Vuk Vrčević
Encyclopedia
Vuk Vrčević was a Serbian collector of lyric poetry and companion of Vuk Karadžić, the famed linguist and reformer of the Serbian language
. He also translated into Serbian the poetical work of Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapessi, better known by his pseudonym Metastasio
(1698-1782).
in Boka Kotorska, then under the rule of the Habsburg Monarchy
, on 26 February 1811. His family was of Serbian origin, and was settled in Boka Kotorska from time immemorial. His parents were in poor circumstances, and he owed his education to his own perseverance. He early developed a gift for languages, becoming familiar not only with Old Slavonic
, Russian
and Greek
, but also Turkish, Latin, Italian, French and German (thus mastering all the languages spoken by the foreign invaders of his Serbian homeland during the early stages of the 19th century). When he was twenty years old Vrčević's father, a well-respected clerk and schoolteacher who was battling tuberculosis
, died suddenly in 1831, leaving his mother and 13 siblings in his care. That same year they all moved to Budva
, where Vrčević's first job was in a merchant's office as an agent of a trading company, thanks to his uncle's connections. In 1835 Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
was living in nearby Kotor at the time. It was there that Vrčević first made an acquaintance with the great man who had already started to reform and standardize the Serbian language, and became his life-long collaborator in collecting national folk-songs and tales. Europe had scarcely found respite from the campaigns of Napoleon when Karadžić first reduced Serbian national poems to writing, rescuing these pesme from that state of oral tradition in which they had remained for ages. For the next six years Vrčević continued to work for the Budva traders and collaborated with Karadżić as well. In 1841 he decided to become a civil servant in Budva and get married to a girl from Kotor. The revolutionary movement of 1848 had marked Boka Kotorska to a degree. Vrčević was obliged to quit his post and he became a translator at a Kotor tribunal. Vrečević's career as a man of letters appears to have turned almost on accident; his fine voice gained him a place in the Cetinje
household of Danilo I, Prince of Montenegro in 1852, and by-and-by, having already some reputation as a Latinist, he was chosen to teach Danilo, the nephew of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
, Italian, then an important language in the Venetian-occupied, Serbian-speaking Adriatic region. The prince immediately took him and his wife and children under his protection. But this idyllic situation did not remain for long. In 1855 an Austria invasion of Montenegro became imminent and Vrčević decided to leave Cetinje for Zadar
, the capital of Dalmatia
. Before he left, the prince showed Vrčević further favour by bestowing on him the habit of the military order of the Independence of Montenegro (Order of Prince Danilo I
). Upon his arrival at Zadar he received an appointment in the City Hall, a clerkship that offered more solid prospects, in the Dalmatian revenue administration. For the next five years he worked hard and his eyesight began to fail. Through the influence of Austrian Baron Lazar Mamula (1795-1878), then Governor of Dalmatia (1850-1868), Vrčević was in 1861 appointed Austrian vice-consul at Trebinje
in Herzegovina, considered one of the most volatile regions in Europe. No sooner had he entered on his new duties than his great capacity for arduous work was put to a test. Besides events in the Serbian Vojvodina
and the new reprecusions from the Magyars, to which he had to devote much attention, the Herzegovinian insurrection, led by Luka Vukalović in 1852, had broken-out once again (1861-1862), and Vrčević could perceive from secret official dispatches and from his own personal contacts that the incident was bound to have far-reaching ramafications sooner or later. Vrčević passed the remainder of his life in the vice-consular office in Trebinje. He died at Dubrovnik on the 13th of August 1882.
He was honoured with special recognition from the Serbian Learned Society (inducted on the 21st of january 1868), and was a particular favourite of Milan I of Serbia and Nicholas I of Montenegro
, who made him historiographer royal.
in 1839. In Montenegro he wrote Moralno zabavne i saljivo poučno zagonetke. Ascension songs (Spasovske pesme) disappeared quite early. Vuk Vrčević managed to record the surviving remnants of the anceint tradtion while in Montnegro (Budva) and sent them to Vuk Karadžić, who included them in the already completed text of his first volume of folk songs on the basis of their aesthetic quality and unique character. At the time comic tales were neglected for the sole reason that such tales did not enhance the evolution of mythological subjects, and often referred as refuse of golden tradition. With Vrčević, however, an exception was made. He supplied the first classification of comic tales.
