{"id":174617,"date":"2025-04-04T14:03:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T12:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=174617"},"modified":"2025-04-04T14:03:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T12:03:23","slug":"tragic-fate-of-a-great-serbian-poet-he-didnt-like-school-fought-in-a-war-and-his-life-was-marked-by-tragedies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/tragic-fate-of-a-great-serbian-poet-he-didnt-like-school-fought-in-a-war-and-his-life-was-marked-by-tragedies\/","title":{"rendered":"TRAGIC FATE OF A GREAT SERBIAN POET: He didn’t like school, fought in a war, and his life was marked by tragedies!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vojislav Ili\u0107 was born in Belgrade on April 4, 1862, as the son of poet Jovan Ili\u0107. Since childhood, he was in poor health. Although born into a poetic and respectable family, Ili\u0107 did not care much for school and studying, so he dropped out after the third year of high school. However, he continued to attend lectures at the Great School independently, but never took any exams. He actively participated in the political life of the student youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was a participant in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He entered public service as a proofreader at the State Printing House in 1887. A few years later, he became a teacher at the Serbian school in Turnu Severin. In the same year, 1892, he also became a clerk at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and in 1893, vice-consul in Pri\u0161tina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up among bohemians, Vojislav himself began to lead a bohemian lifestyle and frequent well-known Belgrade taverns. Right across from those taverns stood the Theater. At that time, a beautiful young actress named Zora, the daughter of the famous acting couple Kolarovi\u0107, was beginning to make a name for herself on stage. She was admired by actors, directors, and audiences alike \u2014 and even Vojislav could not resist her beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although he was an excellent match for her, due to the commotion surrounding Zora, her father suddenly decided to marry her off to Milan Teodosijevi\u0107, a sickly and much older widower and the cashier of the Savings Bank in Zemun. The young poet, experiencing the pain of first love, found comfort in writing verses, which gave rise to one of his early poems, The Wilted Flower<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved a lovely maiden,<\/strong>
A fragrant, white rose fair.<\/strong>
She was mine just last evening,<\/strong>
This morning others took her there;<\/strong>
The world has taken my joy,<\/strong>
That\u2019s why I\u2019m pale, a wilted boy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second great love of the young poet was the daughter of our famous poet \u0110ura Jak\u0161i\u0107 \u2014 the beautiful Tijana. She was not indifferent to the young poet either and admired his poetic talent. After three years of romance, the young couple married in 1883. Soon they had a daughter, Zorka, and later a son, Mom\u010dilo. This new family life gave the young poet strength and inspiration, and his poems began to rise to the top of Serbian poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, two years later, the young poet experienced his greatest tragedy. First, his son died, followed soon after by his young wife, and then his little daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIND OUT MORE IN ENGLISH:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n