On this day, December 29, 1921, Dobrica Ćosić was born in Velika Drenova, a Serbian writer and essayist and the first president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Ćosić’s youth was marked by World War II, in which he fought on the side of the Partisans, which later served as inspiration for his literary work.
His works became cult classics in Serbian literature, among them “Roots,” “Divisions,” “A Time of Death,” “A Time of Evil,” “A Time of Power,” and others. Ćosić will be remembered as the first recipient of the NIN Award (in 1954, for the novel “Roots”), and he was a laureate of the same award again in 1961. Among the many other awards for literary creativity that he received, the Vuk Award, the Njegoš Award, the “Golden Cross of Prince Lazar,” the “Petar Kočić” Award, and the “Meša Selimović” Award stand out, among others.
From the late 1960s, he began to oppose the policies of the time, primarily dissatisfied with the constitutional restructuring of the SFRY, which led to his distancing himself from Tito. He was a prominent member of the League of Communists of Serbia until May 1968, when he came into conflict with the policy of the LCY because he believed that Serbs were endangered in the Yugoslav federation.
He became a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1970, and from 1969 to 1972 he served as president of the Serbian Literary Cooperative.
By decision of the Federal Assembly, he became the first president of the FRY on June 15, 1992, and was removed a year later by secret ballot of both chambers of the Federal Parliament.
MORE TOPICS:
Source: National Geographic, Foto: Wikimedia Commons