In Herzegovina Vrčević came in touch with the Serb Moslem folk at Trebinje in 1861. (After the Turks overran the Serb lands, namely Herzegovina and Bosnia in the 15th century, the people found it to their temporal advantage to become Moslems). Vrčević wrote to Vuk Karadžić that he had heard of Stolac
a place which excells in "Turks who are most skilled in singing folk songs in Herzegovina, but I do not know how to bring one to Trebinje, or how to get there myself both things being equally hard." With an almost modern realism Vrčević reproduced the motley world of the old, oral tradition of the guslars, at the same time not losing sight of their literary value. After all, they came to express the deep heart of a Serbian nation, through centuries of tempest and travail. In 1866 in Trebinje, Herzegovina, he wrote Srpske Narodne Pesme u Herzegovini (Serbian National Poems) and Tužbalice (Laments). Two books of his were published in 1868 by the Srpsko naučno društvo (Serbian Learned Society) in Belgrade: Srpske narodne pripovetke, kratke i šaljive (Serbian Folk Tales, Short and Humerous) and Narodne igre (National Dances). In 1870 two more books were published in Belgrade by the same society: Junačke pesme (Heroic Poems), and Narodne poslovice (National Proverbs). He published in Belgrade many Serbian translations of foreign works, but his chief glory was the collection of national songs which he sent to Vuk Karadžić for publication in Vienna.
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
. He also translated into Serbian the poetical work of Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapessi, better known by his pseudonym Metastasio
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
(1698-1782).
Biography
Vuk Vrčević was born at RisanRisan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
in Boka Kotorska, then under the rule of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, on 26 February 1811. His family was of Serbian origin, and was settled in Boka Kotorska from time immemorial. His parents were in poor circumstances, and he owed his education to his own perseverance. He early developed a gift for languages, becoming familiar not only with Old Slavonic
Old Slavonic
Old Slavonic may refer to:*Old Church Slavonic language*Common Slavonic language...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, but also Turkish, Latin, Italian, French and German (thus mastering all the languages spoken by the foreign invaders of his Serbian homeland during the early stages of the 19th century). When he was twenty years old Vrčević's father, a well-respected clerk and schoolteacher who was battling tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, died suddenly in 1831, leaving his mother and 13 siblings in his care. That same year they all moved to Budva
Budva
Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality...
, where Vrčević's first job was in a merchant's office as an agent of a trading company, thanks to his uncle's connections. In 1835 Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philolog and linguist, the major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary...
was living in nearby Kotor at the time. It was there that Vrčević first made an acquaintance with the great man who had already started to reform and standardize the Serbian language, and became his life-long collaborator in collecting national folk-songs and tales. Europe had scarcely found respite from the campaigns of Napoleon when Karadžić first reduced Serbian national poems to writing, rescuing these pesme from that state of oral tradition in which they had remained for ages. For the next six years Vrčević continued to work for the Budva traders and collaborated with Karadżić as well. In 1841 he decided to become a civil servant in Budva and get married to a girl from Kotor. The revolutionary movement of 1848 had marked Boka Kotorska to a degree. Vrčević was obliged to quit his post and he became a translator at a Kotor tribunal. Vrečević's career as a man of letters appears to have turned almost on accident; his fine voice gained him a place in the Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
household of Danilo I, Prince of Montenegro in 1852, and by-and-by, having already some reputation as a Latinist, he was chosen to teach Danilo, the nephew of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrovic-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš , was a Serbian Orthodox Prince-Bishop of Montenegro , who transformed Montenegro from a theocracy into a secular state. However, he is most famous as a poet...
, Italian, then an important language in the Venetian-occupied, Serbian-speaking Adriatic region. The prince immediately took him and his wife and children under his protection. But this idyllic situation did not remain for long. In 1855 an Austria invasion of Montenegro became imminent and Vrčević decided to leave Cetinje for Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
, the capital of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. Before he left, the prince showed Vrčević further favour by bestowing on him the habit of the military order of the Independence of Montenegro (Order of Prince Danilo I
Order of Prince Danilo I
The Order of Prince Danilo I of Montenegro was an order of the Principality, and later Kingdom, of Montenegro...
