Danica Bandić

Danica Bandić Telečki (30 September 1871, in Zagreb, Austria-Hungary – 26 October 1950, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia) was a Serbian writer.

Early life

She was born in Zagreb in 1871 to mother Ana and father Laza Telečki, actor and playwright. While she was only 19 months old, her father died, and her mother Ana would follow when Danica was only eight years old. She was taken care of by her uncle Rista Telečki, playwright at the Serbian National Theatre, who educated Danica and tried not to make her feel the emptiness and difficulty of growing up without parents.

Education

In the period from 1877 to 1881, she attended primary school in Zrenjanin and then in Kikinda. After finishing primary school, Danica went to Subotica, where she enrolled in the "Higher Girls' School" in 1881. Due to the great success in school, Danica enrolled in the "Teacher's College"(Preparandija) in Sombor right after high school, which she finished with great success in 1888.

Family

After being employed at the school in Kikinda, Danica married Miloš Bandić, who was a teacher, school principal, actor, member of the "Serbian National Council" and delegate of the "Grand National Assembly of Vojvodina". Her husband supported her in teaching, and after retiring and moving to Belgrade in 1922, in both writing and translating. Miloš Bandić died in 1941 in Belgrade. Danica began her literary work by publishing short stories, notably "By Force in Preparation" for the magazine Women's World, of which she later became an associate editor. She was a professional translator and knew several languages, capable of translating works from German to Russian even. She wrote the humorous game "Emancipated", for which Matica Srpska gave her an award and mention in its official chronicle Letopis. Owing to the great achievements she accomplished in the field of children's literature, Marko Car, the literary critic, called Danica "Uncle Jova in prose", comparing her work to the poems of the celebrated children author "Uncle Jova" - Jovan Jovanović Zmaj.