David Albahari (1948–2023)

18 Nov David Albahari (1948–2023)

David Albahari was a writer, translator, and academic. Throughout his career, he wrote primarily novels and short stories, often infused with autobiographical elements. He was also an accomplished translator from English and a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Born into a Jewish-Serbian family, Albahari became president of the Association of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia in 1991 and helped organize the evacuation of Jewish residents from Sarajevo during the war. In 1994, he moved with his family to Canada, where he lived until 2013, before returning to Serbia.

Albahari’s prose is known for its introspection and complexity—sometimes described as hermetic—but his readership steadily grew, and his works came to be seen as essential links between Serbian literature and the broader currents of world fiction. His debut short story collection, Porodično vreme (Family Time, 1973), earned him early recognition as a major voice in Serbian literature.

“Why should the writer be seen as someone who understands things better than any other person?” — from an interview

Some of David Albahari’s most notable works include Mamac (Bait, 1996), Pijavice (Leeches, 2006), Kontrolni punkt (Checkpoint, 2011), Words Are Something Else (short stories, 1973–1993), Learning Cyrillic (short stories, 1997–2009).

Each new publication by Albahari was regarded as a literary event. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. He also translated numerous English-language authors, including Vladimir Nabokov, Margaret Atwood, Sam Shepard, and Sarah Kane.

David Albahari je bio književnik, prevodilac i akademik. Tokom svoje karijere, najviše je pisao romane i novele, često sa autobiografskim elementima. Bio je i istaknuti prevodilac sa engleskog jezika, kao i član Srpske akademije nauka i umetnosti.

Rođen u jevrejsko-srpskoj porodici, Albahari je 1991. godine postao predsednik Udruženja jevrejskih opština Jugoslavije i bio je aktivan u organizaciji evakuacije jevrejskog stanovništva iz Sarajeva tokom rata. Godine 1994. preselio se sa porodicom u Kanadu, gde je živeo do 2013, kada se vratio u Srbiju.

Albaharijeva proza poznata je po svojoj introspektivnosti i složenosti — ponekad se opisuje kao hermetična — ali njegova čitanost je konstantno rasla, dok su njegovi radovi smatrani ključnim spojem između srpske književnosti i šireg toka svetske fikcije. Njegova prva zbirka priča, Porodično vreme (1973), donela mu je ranu prepoznatljivost kao značajan glas u srpskoj književnosti.

Neka od najznačajnijih Albaharijevih dela su Mamac (Bait, 1996), Pijavice (Leeches, 2006), Kontrolni punkt (Checkpoint, 2011), Reči su nešto drugo (kratke priče, 1973–1993), i Učenje ćirilice (kratke priče, 1997–2009).