Silvana Armenulić

Zilha Armenulić(néeBajraktarević; 10 February 1939 – 10 October 1976), known professionally asSilvana Armenulić(pronounced[silvǎːnaarmɛ̌nulit͡ɕ]), was a Yugoslavian singer-songwriter and actress and one of the most prominent commercialfolk musicand traditionalsevdalinkasingers inYugoslavia. She is called the "Queen of Sevdalinka". Her life was cut short when she died in a car crash at the age of 37, but she continues to be well regarded in the region and she is recognized for her unique singing style and voice. Armenulić's song "Šta će mi život" (What Do I Need a Life for), written by her friend and contemporaryToma Zdravković, is one of the best-selling singles from the former Yugoslavia.
Two of her sisters were also professional singers:Mirsada "Mirjana" BajraktarevićandHajrudina "Dina" Bajraktarević.
Born Zilha BajraktarevićinDoboj,Kingdom of Yugoslavia, she was the third of thirteen children in a Muslim and ethnicallyBosniakfamily.Her father was Mehmed Bajraktarević (1909–1966), owner of a local cake shop called Jagoda (Strawberry), and her mother was Hajrija (1916–2008).Zilha survived a bout withdiphtheriaas a child shortly afterWorld War II.
Zilha had a brother named Hajrudin who died about two weeks after being mauled by a dog in the 1940s. After her brother's death, her father found solace in alcohol and solitude, neglecting the family and his business. After her father's cake shop closed, the family suffered greatly. Some of her earliest memories were of her father's absence and the World War II, when mother Hajrija and the children hid in the basement from theUstashatroops. The family of thirteen children included Zilha's sistersMirsada,Hajrudina, Abida, and Ševka, and brothers Hajrudin, Muhamed, Izudin, Abudin, and Ismet. Her sister Ševka's sonSabahudin Bilalovićbecame a professional basketball player who died at age 43 of a heart attack on the beach while swimming with his son. Ten years later, Ševka and her husband Lutvo both died of natural causes in September 2013, just days apart.
Zilha began singing at an early age and she would later say that she got her voice from her father, abohemian. As a child, she would sing to him while sitting in his lap. But when she had thoughts of pursuing a professional singing career, her father was not supportive. Then one day, after coming home hung over from a night of drinking, and with the wave of a hand, he said "Go! If you really want to be a singer, go." In 1947, she was enrolled into elementary school, where she learned to play themandolin, which was a gift from her parents. After that, she played the mandolin and sang more and more, but her grades in school kept declining. By the time she reached the eighth grade, all interest in school had been lost and she had made a name for herself locally as prominentkafanasinger.
Zilha met her husband, tennis playerRadmilo Armenulić, in 1959 when she was singing at theGrand CasinoinBelgrade. They married two years later on 26 October 1961 and their daughter Gordana was born on 13 January 1965.After seven years of marriage, Radmilo allegedly cheated on Zilha with her friend, singerLepa Lukić.After that she recorded a song called "Sedam godina ljubavi" (Seven Years of Love).She and her husband were believed to have divorced, although many years later, Radmilo revealed that they had separated but stayed legally married until her death.
Zilha was anethnic Muslimand her husband Radmilo was aSerb, making theirs anethnically mixed marriageinmultiethnicYugoslavia. Radmilo's mother Gordanadisapproved of the marriage as did Zilha's father Mehmed who even refused to speak to his daughter. In fact, Zilha was not allowed into his home until his death in 1965, when she returned to Doboj for his funeral.
After her marriage ended, many men vied for her affection, including politiciansStane DolancandBranko Pešić.
Sometime in 1953, a young Zilha was heard singing in a Doboj kafana by Aca Stepić, and it was a voice he did not forget. They met again six years later in 1959, at theHotel Bristolin Belgrade, after she started singing professionally. She was performing with the orchestra of Jovica Marinović and the singer/drummer wasCune Gojković. After that, she began singing with Aca in theGrand Casinoin Belgrade, where she met her future husband Radmilo.
