Grigor Vitez

Grigorije "Grigor" Vitez (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Григорије "Григор" Витез; 15 February 1911 – 23 November 1966) was a Yugoslav writer and translator. He is best remembered as the author of children's poetry and other forms of literature for children and youth.

Grigor Vitez
Portrait of Vitez
Portrait of Vitez
BornGrigorije Vitez
15 February 1911
Kosovac near Gornji Bogićevci, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austro-Hungary[1]
Died23 November 1966(1966-11-23) (aged 55)
Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
OccupationWriter
LanguageSerbo-Croatian
CitizenshipYugoslav
Notable awardsOrder of Labour
Order of the Republic

Biography

He was born to a Serb[2][3][4] family from north Dalmatia, which had previously used the surname Alavanja. One of his ancestors held the honorary title of knight (Serbo-Croatian: vitez), which became the family surname.[5]

He went to elementary school in Okučani and to a gymnasium in Nova Gradiška. As a high school student he started collection folk poetry of the area. Vitez went on to finish the state school for teachers.

In 1933, he joined the Communists and fought in the World War II as a member of the Yugoslav Partisans. After the World War II, he worked in the Ministry of Education and as editor for Mladost publishing house,[6] in charge for children's and youth edition. Vitez was also working for the Novo pokoljenje publishing company.[7] He edited thirteen publishing series for children and youth.[8]

When Borislav Pekić authored an anthology of children's poetry, Vitez criticised him because, even though Serbian literature for children is de facto richer than Croatian, he should have included more poets from Croatia.[9]

Vitez was a prolific translator, mostly from Russian.[5] He translated poems by Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Boris Pasternak, Sergei Yesenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Eduard Bagritsky, Vera Inber, Alexey Surkov, Mikhail Golodny, Stepan Shchipachev, Aleksandr Tvardovsky etc., and prose from the works of Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky and Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy. He also translated Pavel Golia, Fran Levstik, Srečko Kosovel, Matjaž Klopčič, Alojz Gradnik, Cene Vipotnik, Tone Pavček, Janez Menart and other Slovenian poets. Alongside Russian and Slovenian he translated works from French language.[1]

He held a correspondence with Nobel Prize winning writer Boris Pasternak.[5] Vitez died at the age of 55 and was buried in his hometown.[10]

Prosvjeta published his selected works in 2011, marking 100 years of his birth.[5]

Most of the works by Serbian writers was removed from the textbooks and schools from Croatia during and after the Croatian War of Independence, but Vitez's works was continuously part of the school curriculum in Croatia.[5][11]

Grigor Vitez Award for literature written for children was established in 1967.[12] It is the oldest awards of its kind in modern-day Croatia.[13]

He was awarded the Yugoslav Order of Labour, Order of the Republic and Award of the city of Zagreb.[14]

Schools in Osijek, Sveti Ivan Žabno, Poljana and Zagreb are named after him,[15][16][17][18] as well as the local library in Gornji Bogićevci.[19]

Works
  • San boraca u zoru, Nakl. Navod Hrvatske, Zagreb, 1948
  • Pjesme, Zora Državno izdavačko poduzeće Hrvatske, Zagreb, 1950
  • Naoružane ruže, Kultura, Zagreb, 1955
  • Vesele zamke, Mladost, Zagreb, 1955
  • Prepelica, Prosvjeta, Zagreb, 1956
  • Lirika o Slavoniji, urednik, Slavonija danas, Osijek, 1956
  • Povjerenje životu, Narodna prosvjeta, Sarajevo, 1957
  • Sto vukova, i druge pjesme za djecu, "Svjetlost", Sarajevo, 1957
  • Perzijske bajke, Mladost, Zagreb, 1958.
  • Kad bi drveće hodalo, Mladost, Zagreb, 1959
  • Kao lišće i trava: pjesme, Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 1960
  • Maksimir, Mladost, Zagreb, 1960
  • Iza brda plava: izbor pjesama za djecu, Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 1961
  • Jednog jutra u gaju, editor, 1961
  • Hvatajte lopova, "Svjetlost", Sarajevo, 1964
  • Gdje priče rastu, Mladost, Zagreb, 1965.
  • Zekina kuća, Mladost, Zagreb, 1965
  • Igra se nastavlja, posthumous, 1967
  • Pjesme četiri vjetra, editor, 1968
  • Nevidljive ptice, Mozaik knjiga, 2002

