Matija Bećković

Matija Bećković
Matija Bećković
Born	November 29, 1939 Senta, Serbia
Occupation	writer, poet
Nationality	Serbian
Spouse(s)	Vera Pavladoljska

Matija Bećković OSS (Serbian Cyrillic: Матија Бећковић, pronounced [mǎtija bɛ̂tɕkɔʋitɕ]; b. November 29, 1939) is a Serbian writer and poet. He is one of the most prominent Serbian poets of the 20th century and a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Life

Bećković was born on November 29, 1939, in Senta, in the Serbian province of Vojvodina (then Danube Banate, Kingdom of Yugoslavia), to a family of Montenegrin Serbs. He graduated from the Valjevo Gymnasium in Valjevo in 1958. It was during his gymnasium years in Valjevo that he published his first poem, in the journal 'Mlada Kultura'. Furthermore, it was also in Valjevo that Bećković met Vera Pavladoljska, to whom the poem of the same name, published in 1960, was dedicated. This poem remains one of his most widely known and read poems. Beckovic went on to marry Pavladoljska, and he remained married to her until her death.

Upon graduating from the Valjevo gymnasium, he entered the University of Belgrade, graduating with a degree in Yugoslav and world literature. He became a corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1983, becoming a full member in 1991.

Bećković is a close friend of Serbian former Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, and an active supporter of his Democratic Party of Serbia.

He lives in Belgrade since 1960.

On the Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006, Bećković did not vote since he lives in Serbia. However, he, as the most prominent figure in the block against Montenegrin independence, gave passionate speeches against separation.

Poetic Style

A distinguishing feature of Bećković's poetry is its regionalism. Distinctly Serbian archaic dialect and phraseology permeate his work. This aspect of his work is most often lost when one reads it in translation.

Even so, other features that distinguish Bećković's poetry in the cannon of South Slavic literature will not be lost on the foreign reader. Bećković's poetry often strikes the reader as profoundly rhetorical.

By the same stroke, he avoids the danger of didacticism that often comes hand in hand with the resort to rhetoric. He does so by insisting on the entertaing aspect of his poetry, regardlessly of the subject matter, ranging from love, over politics, to theology.

Major works

• Vera Pavladoljska
• Metak Lutalica
• Tako je govorio Matija
• Dr. Janez Paćuka o međuvremenu
• O međuvremenu
• ČE: Tragedija koja traje (Published in English as CHE: Permanent Tragedy)
• Reče mi jedan čoek
• Međa Vuka Manitoga
• Lele i kuku
• Dva sveta
• Poeme
• Služba Svetom Savi
• O Njegošu
• Kaža
• Čiji si ti Mali?
• Nadkokot
• Služba
• Sabrane pesme
• Kosovo najskuplja srpska reč
• Ćeraćemo se još
• Kad budem mlađi (Published in English as: When I'm Younger)

References

• Bećković, Matija. Izabrane Pesme i Poeme. Belgrade: Bigz, 1990.
• Petković, Novica. "Twentieth century literature". Essays on Modern Serbian Bards. Ralph Bogert, Ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.

External links

• Bećković's poems at the South Slavic Library - Mostly in Serbo-Croat, one English translation.

Persondata
Name	Beckovic, Matija
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 29, 1939
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death