Zilha moved toSarajevoat the age of sixteen in 1954, where she lived with her aunt and sang in local kafanas for money.One night Zilha met accordionistIsmet Alajbegović Šerboin the Sarajevo suburb ofIlidža. Delighted with her voice, he wanted to make her part of his orchestra, but the girl was underage and needed her parents permission. Of course, they gave consent and Šerbo promised her that she would have food, a place to stay and a salary of 20,000dinarsmonthly. There, she entered the professional world of showbusiness.
On a cold night inLeskovacin spring 1958, Zilha was taking walk through a park before a performance at the garden of a restaurant calledHisarin a hotel, when she saw a young man sleeping on a bench. It wasToma Zdravković. She approached him, woke him up, sat down and started a conversation. She asked him "Where are you from? What do you do?". He told her he was from a village, and had come to the city looking for a job. He couldn't find a job, and was broke with no way to pay his fare back home. Zilha wished to help him. She brought him to her performance, even handing her microphone over to him at one point.
When she heard Toma sing, she was amazed, according toZa društvo u ćošku, written by Aleksandar Gajović, a journalist and cultural worker.She begged the manager of the hotel to help Toma find a job. Toma began singing with her, and later she got him his own record deal and he began recording and touring on his own. The two became legends of the former Yugoslavia.
Eventually she moved to Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, to further her singing career. There she adopted themononymousstage name "Silvana" after the Italian actressSilvana Mangano. When she was a young girl, her friends would jokingly call her Silvana after watching the filmBitter Rice(1949), because she resembled the actress.
While in Belgrade, Silvana frequently performed in the bohemian neighborhoodSkadarlija. During this time, she was offered several recording contracts from the incredibly competitive Yugoslav record labels. The first song she ever recorded was the Bosniansevdalinka"Nad izvorom vrba se nadvila" (Over theSpring, theWillowTree Hung), although it wasn't officially released until her 1968 albumOtiš'o si bez pozdrava(You Left Without Saying Goodbye), three years after her first album was released. After recording a single record for the labelDiskosinAleksandrovac, she was invited by the labelPGP-RTBto record in the then-popular duet format. Silvana recorded duet albums with singers Petar Tanasijević, Aleksandar Trandafilović, Slavko Perović and Dragan Živković in the1960s. After both companies competitively issued her records for a period of time, Silvana grew "tired" of singing in duets. The opportunity to record as a soloist came from theZagreb-based record labelJugoton.
Her career had taken off rapidly and she became one of the biggest commercialfolkstars in Yugoslavia. This led to numerous and well-publicized country-wide singing engagements. She also appeared in many popular TV sitcoms such asLjubav na seoski način(Love in the Rural Way) with famous Serbian comedianMiodrag Petrović Čkaljaand folksy movies such asGrađani sela Luga(Citizens of the Village Luga).
In 1969, she and singer Toma Zdravković sang in the same group, and Zdravković wrote her biggest hit "Šta će mi život, bez tebe dragi" (What Do I Need a Life for, Without You Darling):
The song became one of the biggest folk hits ever written in Yugoslavia, sold over 300,000 copies, and transformed Zdravković and Silvana herself into superstars.But Silvana's life ironically ended seven years later.
In a March 1971 interview with the newspaperNovosti, Silvana did not hide the fact that the same rejection and criticism that she faced at the start of her career, continued well into her successful days.
She co-starred in 1972 filmThe Deer HuntwithBoris Dvornik,Ivo SerdarandMiha Baloh, among others. The film was written and directed byFadil Hadžić.
On a Belgrade-based televisionNew Year's Eveprogram awaiting the year 1972, the directorDejan Karaklajićsuggested Silvana to dress in a bikini and jump in a pool to resembleHollywoodactressEsther Williams. She initially refused and did not like the way her body looked in the swimsuit but was forced to do it as the sponsors had paid 13 milliondinars. She cried and then agreed to appear on the program, but not in the swimsuit and refused to swim in a pool. The stunt sparked outrage among her fan base, who were not used to seeing her sexualize herself. She was also banned from all Yugoslav television for refusing to follow orders.
