Djura Jaksic

In memoriam

Poet, Painter. He gained fame as a Serbian poet, painter, writer, dramatist, patriot, and bohemian. Born Georgije "Đura" Jakšić, his father was a Serbian Orthodox priest. He studied fine arts in Vienna and Munich, but his education was halted by the Revolution of 1848 in the Austrian Empire. He was wounded during the fighting. Although he became a teacher and professor in various towns in Serbia, he was often unemployed and resided in Belgrade's bohemian sector with artistic people. He was among the most expressive representatives of Serbian romanticism. He was described as being passionate, having an impetuous imagination, fiery emotions, being rebellious, and being a freedom-lover. He wrote with romanticist pathos, songs about freedom against tyranny, and verses of lyric confession full of deep pain. He dedicated a collection of poems to Knez Milan , the Serbian monarch reigning as Prince Milan IV of Serbia from 1868 to 1882. He wrote at least forty short stories, some of them designed as novels. He wrote three dramas: "Stanoje Glavaš," "Seoba Srba," and "Jelisaveta." Besides being a poet, he was one of the most talented Serbian painters of the 19th century and the most prominent representative of romanticism in Serbian painting. His paintings are in local galleries. He participated in the uprising with the Bosnian Turks, which ended in 1877. He wrote in the Serbian phonetic alphabet of Vuk Stefanovic . He was buried as one of the most respected and loved artists of Belgrade. He painted an oil-on-canvas post-assassination portrait of Knez Mihailo. On June 30, 1998, he was commemorated on a Yugoslavian stamp as one of the "Famous People of Serbia" series. A sitting statue of him was created by Jovan Soldatovic and placed in 1982 in Dunavski Park. In 1990, a similar statue by the same sculptor was erected near his home in Skadarlija, Belgrade.

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