ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BRANISLAV NUŠIĆ – BIOGRAPHY

1864. On October 8, Branislav Nušić was born in Belgrade as the fourth child of the merchant Đorđe Nuša and his wife Ljubica, in a house located on the site of today’s National Bank of Serbia building on Kralja Petra Street. At his baptism, he was given the name Alkibijad.

1870. After going bankrupt, the father of young Alko, later known as Branislav, moved with his wife and five children to Smederevo.

1870–1874. He attended elementary school in Smederevo, where his father ran a business at the time.

1874–1882. He attended grammar school. In 1875, he repeated his first year of grammar school, briefly worked as an apprentice in Pančevo, and in 1876 continued his education at a grammar school in Belgrade, where he began his “life on the stage” with his cousin Jevta Ugričić.

1882. He graduated from grammar school and began signing his name as Branislav.

1883. He met Vojislav Ilić, who introduced him to the most prominent literary circle in Belgrade at the time. At the Ilić family home, he read his first work, The Member of Parliament.

1884. He studied law in Graz.

1885. He returned to Belgrade and continued his studies at the Grandes écoles. As a volunteer, he took part in the Serbo-Bulgarian War.

1886. He graduated in law from the Grandes écoles. He wrote The Stories of a Corporal.

1887. He published the poem The Funeral of Two Rascals, a criticism of the government of King Milan, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison.

1888. He spent a year in Požarevac Prison, where he wrote Patronage.

1889. After an audience with King Milan, he entered the diplomatic service. Over the next ten years, he served in consulates in Bitola, Pristina, Skopje, Thessaloniki and Serres.

1891. Together with Dragutin Ilić, he relaunched and edited the newspaper Preodnica.

1893. He married Darinka Đorđević, the daughter of the merchant Božidar. That same year, he was appointed consul in Pristina, where Vojislav Ilić served as his clerk.

1899. He became a member of the editorial board of Janko Veselinović’s Zvezda.

1900. He moved to Belgrade to become secretary of the Ministry of Education, then became dramaturge and acting manager of the National Theatre in Belgrade.

1901. He edited Theatre Journal.

1902. He retired at his own request after failing to be appointed manager of the National Theatre. That same year, he was reinstated and appointed commissioner of posts and telegraphs, a position he declined, and retired again. He participated in the founding of the Society of Serbian Writers and Artists.

1903. He was appointed head of the Department for National Propaganda within the Office of the Prime Minister. Following the May Coup, he was retired once again.

1904–1905. He served as manager of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad.

1905. Together with Mihajlo Sretenović, he founded the Little Children’s Theatre in Belgrade.

1905–1910. He published his famous kozery—short humorous and satirical pieces—in Politika under the pseudonym Ben Akiba.

1906–1907. He served as deputy dramaturge at the National Theatre in Belgrade.

1907. He wrote a memorandum for Prince Nikola proposing the establishment of the Montenegrin National Theatre in Cetinje.

1908–1912. He worked as a journalist. He contributed to and edited the newspapers Samouprava, Tribuna, Beogradske novine, Dnevnik, Straža, as well as the humorous papers Brka, Ćosa, Satira, Telefon and others.

1910. He was sentenced to three months in prison for the article The People and the Dynasty. He did not serve the sentence because the wars began. He was awarded the Order of St. Sava and the Order of the White Eagle.

1912. He was appointed the first district chief of liberated Bitola.

1913. He organized a theatre in liberated Skopje and became its manager.

1915. In Skopje, his daughter Margita Gita married the writer Milivoje Predić. In the autumn, his son Strahinja Ban, a volunteer in the Bačka Company, was killed. Nušić retreated with the Serbian army through Albania to Corfu.

1916–1917. He lived in Italy, France and Switzerland. He wrote A Plan for the Reconstruction and Renewal of National Culture after the War.

1918. He returned to his post in Skopje.

1919. At the Ministry of Education in Belgrade, he served as the first head of the Department of Arts.

1922. Because of his play The Foundling, the Church excommunicated him.

1923. He was dismissed from his position as head of the Department of Arts. He was awarded the Order of St. Sava, First Class.

1924. The sixtieth anniversary of his birth and the fortieth anniversary of his literary career were celebrated.

1925–1928. He served as manager of the theatre in Sarajevo. For Ramadan Evenings, he wrote under the pseudonym Halil Delibašić.

1929. He became librarian of the National Assembly and finally retired. He was awarded the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour.

1930. He participated in the film Paramount Revue in Vienna as an actor. He taught rhetoric at the Military Academy and wrote a textbook that remains in use to this day.

1931. He signed a contract with Geca Kon for the publication of his collected works.

1933. He became a member of the Serbian Royal Academy.

1934. After suffering his first serious illness, he went with his family to Hvar.

1935. Following the premiere of The Mourning Family in Sofia, he was awarded the Bulgarian Order of Civil Merit.

1936. He purchased a plot of land and built a house, which he moved into on September 15, at 1 Rozalija Morton Street (today Šekspirova Street).

1937. He underwent surgery at the Vračar Sanatorium in Belgrade. At the founding assembly of the Association of Artists, Scientists and Writers on December 5, he delivered his famous speech—an appeal against fascism, known as the Cultural Testament.

1938. Branislav Nušić died in Belgrade on Epiphany, January 19. He was buried in the family tomb at the New Cemetery.