Božidar Vuković

Božidar Vuković (c. 1466, Podgorica, Zeta, now Montenegro—c. 1540, Venice) was a printer of Serb books.

Biography

Vuković was noble by birth, having descended from the family of Đurići of Starčeva Gorica (on Lake Scutari). He was born in the town of Podgorica in Zeta; therefore he often added to his name "Podgoričanin" ("of Podgorica"). He entered the service of Đurađ Crnojević, the lord of Zeta, and served as his "logotet" ("court scribe"). When Zeta fell to the Turks, Vuković fled with Crnojević to Venice, where he earned his living as a merchant. He also acknowledged his noble title, and was received amongst the ranks of nobles of the Holy Roman Empire. At the time, Venice was one of the centers of European printing, and there was a lack of Serb liturgical books in the lands conquered by the Turks. Therefore, Vuković decided to open a printing press with Serbian letters in 1519.

Vuković married a noble woman of the Della Vechia family, whose surname he added to his; he was known by this name in Italy. On some occasions, he used the title "vojvoda" (duke), but it is uncertain who bestowed it to him or when. In accordance with his last wish, his body was carried back to his homeland and buried in the monastery of Starčeva Gorica in Lake Scutari.

Work

Vuković's printing press operated in two phases. In the first one (1519-1520), he printed "Služabnik" (1519) and "Psaltir sa posledovanjem i časlovcem" (Psalter, 1520). In the second phase (1536-40), which came after a long break, he published five more books in Serbian Cyrillic: "Zbornik" (1536), "Molitvenik" (Prayer book, 1536), "Oktoih petoglasnik" (1537), "Minej" (The Book of Months, 1538), "Molitvenik trebnik" (1539 or 1540). All of his editions are printed versions of liturgical works in Serbian redaction of Church Slavonic that have long been in church use . In addition to remedying the dearth of Serbian books, he also wanted to produce books which were printed in smaller letters, making them more compact and easier to carry. His editions were intricately prepared, with well-proportioned letters and fine miniatures. Vuković collaborated with other Serb refugees in Venice such as hieromonk Pahomije from Rijeka Crnojevića in Montenegro ("ot Crne Gori or Reki"), hierodeacon Mojsije of Budimlje ("ot serbskije zemlji, otčstvom že ot mjesta naricamego Budimlja") and priests Teodosije and Genadije from the Mileševa monastery.

His venture is explained by reasons of sale, his care for his soul's sake, and of patriotism ("I saw the compiling of the printing presses of Godly scriptures in Greek, French and other languages, and I wished eagerly to compile in printing press also our Serb and also Bulgarian ones"). [http://www.rastko.org.yu/rastko-cg/umjetnost/mpantic-xvi-xviii/xvi.html]

He distributed it his books to monks via Kotor and Dubrovnik. The books influenced not only Serbian printing, but also Bulgarian, Romanian and Russian printing. In his first testament, Vuković left his printing press to the monasteries in Lake Scutari, his homeland. He later revised it and left it to his son Vićentije Vuković, who carried on with his father's work.

References

#"Prednjegoševsko doba", Titograd 1963.
#sr iconMiroslav Pantić, " [http://www.rastko.org.yu/rastko-cg/umjetnost/mpantic-xvi-xviii/xvi.html Književnost na tlu Crne Gori i Boke Kotorske od XVI do XVIII veka"]