Jovan Jovanović Zmaj

Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Јовановић Змај) (November 24, 1833 - June 3, 1904) is one of the best-known Serbian poets.

Zmaj (dragon) was born in Sremska Kamenica. He finished elementary school in Novi Sad, and secondary school in Bratislava, later studying in Budapest, Prague and Vienna. In 1870, he returned to Novi Sad to work as a doctor, motivated by the fact that his wife and children were suffering from and eventually died from tuberculosis.

He wrote in many of the genres of poetry, including love, lyric, patriotic, political, youth's, and educational poetry. But he is best known for his children's poetry. His nursery rhymes have entered the Serbian national consciousness and people sing them to their children even without knowing who wrote them.

The Zmaj Children Games (Serbian: Змајеве дечије игре / Zmajeve dečije igre), one of the biggest festivals for children in Serbia and the Novi Sad region, are named after Jovan Jovanović Zmaj.

External links

* [http://www.antikvarne-knjige.com/biografije/jovan_jovanovic_zmaj/jovan_jovanovic_zmaj_biografija.html Jovan Jovanović Zmaj - Biography (in Serbian)]
* [http://www.geocities.com/draganakonstantinovic/library/jovanjovanoviczmaj.html Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj] (portrait; two children's poems in English, more poems in Serbian)
* [http://www.borut.com/library/a_zmajjj.htm Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj in South Slavic Literature Library] (poems of various genres in Serbian)
* [http://www.bgdconsulting.com/zmaj/ Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj: Decje Pesme] (Children's poems in Serbian)
* [http://www.jjzmaj.edu.yu/ Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj high school] , Novi Sad (Web site of a high school named after Zmaj)