Dobrica Cosic
Encyclopedia
Dobrica Ćosić (born 29 December 1921 in Velika Drenova
, Trstenik
, in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, today in Serbia
) is a Serbian
writer, as well as a political and Serb nationalist theorist. He was the first president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1993. Admirers often refer to him as the "Father of the Nation
", due to his influence on modern Serbian politics and national revival movement in the late 1980s; opponents often use that term in an ironic manner.
, in central Serbia, and before the Second World War was able to attend vocational agriculture school in Aleksandrovac. He joined the communist youth organization in Negotin
in 1939. When the Second World War reached Yugoslavia
in 1941, he joined the communist partisans
. After the liberation of Belgrade
in October 1944, he remained active in communist leadership positions, including work in the Serbian republican Agitation and Propaganda commission and then as a people's representative from his home region. In the early 1950s, he visited the Goli otok
concentration camp, where the Josip Broz Tito
regime imprisoned thousands of its political opponents within the Communist Party. Ćosić has always maintained that he did so in order to better understand the Stalinist mind. In 1961, he joined Marshal Tito on a 72-day tour by presidential yacht (the Galeb) to visit eight African non-aligned countries. The trip aboard the Galeb highlighted the close, affirmative relationship that Ćosić had with the Tito regime until the early 1960s.
n intellectual Dušan Pirjevec
regarding the relationship between autonomy
, nationalism
and centralism in Yugoslavia. Pirjevec voiced the opinions of the Communist Party of Slovenia which supported a more de-centralized development of Yugoslavia with respect for local autonomies, while Ćosić argued for a stronger role of the Federal authorities, warning against the rise of peripheral nationalisms. The polemic, which was the first public and open confrontation of different visions within the Yugoslav Communist Party after World War II, ended with Tito's support of Ćosić's arguments. Nevertheless, actual political measures undertaken after 1962 actually followed the positions voiced by Pirjevec and the Slovenian Communist leadership.
As the Tito regime gradually decentralized administration of Yugoslavia after 1963, Ćosić grew convinced that the Serbian
population of the state was imperilled. In May 1968, he gave a celebrated speech to the Fourteenth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Serbian League of Communists, in which he condemned then-current nationalities policy in Yugoslavia. He was especially upset at the regime's inclination to grant greater autonomy to Kosovo
and Vojvodina
. Thereafter he acted as a dissident. In the 1980s, following the death of Tito, Ćosić helped organize and lead a movement whose original goal was to gain equality for Serbia in the Yugoslav federation, but which rapidly became intense and aggressive. He was especially enthusiastic in his advocacy of the rights of the Serbian and Montenegrin populations of Kosovo. Ćosić is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
, and is considered by many to be its most influential member. While Ćosić has been credited with writing the Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
, which appeared in unfinished fashion in the Serbian public in 1986, he in fact was not responsible for its writing. In 1989 he endorsed the leadership of Slobodan Milošević
, and two years later he helped raise Radovan Karadžić
to the leadership of the Bosnian Serbs. When war broke out in 1991, he supported the Serbian effort.
On Eastern Orthodox Christmas Eve of January 1993, Dobrica Ćosić appeared on Serbian television to warn of demands for “national capitulation” from western governments. “If we don't accept, we are going to be put in a concentration camp and face an attack by the most powerful armies of the world.” These outside forces, he said, are determined to subordinate “the Serbian people to Muslim hegemony.”
Later that year Ćosić turned against Milošević, and was removed from his position for that reason. In 2000, Ćosić publicly joined Otpor
, an underground anti-Milošević organization.
As of 2010, Ćosić still supports the actions of the Bosnian Serb Army under the command of Ratko Mladić
during the Bosnian War
.
In 2011, an internet hoax led to state-run Serbian television announcing wrongly that Ćosić had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. That honour had in fact gone to Tomas Tranströmer
.
.
of Kosovo
from American essayist and linguist Noam Chomsky
. In a http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2765553072882910702&q=chomsky+mandic Serbian television interview, Chomsky was asked what the best solution for Kosovo's final status is. He responded:
This interview sparked a correspondence between the two dissident intellectuals, parts of which were published in the Belgrade magazine NIN
.
Velika Drenova
Velika Drenova is a village of about 5,000 inhabitants in Trstenik municipality, Rasina District, Serbia. It is located on the Zapadna Morava River in the central Serbian area of Šumadija. Velika Drenova is the biggest producer of vine in Serbia and vinegrapes are a major export. Velika Drenova is...
, Trstenik
Trstenik
Trstenik is a town and municipality located in the Rasina District of Serbia. According to 2011 census, the population of the town is 15,329, while population of the municipality was 42,989. It lies on the West Morava. The town is known for its industry of hydraulics and pneumatics company, Prva...
