Jovan Jovanović Zmaj

Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (, pronounced ; 24 November 1833 – 1 June 1904) was a Serbian poet, translator and physician.

Jovanović worked as a physician; he wrote in many poetry genres, including love, lyric, patriotic, political, and youth, but he remains best known for his children's poetry. His nursery rhymes have entered the Serbian national consciousness and people sing them to their children without knowing who wrote them. Jovanović also translated the works of some of the great poets, such as Russians Lermontov and Pushkin, Germans Goethe and Heine, and the American Longfellow.

Jovanović's nickname Zmaj (, 'dragon') derives from the 3 May 1848 assembly.

Biography

Zmaj was born in Újvidék, which was then part of Bács-Bodrog County (Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire; today Novi Sad in Serbia), on 24 November 1833. His family was old and noble, and had roots in modern-day North Macedonia. His father came from a family of Aromanian descent, which is something that neither Zmaj nor other people from his epoch discussed, probably meaning that his family was fully assimilated. His mother, Marija, hailed from a distinguished Serb family, descended from the town of Srbobran, and was the daughter of Pavle Gavanski. The Jovanovićs lived in Vojvodina as of the 18th century. In his early childhood he showed a desire to learn by heart the Serbian national songs that were recited to him. As a child he began to compose poems. He finished elementary school in the town, and attended secondary school in Halas and Preßburg (today Bratislava), later studying law in Ofenpesth (Budapest), Prague and Vienna. During this period he wrote poems and prose, including short novels.

He considered that the Serbian nation should be above the religious divide. Tesla himself translated some poems by Zmaj.

Legacy Zmaj was featured on the five-hundred billion Yugoslav dinar banknote.

The Zmaj Children Games (Змајеве дечје игре/Zmajeve dečje igre), one of the biggest festivals for children in Serbia, are named after Jovan Jovanović Zmaj. The town of Sremska Kamenica bore the name Zmajeva Kamenica (Zmaj's Kamenica) in his honour. He is included in lists of The 100 most prominent Serbs. During his lifetime, Zmaj had acquired the title of the "people's poet", an expression of esteem also befitting the title of Poet laureate.

August Šenoa wrote highly of his poetry. Literary historian Jovan Deretić considered Zmaj to be one of the central figures of Serbian Romanticism and Serbian literature of the second half of the 19th century. Deretić praised his poems, translations and satirical works.

Works Collections of poems

Đulici Đulici uveoci Pevanija Druga pevanija Snohvatice I-III, 1895 and 1900 Devesilje, 1900 Istočni biser Pesme Mirca Shafije Čika Jova srpskoj omladini Istočni biser, 1861

Prose and Drama Vidosava Branković, 1860 Šaran, 1864 Nesrećna Kafina

Selected translations Source:

Herman i Doroteja by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Sionsko jharfi, NeueZіonѕharfe, Zürіch, 1855 Pesme Mirca Shafije Istočni biser, anthology of Eastern poetry, 1861 Demon by Mikhail Lermontov, 1863 Vitez Jovan, by Sándor Petőfi, 1860 Aranj Toldi, 1858 Toldijina starost Toldijina ljubav, 1896 Otmu Muranj-grada, 1878 Enoh Arden by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1880 Čovekova tragedija, 1890 Ifigenija u Tavridi by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1898-1900 Der Gott und die Bajadere by Johann Wolfgang von Goeth