References
  1. Draško Ređep (1971). Živan Milisavac (ed.). Jugoslovenski književni leksikon [Yugoslav Literary Lexicon]. Novi Sad (SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia: Matica srpska. p. 569.
  2. Зорица Турјачанин, Свежањ нових кључева. Студије и есеји из књижевности за дјецу, Бања Лука 1999, pp. 71.
  3. Ibrahim Kajan, Zavođenje Muslimana. (Budi svoj!), Zagreb 1992, pp. 66}-: Вјерујте ми да све донедавно нисам ни знао да су Григор Витез, Драго Кекановић или мој драги пријатељ, покојни Момчило Попадић — Срби!
  4. "Grigor Vitez – dječji pjesnik". Srpsko Narodno Vijeće - SNV (in Croatian). Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  5. Radisavljević, Zoran. "Zaboravljeni Grigor Vitez". Politika Online. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  6. "Grigor Vitez – dječji pjesnik". Srpsko Narodno Vijeće - SNV (in Croatian). Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  7. Kukić Rukavina, Ivana (2015). Nakladnički nizovi Grigora Viteza za djecu i mladež. Zagreb: University of Zagreb. p. 69.
  8. Kukić Rukavina, Ivana (2015). Nakladnički nizovi Grigora Viteza za djecu i mladež. Zagreb: University of Zagreb.
  9. Kukić Rukavina, Ivana (2015). Nakladnički nizovi Grigora Viteza za djecu i mladež. Zagreb: University of Zagreb. p. 206. No, usudio bih se staviti jednu primjedbu, smatrajući da je bolje da to ja učinim sada, nego drugi kasnije kad knjiga izađe. Primjećujem to bez straha da mi se predbaci nacionalna preosjetljivost, tim više što sam po narodnosti Srbin, a samo živim i rođen sam u Hrvatskoj. Kad god se radi o zajedničkim antologijama ili sličnim zajedničkim istupima, potrebno je još uvijek danas izbjeći eventualne prigovore o nesrazmjerima i nepravednostima prema ovoj ili onoj strani naše literature. Radi se o omjeru zastupljenosti srpske i hrvatske poezije. Činjenica je da je srpski dio književnosti bogatiji u dječjoj književnosti, ali omjer broja pjesama, čini mi se, i previše je na uštrb hrvatskih: od 66 pjesnika otprilike 24 pripadaju hrvatskom dijelu i to bi možda još išlo, ali ako se uzme broj pjesama, onda je razlika prevelika: na hrvatske otpada tek nešto preko jedne petine (65 pjesama od 303).
  10. jklaric (2020-02-15). "Posjet grobu Grigora Viteza povodom 109-te godišnjice rođenja". Općina Gornji Bogićevci (in Croatian). Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  11. "POKRAJINE". Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  12. "Knjižnice grada Zagreba - Hrvatski centar za dječju knjigu - Nagrada "Grigor Vitez"". www.kgz.hr. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  13. "40.godina Nagrade Grigor Vitez". 2008-09-17. Archived from the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  14. „Григор Витез и његово књижевно дјело“, Просвјета. Мјесечник Српског културног друштва Просвјета (27) 1967
  15. "Osnovna škola "Grigor Vitez" Osijek - Naslovnica". os-gvitez-os.skole.hr. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  16. "Osnovna škola Grigor Vitez". Općina Sveti Ivan Žabno (in Croatian). Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  17. "Osnovna škola Grigora Viteza Zagreb - Vijesti". os-gviteza-zg.skole.hr. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  18. "Osnovna škola Grigora Viteza Poljana - Naslovnica". os-gviteza-poljana.skole.hr. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  19. "Narodna knjižnica i čitaonica "Grigor Vitez" Gornji Bogićevci". www.knjiznica.hr. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
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