, in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, today in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
) is a Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
writer, as well as a political and Serb nationalist theorist. He was the first president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1993. Admirers often refer to him as the "Father of the Nation
Pater Patriae
Pater Patriae , also seen as Parens Patriae, is a Latin honorific meaning "Father of the Country," or more literally, "Father of the Fatherland".- Roman history :...
", due to his influence on modern Serbian politics and national revival movement in the late 1980s; opponents often use that term in an ironic manner.
Early life and career
Ćosić was born in 1921 in the village of Velika DrenovaVelika Drenova
Velika Drenova is a village of about 5,000 inhabitants in Trstenik municipality, Rasina District, Serbia. It is located on the Zapadna Morava River in the central Serbian area of Šumadija. Velika Drenova is the biggest producer of vine in Serbia and vinegrapes are a major export. Velika Drenova is...
, in central Serbia, and before the Second World War was able to attend vocational agriculture school in Aleksandrovac. He joined the communist youth organization in Negotin
Negotin
Negotin is a town and municipality in the Bor District of north-eastern Central Serbia. It is situated near the borders between Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. It is the judicial center of the Bor District. The population of the town is 16,716 while municipality has 36,879.-Name:The etymology of the...
in 1939. When the Second World War reached Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
in 1941, he joined the communist partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
. After the liberation of Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in October 1944, he remained active in communist leadership positions, including work in the Serbian republican Agitation and Propaganda commission and then as a people's representative from his home region. In the early 1950s, he visited the Goli otok
Goli otok
Goli otok is an island off the northern Adriatic coast, located between Rab's northeastern shore and the mainland, in what is today Croatia's Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. The island is barren and uninhabited...
concentration camp, where the Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
regime imprisoned thousands of its political opponents within the Communist Party. Ćosić has always maintained that he did so in order to better understand the Stalinist mind. In 1961, he joined Marshal Tito on a 72-day tour by presidential yacht (the Galeb) to visit eight African non-aligned countries. The trip aboard the Galeb highlighted the close, affirmative relationship that Ćosić had with the Tito regime until the early 1960s.
In opposition
Until the early 1960s, Ćosić was devoted to Tito and Tito's vision of a harmonious Yugoslavia. Between 1961 and 1962, Ćosić got involved in a lengthy polemic with the SloveniaSlovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n intellectual Dušan Pirjevec
Dušan Pirjevec
Dušan Pirjevec, known by his battle name Ahac , was a Slovenian resistance fighter, literary historian and philosopher...
regarding the relationship between autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
, nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and centralism in Yugoslavia. Pirjevec voiced the opinions of the Communist Party of Slovenia which supported a more de-centralized development of Yugoslavia with respect for local autonomies, while Ćosić argued for a stronger role of the Federal authorities, warning against the rise of peripheral nationalisms. The polemic, which was the first public and open confrontation of different visions within the Yugoslav Communist Party after World War II, ended with Tito's support of Ćosić's arguments. Nevertheless, actual political measures undertaken after 1962 actually followed the positions voiced by Pirjevec and the Slovenian Communist leadership.
As the Tito regime gradually decentralized administration of Yugoslavia after 1963, Ćosić grew convinced that the Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
population of the state was imperilled. In May 1968, he gave a celebrated speech to the Fourteenth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Serbian League of Communists, in which he condemned then-current nationalities policy in Yugoslavia. He was especially upset at the regime's inclination to grant greater autonomy to Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
and Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
. Thereafter he acted as a dissident. In the 1980s, following the death of Tito, Ćosić helped organize and lead a movement whose original goal was to gain equality for Serbia in the Yugoslav federation, but which rapidly became intense and aggressive. He was especially enthusiastic in his advocacy of the rights of the Serbian and Montenegrin populations of Kosovo. Ćosić is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
, and is considered by many to be its most influential member. While Ćosić has been credited with writing the Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts was a draft document produced by a 14-member committee composed by members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1985 to 1986, presided by Kosta Mihailović...
, which appeared in unfinished fashion in the Serbian public in 1986, he in fact was not responsible for its writing. In 1989 he endorsed the leadership of Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
, and two years later he helped raise Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
to the leadership of the Bosnian Serbs. When war broke out in 1991, he supported the Serbian effort.
During and after the Yugoslav wars
In 1992, he became the president of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which consisted of Serbia and Montenegro.On Eastern Orthodox Christmas Eve of January 1993, Dobrica Ćosić appeared on Serbian television to warn of demands for “national capitulation” from western governments. “If we don't accept, we are going to be put in a concentration camp and face an attack by the most powerful armies of the world.” These outside forces, he said, are determined to subordinate “the Serbian people to Muslim hegemony.”