). Upon his arrival at Zadar he received an appointment in the City Hall, a clerkship that offered more solid prospects, in the Dalmatian revenue administration. For the next five years he worked hard and his eyesight began to fail. Through the influence of Austrian Baron Lazar Mamula (1795-1878), then Governor of Dalmatia (1850-1868), Vrčević was in 1861 appointed Austrian vice-consul at Trebinje
Trebinje
Trebinje is the southernmost municipality and town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is administratively part of the Republika Srpska entity and is located in southeastern Herzegovina, some from the Adriatic Sea....
in Herzegovina, considered one of the most volatile regions in Europe. No sooner had he entered on his new duties than his great capacity for arduous work was put to a test. Besides events in the Serbian Vojvodina
Serbian Vojvodina
The Serbian Vojvodina was a Serbian autonomous region within the Austrian Empire...
and the new reprecusions from the Magyars, to which he had to devote much attention, the Herzegovinian insurrection, led by Luka Vukalović in 1852, had broken-out once again (1861-1862), and Vrčević could perceive from secret official dispatches and from his own personal contacts that the incident was bound to have far-reaching ramafications sooner or later. Vrčević passed the remainder of his life in the vice-consular office in Trebinje. He died at Dubrovnik on the 13th of August 1882.
He was honoured with special recognition from the Serbian Learned Society (inducted on the 21st of january 1868), and was a particular favourite of Milan I of Serbia and Nicholas I of Montenegro
Nicholas I of Montenegro
Nikola I Mirkov Petrović-Njegoš was the only king of Montenegro, reigning as king from 1910 to 1918 and as prince from 1860 to 1910. He was also a poet, notably penning "Onamo, 'namo!", a popular song from Montenegro.-Early life:Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the ancient home of the...
, who made him historiographer royal.
His Work
Vrčević began his literary career by publishing translations from the poetic work of Italian poet Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym MetastasioMetastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
in 1839. In Montenegro he wrote Moralno zabavne i saljivo poučno zagonetke. Ascension songs (Spasovske pesme) disappeared quite early. Vuk Vrčević managed to record the surviving remnants of the anceint tradtion while in Montnegro (Budva) and sent them to Vuk Karadžić, who included them in the already completed text of his first volume of folk songs on the basis of their aesthetic quality and unique character. At the time comic tales were neglected for the sole reason that such tales did not enhance the evolution of mythological subjects, and often referred as refuse of golden tradition. With Vrčević, however, an exception was made. He supplied the first classification of comic tales.
In Herzegovina Vrčević came in touch with the Serb Moslem folk at Trebinje in 1861. (After the Turks overran the Serb lands, namely Herzegovina and Bosnia in the 15th century, the people found it to their temporal advantage to become Moslems). Vrčević wrote to Vuk Karadžić that he had heard of Stolac
Stolac
Stolac is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the southern part of Herzegovina. Administratively, it is part of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
a place which excells in "Turks who are most skilled in singing folk songs in Herzegovina, but I do not know how to bring one to Trebinje, or how to get there myself both things being equally hard." With an almost modern realism Vrčević reproduced the motley world of the old, oral tradition of the guslars, at the same time not losing sight of their literary value. After all, they came to express the deep heart of a Serbian nation, through centuries of tempest and travail. In 1866 in Trebinje, Herzegovina, he wrote Srpske Narodne Pesme u Herzegovini (Serbian National Poems) and Tužbalice (Laments). Two books of his were published in 1868 by the Srpsko naučno društvo (Serbian Learned Society) in Belgrade: Srpske narodne pripovetke, kratke i šaljive (Serbian Folk Tales, Short and Humerous) and Narodne igre (National Dances). In 1870 two more books were published in Belgrade by the same society: Junačke pesme (Heroic Poems), and Narodne poslovice (National Proverbs). He published in Belgrade many Serbian translations of foreign works, but his chief glory was the collection of national songs which he sent to Vuk Karadžić for publication in Vienna.