hungarian of works by Sándor Petőfi
Sándor Petofi
Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
and János Arany
János Arany
János Arany , was a Hungarian journalist, writer, poet, and translator. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 40 ballads which have been translated into over 50 languages, as well as the Toldi trilogy, to mention his most famous works.-Biography:He was born in...
, two of the greatest Hungarian poets, from Russian of the works of Lermontov,
as well as from German of several German and Austrian poets. In 1861 he edited the comic journal, Komarac ("The Mosquito"), and in the same year he started the literary journal, Javor, and to these papers he contributed many poems.
In 1861, he married, and during the happy years that followed he produced his admirable series of lyrical poems called Đulići, which probably remain his masterpiece. In 1862, greatly to his regret, he discontinued his beloved journal, Javor, a sacrifice which was asked of him by Svetozar Miletić
Svetozar Miletic
Svetozar Miletić was an advocate, politician, mayor of Novi Sad, and the political leader of Serbs in Vojvodina. He was the oldest of seven children born to Sima and Teodosija Miletić in the village of Mošorin in Šajkaška, the Serbian Military Frontier, on February 22, 1826...
, who was then active on a political journal, in order to insure the success of the latter.
In 1863, he was elected director of the Tekelianum, at Budapest. He
now renewed the study of medicine at the university,
and took the degree of doctor of medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
.
Meanwhile he did not relax his literary labors. He also
devoted himself greatly to education of Serbian youth. During his
stay in Budapest he founded the literary society, Preodnica,
of which he was president, and to which he devoted
a large portion of his energies. In 1864 he started his famous satirical journal, "Zmaj"
("The Dragon"), which was so popular that the name
became a part of his own. In 1866, his comic play
"Šaran" was given with great success.
Since 1870, Zmaj has pursued his profession as a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
.
He was an earnest advocate of cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
, and
has devoted much time to the furtherance of that cause.
In 1872, he
had the great pain of losing his wife, and, shortly after,
the only child who outlived her mother, out of his five children.
How much these misfortunes affected
him is plainly perceptible from the deeply sad tone of
the poems which immediately followed. In 1873 he
started another comic journal, the Žiža. During the
year 1877 he began an illustrated chronicle of the Russo-Turkish War, and in 1878 appeared his popular comic
journal, Starmali. During all this period he wrote
not only poems, but much prose, including short novels,
often under an assumed name. The best of these is
probably Vidosava Brankovićeva. In that period
he published a great many charming little poems for
children.
Politics
At the very outset of Zmaj's political career he learned to listen to the recital of his failings. The great Slav scholar Vatroslav JagićVatroslav Jagic
Vatroslav Jagić was a Croatian language researcher and a famous expert in Slavic languages in the second half of the 19th century.-Life:...
wrote in 1866 that it was a great pity that so gifted a poet should be preoccupied with humour, for otherwise literature would have benefited more greatly. Later on Laza Kostić, a friend of the poet, and a well-known propogator of Shakespeare among the Serbs, regretted that in this case, as in the second poem of the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, the "dragon" (Zmaj) had swallowed the bird: the politician had swallowed the lyric poet.
In retrospect, someone should speak as a historian, asking not what would have become of Zmaj under different circumstances, but how he fulfilled the mission entrusted to him by Svetozar Miletić and what he did where he was placed, as by Plato's Socrates.
When Svetozar Miletić was imprisoned, then fell ill, and was no longer the national leader, there remained, however, the poet (Zmaj) who had learned to write poems on the dreams and desires of a people resigned to its fate. Zmaj remained alone, and he tried both to save the program and the party that was breaking up, and to bring about harmony between the semi-socialistic new generation and the old liberalism. When this proved impossible, Zmaj became estranged from his former friends and followed the current, in the belief that he would thus better serve the freedom he had loved from his childhood. He died on June 3, 1904 in Kamanc
Sremska Kamenica
Sremska Kamenica is a town and urban neighborhood of Novi Sad, in Serbia.-Name:In Serbian, the town is known as Sremska Kamenica , in Croatian as Srijemska Kamenica, in Hungarian as Kamanc, and in German as Kamenitz.-Geography:The town is located in the Syrmia region, on the northern slopes of the...
(Serbian: Sremska Kamenica, today in Serbia). He was then a member of the governing body of the Radical party in the Vojvodina.
Literary Work
Of the same bent as Đura Jakšić and Laza KostićLaza Kostic
Laza Kostić was a Serbian poet, prose writer, lawyer, philosopher, polyglot, publicist, and politician, considered to be one of the greatest minds of Serbian literature.-Biography:...
is Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, also known as the poet of sympathy. In his lyric songs under the collective titles Đuljiči (Little Rosebuds) and Đuljiči Uveoci (Faded Little Rosebuds), he touches the highest point of his creative genius. There are six large volumes of his Pevanija (The Book of Songs), and several smaller collections including the satires, epigrams, and children's songs. To the American literary world Zmaj is known partly through the renderings of Robert Underwood Johnson, editor and publisher of New York City's Century Magazine and a good friend of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
. In the following we have the poet's definition of poetry that few would think of contending for even in these days:
Where is Pain and dire Distress,
Songs shall soothe like soft caress;
Though the stoutest courage fails,
Song's an anchor in all gales;
When all others fail to reach,
Song shall be the thrilling speech;
Love and friends and comfort fled,
Song shall linger by your bed;
And when Doubt shall question, Why?
Song shall lift you to the sky.
Legacy
Zmaj Children Games
Zmaj Children Games is one of the biggest festivals for children in Serbia and the Novi Sad region. Named after Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, one of the most famous Serbian poets and writers of children's literature, the festival is held annually in June and December in Novi Sad, the capital of the...
(Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
: Змајеве дечје игре / Zmajeve dečje igre), one of the biggest festivals for children in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and the Novi Sad region, are named after Jovan Jovanović Zmaj.
City of Sremska Kamenica
Sremska Kamenica
Sremska Kamenica is a town and urban neighborhood of Novi Sad, in Serbia.-Name:In Serbian, the town is known as Sremska Kamenica , in Croatian as Srijemska Kamenica, in Hungarian as Kamanc, and in German as Kamenitz.-Geography:The town is located in the Syrmia region, on the northern slopes of the...
beared name Zmajeva Kamenica (Zmaj's Kamenica), in his honour.
Collections of poems
- Djulici
- Djulici uveoci
- Pevanija
- Druga pevanija
- Snohvatice I-II
- Devesilje
- Istočni biser
- Pesme Mirca Shafije
- Čika Jova srpskoj omladini
Selected translations
- Vitez Jovan
- Herman i Doroteja
- Ifigenija u Tavridi
- Pesme Mirca Shafije
- Enoh Arden
- Demon
External links
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj - Biography and works (many in translation)
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj - Biography (in Serbian)
- Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj (portrait; two children's poems in English, more poems in Serbian)
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj: Zmajeve Dečije Pesme (Poems for children in Serbian)
- Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj: Decje Pesme (Children's poems in Serbian)
- Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj in South Slavic Literature Library (poems of various genres in Serbian)
- Šaran (in Serbian)
- Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj publications in the National Library of Serbia