Momo Kapor

Momčilo "Momo" Kapor (; 8 April 1937 – 3 March 2010) was a Serbian novelist and painter.

He authored several screenplays, over forty novels, short stories, travel and autobiographic books and essays. He was introduced to the literary circles as the author of radio, TV and theater drama at the beginning of the sixties. His books have been translated to twenty languages. The shorts stories collection Kinoteka at three and novels The Green Felt of Montenegro and The Last Flight to Sarajevo were published in French by L'Age d'homme in Lausanne while The Mastery of Šlomović was published by Xenie in Vevey.

His paintings were exhibited in New York, Boston, Geneva, Frankfurt, London and other cities. He was also known as an illustrator, illustrating his own and numerous books by other authors. He was a regular member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska.

Early life Kapor was born in 1937 in Sarajevo, Drina Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. His father, Gojko Kapor, was a bank clerk, and his mother, Bojana was a housewife.

Immediately following World War II, Kapor moved with his family to Belgrade, Serbia where he remained for most of his life.

Education As a young man, Kapor studied painting at the Academy of Art in Belgrade under the guidance of Professor Nedeljko Gvozdenović. Although Kapor graduated with a degree in painting, he had grown fond of writing as a young boy. Therefore, while studying art he also occupied his time with news writing. Kapor would write news articles and interviews and then accompany his writing with his own representative portrait or illustration. It is through this method that Kapor was able to combine his two greatest passions he had in life, painting and writing.

Literary works Kapor was one of the most popular Serbian writers, whose literary phenomenon has spread over three decades. Kapor easily attracted the attention of the public by writing his constant reflections on the reality of the current time. The generations of people from former Yugoslavia were connected through Kapor's writings which have become best sellers in Zagreb's publisher "Znanje" and its famous library "Hit".

Kapor also wrote many documentary films, television shows, and novels. His novels, "Una" and "The Book of Complaints" were made into films. These films have been translated into many languages including: French, German, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Slovenian, and Swedish. His most famous works include, "Ada", "Zoe", "From Seven to Three", and "The Chronicle of a Lost City".

Artwork Kapor has exhibited many of his paintings across various countries such as in the United States, Germany, and France. The reason he preferred to showcase his artwork in foreign countries rather than in Belgrade was that he did not enjoy the "art climate" set in Belgrade. He felt that many great artists in Belgrade were forgotten, whereas in other countries, a new emerging artist does not "erase" those who came before him/her.

Death After having two surgeries, Kapor died from throat cancer on 3 March 2010.

Works

Foliranti, 1975 Provincijalac, 1976 Ada, 1977 Lanjski snegovi, 1977 Hej, nisam ti to pričala, 1978 Zoe, 1978 Beleške jedne Ane (hronika u 26 glava), 1978 Skitam i pričam: putopisni dnevnik, 1979 101 priča, 1980 Una: ljubavni roman, 1981 Onda, 1982 Sentimentalno vaspitanje, 1983 Knjiga žalbi, 1984 011-Istok-Zapad, 1990 Halo, Beograd, 1990 Dama skitnica i off priče, 1992 Zelena čoja Montenegra, 1992 Blokada 011, 1992 100 nedelja blokade, 1994 Lero – kralj leptira, 1995 Poslednji let za Sarajevo, 1995 Hronika izgubljenog grada, 1996 Od sedam do tri, 1996 Smrt ne boli: priče iz poslednjeg rata, 1997 Najbolje godine i druge priče, 1997 Ivana, 2001 Od istog pisca, 2001 Legenda o Taboru, 2002 Sanja, 2003 Čuvar adrese Dosije Šlomović Konte Lep dan za umiranje Ljubavne priče Samac Uspomene jednog crtača Eldorado Putopis kroz biografiju