Jelena Skerlić Ćorović

Jelena Skerlić Ćorović (; 16 October 1887 – 16 February 1960) was a Serbian writer, translator, literary critic and French language professor. She translated a large number of foreign literary works into Serbian.

Biography Jelena was born in 1887 in Belgrade to a well-to-do family. Her parents were Persida and Miloš Skerlić. Her brother was Jovan Skerlić, an influential Serbian literary critic. Jelena's mother Persida Skerlić, who died in 1893, was devoted to her children and family and had a great influence on them, encouraging them to learn and study.

In 1907, Jelena graduated from the , a grande école in Belgrade. She then enrolled as a part-time student at the University of Belgrade and studied French under the guidance of professor Bogdan Popović, while also working as a French teacher in a private school in Smederevo.

The Ćorović family initially changed their place of residence frequently, living in Sarajevo (1910–1914), Jajce and Banjaluka (1914–1917), Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Mostar (1917–1919). In 1919 they returned to Belgrade and Vladimir Ćorović became a tenured professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. She wrote a series of articles on Milovan Glišić, Bogdan Popović and Pavle Popović, as well as autobiographical sketches of her childhood.

Towards the end of her life, Jelena predominantly worked on her memoirs – Život među ljudima ("Life Among People") – which included testimonies about her husband Vladimir Ćorović, brother Jovan Skerlić, and her friends Isidora Sekulić, Desanka Maksimović, Branislav Nušić, Nikola Pašić, as well as other contemporaries. Several translations and unfinished memoirs remained in her papers after her death.

Personal life She was the sister of literary historian and critic Jovan Skerlić and the wife of historian Vladimir Ćorović.

Works

Articles and other texts Knjiga jedne žene vojnika januar (1928) Mara Đorđević - Malagurska: Vita Đanina i druge pripovetke iz bunjevačkog života (1933) Jedna persiska pesma i jedna bosanska sevdalinka (1938) Porodična pisma J.Skerlića (1964) O Skerlićevim roditeljima: neke moje uspomene iz detinjstva i mladosti (1964) Sećanje na Milovana Glišića (1997) Bogdan i Pavle Popović (1998)

Selected translations Mečkari (1905) Mala Roka (1909) In the family (1910) History of my books. Numa Rumestan (1912) Mr. Paran (1912) Field Restriction and Origin of Property (from "Penguin Island") (1913) Protector (1914) Maxims and Thoughts (1914) Our Heart (1917) Sebastian Roch (1919) From Sailor's Life: Stories (1920) Epicurus' Garden (1920) The Life of Jesus (1921) Skinny Cat (1921) Buddhism (1921) Dulcinea. On the Margins of Don Quixote (1923) Excerpts from the diary of Mrs. Clelia Eponine Dipon (1795-179 ...). On the margins of General Bonaparte's proclamation (1923) First thought. On the Margins of Zend-Avesta (1923) Revenge (1923)