Aleksandar Tišma (1924–2003)

18 Nov Aleksandar Tišma (1924–2003)

Aleksandar Tišma was a novelist, poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, and academic. He studied English language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade.

In 1944, he joined the National Liberation Movement and later worked as a journalist in Novi Sad. Tišma spent much of his professional life at Matica Srpska, first as secretary and later as editor, including six years as editor of Letopis Matice Srpske.

His writing—translated into more than twenty languages—explores themes of the Holocaust, human cruelty, and moral complexity. He is regarded as one of the most important Yugoslav writers of the twentieth century. Tišma’s best-known novel, Upotreba čoveka (The Use of a Man, 1976), earned him the Nolit Award, the NIN Award, and the Serbian Library’s Award for the most-read book of 1978.

His ouvre includes works such asBegunci (Fugitives, 1981), Vere i zavere (Faith and Treason, 1983), Kapo (1987), Široka vrata (The Wide Door, 1989), Koje volimo (Those We Love, 1990).

“It’s like people. Even nations borrow from each other. Nothing is born in a vacuum, nothing develops from itself alone… All life is imitation.” — The Use of a Man

In 2016 the “Aleksandar Tišma” Foundation was established, which since 2019 has awarded the annual “Aleksandar Tišma” Literary Prize. The first laureate was Hungarian writer Darvasi László for his book Winter Morning.

Aleksandar Tišma je bio romanopisac, pesnik, pripovedač, dramski pisac, urednik i akademik. Studirao je engleski jezik i književnost na Filozofskom fakultetu u Beogradu.

Godine 1944. pridružio se NOB-u, a kasnije je radio kao novinar u Novom Sadu. Veći deo svog profesionalnog života proveo je u Matici Srpskoj, najpre kao sekretar, a kasnije kao urednik, uključujući šest godina kao urednik časopisa Letopis Srpske Matice.

Njegovo pisanje, prevedeno na više od dvadeset jezika, bavi se temama Holokausta, ljudske okrutnosti i moralne kompleksnosti. Smatra se jednim od najvažnijih jugoslovenskih pisaca dvadesetog veka. Njegov najpoznatiji roman, Upotreba čoveka (1976), doneo mu je Nolitovu nagradu, NIN-ovu nagradu i nagradu Narodne biblioteke Srbije za najčitaniju knjigu 1978. godine.

Njegov opus obuhvata dela Begunci (1981), Vere i zavere (1983), Kapo (1987), Široka vrata (1989), i Koje volimo (1990).

,,”Kao i među ljudima”, rekao je pažljivo uzaslušalom mladiću, “ugledanje postoji i među narodima. Ništa ne nastaje samoniklo, ništa se ne razvija samo iz sebe, ako neko to tvrdi onda tvrdi laž, obično da bi uzdigao sredinu kojoj baš pripada. U stvari, sve u životu je podražavanje.” – Upotreba čoveka

U 2016. godini osnovana je Fondacija „Aleksandar Tišma“, koja je od 2019. godine dodeljuje godišnju književnu nagradu „Aleksandar Tišma“. Prvi dobitnik bio je mađarski pisac Darvasi László za njegovu knjigu Zimsko jutro.