Vladislav Petkovic Dis
Encyclopedia
Vladislav Petković Dis was a Serbian
poet
, part of the impressionism
movement in Europe
an poetry
. He was born in 1880 in Zablaće, near Čačak
in Serbia
and died in 1917 on a boat on the Ionian Sea
.
in Serbia
, on the 12th of March 1880, and soon made his way to Čačak, graduating from the Gymnasium and Teacher's College in 1902. He was appointed temporary teacher at Prlita
, a village near the town of Zaječar
. He did not like teaching, and his small output of poetry brought him little income. In 1903 Dis moved to Belgrade
, and became prominent in the literary life there, when his poems appeared in Idila, a literary magazine. At the same time, he obtained an appointment as a customs official with the municipal government, giving him a good income and leisure time to write. He was named co-editor, with Sima Pandurovic, of Literary Weekend (Književna nedelja). Both Petković-Dis and Pandurović were considered the enfants terribles of their literary world. After the demise of the magazine, he married a beautiful postal employee named Hristina-Tinka, with whom he had two children, Gordana and Mutimir. During the outbreak of the First Balkan War he was conscripted by the military as a journalist. He was their war correspondent during parts of his few mature years, covering front-line battles with the Serbian Army
in the First Balkan War
(1912), Second Balkan War
(1913), and the unfortunate Great War that followed immediately after. Attached to the First Army (Serbia), he witnessed the fierce fighting in 1914 and 1915 in which the Serbs repelled two Austrian invasions before Germany and Bulgaria intervened, forcing the Serbian royal army to retreat through treacherous mountains of Albania
to the Greek island of Corfu
. From Corfu Petković-Dis was sent to France to recuperate and write about the entire tragedy. On his way back, on the 29th of May 1917 he became a civilian war casualty after boarding an Italian ship, destined for Corfu. It was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the Ionian Sea
. The manner in which Dis died earned him the reputation of a "cursed poet". Coincidentally enough, his first book of poems -- Drowned Souls (Utopljene duše) -- alluded to such a tragedy.
. One of his most famous poems are Možda spava (She May Be Sleeping) and Spomenik (Monument). In his poem Spomenik, Vladislav Petković Dis dreamed of a monument:
It has a long life,
Today it descends into new legends,
To prepare our descendents for the next monument.
Petković-Dis was writing in 1913, just after Serbia wrested Kosovo
from the Ottoman Empire
and installed an obelisk on the site of the famous medieval battle which Serbia was thought to have lost Kosovo.
Dis's poetry was not well received at the beginning by Jovan Skerlić
, one of the most distinguished Serbian literary critics in Dis's time, who became outraged by the morbid and sinister tone of his poetry. But Dis's poems have survived Skerlić, and his reputation is secure as one of the few poets who expresses the pessimism and decadence characteristic of much west European verse of the early 1900s.
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...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, part of the impressionism
Impressionism (literature)
Influenced by the Impressionist art movement, many writers adopted a style that relied on associations. The Dutch Tachtigers explicitly tried to incorporate impressionism into their prose, poems, and other literary works...
movement in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. He was born in 1880 in Zablaće, near Čačak
Cacak
Čačak is a city in central Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Moravica District of Serbia. Čačak is also the main industrial, cultural and sport center of the district...
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...
and died in 1917 on a boat on the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
.
Biography
Vladislav Petkovic Dis was born in Zablaće, a village near the town of ČačakCacak
Čačak is a city in central Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Moravica District of Serbia. Čačak is also the main industrial, cultural and sport center of the district...
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...
, on the 12th of March 1880, and soon made his way to Čačak, graduating from the Gymnasium and Teacher's College in 1902. He was appointed temporary teacher at Prlita
Prlita
Prlita is a village in the municipality of Zaječar, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 142 people.-References:...
, a village near the town of Zaječar
Zajecar
Zaječar is a city and municipality in the eastern part of Serbia. According to the 2011 census the town has a population of 36,830, and its coordinates are 43.91° North, 22.30° East...
. He did not like teaching, and his small output of poetry brought him little income. In 1903 Dis moved to 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...
, and became prominent in the literary life there, when his poems appeared in Idila, a literary magazine. At the same time, he obtained an appointment as a customs official with the municipal government, giving him a good income and leisure time to write. He was named co-editor, with Sima Pandurovic, of Literary Weekend (Književna nedelja). Both Petković-Dis and Pandurović were considered the enfants terribles of their literary world. After the demise of the magazine, he married a beautiful postal employee named Hristina-Tinka, with whom he had two children, Gordana and Mutimir. During the outbreak of the First Balkan War he was conscripted by the military as a journalist. He was their war correspondent during parts of his few mature years, covering front-line battles with the Serbian Army
Serbian Army
-Objectives:The Serbian Army is responsible for:* deterring armed threats* defending Serbia's territory* participation in peacekeeping operations* providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief-Personnel:...
in the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
(1912), Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
(1913), and the unfortunate Great War that followed immediately after. Attached to the First Army (Serbia), he witnessed the fierce fighting in 1914 and 1915 in which the Serbs repelled two Austrian invasions before Germany and Bulgaria intervened, forcing the Serbian royal army to retreat through treacherous mountains of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
to the Greek island of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
. From Corfu Petković-Dis was sent to France to recuperate and write about the entire tragedy. On his way back, on the 29th of May 1917 he became a civilian war casualty after boarding an Italian ship, destined for Corfu. It was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
. The manner in which Dis died earned him the reputation of a "cursed poet". Coincidentally enough, his first book of poems -- Drowned Souls (Utopljene duše) -- alluded to such a tragedy.
Poetry
His nickname "DIS" was derived from the three letters in the middle of his first name "Vla-DIS-lav". He introduced irrational and subconscious images into Serbian lyric poetryLyric poetry
Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...
. One of his most famous poems are Možda spava (She May Be Sleeping) and Spomenik (Monument). In his poem Spomenik, Vladislav Petković Dis dreamed of a monument:
It has a long life,
Today it descends into new legends,
To prepare our descendents for the next monument.
Petković-Dis was writing in 1913, just after Serbia wrested 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 the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and installed an obelisk on the site of the famous medieval battle which Serbia was thought to have lost Kosovo.
Dis's poetry was not well received at the beginning by Jovan Skerlić
Jovan Skerlić
Jovan Skerlić was a Serbian writer and critic. He is regarded as one of the most influential Serbian literary critics of the early 20th century, after Bogdan Popović.- Biography :...
, one of the most distinguished Serbian literary critics in Dis's time, who became outraged by the morbid and sinister tone of his poetry. But Dis's poems have survived Skerlić, and his reputation is secure as one of the few poets who expresses the pessimism and decadence characteristic of much west European verse of the early 1900s.