Later that year Ćosić turned against Milošević, and was removed from his position for that reason. In 2000, Ćosić publicly joined Otpor
Otpor
Otpor! was a civic youth movement that existed as such from 1998 until 2003 in Serbia , employing nonviolent struggle against the regime of Slobodan Milošević as their course of action. In the course of two-year nonviolent struggle against Milosevic, Otpor spread across Serbia and attracted more...
, an underground anti-Milošević organization.
As of 2010, Ćosić still supports the actions of the Bosnian Serb Army under the command of Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
during the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
.
In 2011, an internet hoax led to state-run Serbian television announcing wrongly that Ćosić had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. That honour had in fact gone to Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Gösta Tranströmer is a Swedish writer, poet and translator, whose poetry has been translated into over 60 languages. Tranströmer is acclaimed as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since the Second World War...
.
Literary works
Ćosić is a prolific writer who twice won the prestigious NIN award for literatureNIN Prize
The NIN Prize is a Serbian literary award established in 1954 by NIN magazine and is an given annually for the best newly published novel in Serbian literature . The award is presented every year in January by a jury of writers...
.
- Dаleko je sunce (1951)
- Koreni (1954)
- Deobe 1-3 (1961)
- Bаjkа (1965)
- Vreme smrti 1-4 (1972–1979)
- Vreme zlа: Grešnik (1985)
- Vreme zlа: Otpаdnik (1986)
- Vreme zlа: Vernik (1990)
- Vreme vlаsti 1 (1996)
- Piščevi zаpisi 1951—1968.(2000)
- Piščevi zаpisi 1969—1980. (2001)
- Piščevi zаpisi 1981—1991. (2002)
- Piščevi zаpisi 1992—1993. (2004)
- Srpsko pitаnje 1-2 (2002–2003)
- Pisci mogа vekа (2002)
- Kosovo (2004)
- Prijаtelji (2005)
- Vreme vlаsti 2 (2007)
- Piščevi zаpisi 1993—1999. (2008)
- Piščevi zаpisi 1999—2000: Vreme zmijа(2009)
- Srpsko pitanje u XX veku (2009)
- U tuđem veku (2011)
On Ćosić
- Pesnik revolucije nа predsedničkom brodu, (1986) - Dаnilo Kiš
- Čovek u svom vremenu: rаzgovori sа Dobricom Ćosićem, (1989) - Slаboljub Đukić
- Autoritet bez vlаsti, (1993) - prof. dr Svetozаr Stojаnović
- Dobricа Ćosić ili predsednik bez vlаsti, (1993) - Drаgoslаv Rаnčić
- Štа je stvаrno rekаo Dobricа Ćosić, (1995) - Milаn Nikolić
- Vreme piscа: životopis Dobrice Ćosićа, (2000) - Rаdovаn Popović
- Lovljenje vetrа, političkа ispovest Dobrice Ćosićа, (2001) - Slаvoljub Đukić
- Zаvičаj i Prerovo Dobrice Ćosićа, (2002) - Boško Ruđinčаnin
- Gang of four, (2005) - Zorаn Ćirić
- Knjigа o Ćosiću, (2005) - Drаgoljub Todorović
Famous quote
Quote from the musings of a controversial lead character of the novel trilogy "Deobe"(Divisions) 1961. Volume I, page 135: "A lie, trait of our patriotism" “We lie to deceive ourselves, to console others, we lie for mercy, we lie to fight fear, to encourage ourselves, to hide our and somebody else's misery. We lie for love and honesty. We lie because of freedom. Lying is a trait of our patriotism and the proof of our innate intelligence. We lie creatively, imaginatively and inventively."Ćosić and Chomsky
In 2006, Ćosić received support in the press for his proposal for a partitionPartition (politics)
In politics, a partition is a change of political borders cutting through at least one territory considered a homeland by some community. That change is done primarily by diplomatic means, and use of military force is negligible....
of Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
from American essayist and linguist Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
. In a http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2765553072882910702&q=chomsky+mandic Serbian television interview, Chomsky was asked what the best solution for Kosovo's final status is. He responded:
My feeling has been for a long time that the only realistic solution is one that in fact was offered by the President of Serbia [i.e. Dobrica Cosic, then President of Yugoslavia] I think back round 1993, namely some kind of partition, with the Serbian, by now very few Serbs left but the, what were the Serbian areas being part of Serbia and the rest be what they called "independent" which means it'll join Albania. I just don't see…I didn't see any other feasible solution ten years ago.
This interview sparked a correspondence between the two dissident intellectuals, parts of which were published in the Belgrade magazine NIN
NIN (magazine)
NIN is a weekly newsmagazine published in Belgrade, Serbia. Its name is an acronym for Nedeljne informativne novine which roughly translates into Weekly Informational Newspaper....
.