Throughout the1970sand leading up to her death in 1976, she had several hit songs: "Rane moje" (My Wounds), "Ciganine, sviraj sviraj" (Gypsy, Play Play), "Srce gori, jer te voli" (My Heart Burns, For It Loves You), "Grli me, ljubi me" (Hug Me, Kiss Me), "Ja nemam prava nikoga da volim" (I Have No Right to Love Anyone), "Srećo moja" (Happiness of Mine), "Kišo, kišo tiho padaj" (Rain, Rain, Fall Quietly) and "Život teče" (Life Flows).
As she became more popular in Yugoslavia, she often performed for thePresidentJosip Broz Titoand the First LadyJovanka Broz. She was friends with manycommunistpoliticians includingBranko Mikulić,Hamdija PozderacandDžemal Bijedić. During a radio interview in Sarajevo in 1973, she stated that she was a fan of fellow sevdalinka singerSafet Isovićand called him a "darling."
After Armenulić's death, friends said that she often worried about her fate. In October 1971, she was in a car accident that almost claimed her life, and which irresistibly recalls the tragedy that took her life five years later. Three months after the accident, she said, "I am a big pessimist. I'm afraid of life. The future. What will happen tomorrow. I fear that, for me, there might not even be a tomorrow...."
In the final few years of her life, Armenulić became increasingly obsessed with learning her own fate, so much so that she learned all she could about astrology, telepathy, and spoke with self-proclaimed prophets. In early August 1976, just two months before her death, she was on tour in Bulgaria and decided to seize the opportunity to meet with mysticBaba Vanga. The meeting was unpleasant. Vanga, who was blind, only sat and stared out a window with her back to Armenulić. She did not speak. After a long time, Vanga finally spoke: "Nothing. You do not have to pay. I do not want to speak with you. Not now. Go and come back in three months." As Armenulić turned around and walked towards the door, Vanga said: "Wait. In fact, you will not be able to come. Go, go. If you can come back in three months, do so."She took this as confirmation that she would die and left Vanga's home in tears.
Armenulić and her younger sisterMirsada Bajraktarevićwere at the opening of restaurant called "Lenin Bar" on 9 October 1976, the day before their deaths. Since the interior of the restaurant was meant to resemble a cave, there were spikes in the shape ofstalactiteshanging from the ceiling. Armenulić hit her head on one when getting up from her chair, which caused huge headache the rest of that day and the next.
On Sunday, 10 October 1976, at around 9:15pmCEST, Armenulić died in a car crash near the Serbian village ofKolariinSmederevoalong with her 25-year-old pregnant sister Mirsada and violinist/Radio Belgradefolk orchestra conductor Miodrag "Rade" Jašarević. They were driving in aFord Granadacar en route fromAleksandrovacto Belgrade after a concert. Armenulić was behind the wheel when they left, but sometime between their departure and the crash, 60-year-old Jašarević had taken the wheel.
Their car was reportedly traveling 130 km/h, when it veered into oncoming traffic lanes at the 60th kilometer of theBelgrade—Niš highway, colliding head-on with aFAPtruck driven by 52-year-old Rastko Grujić.Armenulić had been sleeping in the passenger's side seat and her younger sister was asleep in the back seat.
Initially, only the death of Jašarević was reported, as television shows refused to mention Armenulić because of the 1972 incident during a live broadcast on New Year's Eve show, which got her banned from television.The exact cause of the accident is unknown, but it is believed that the crash is directly related to a brake problem. The Ford Granada they were driving was recalled for "dangerous structural defects observed in the control mechanism". A notification was sent to all customers that the models manufactured between September 1975 and June 1976 were faulty. Owners were advised to return the cars; further details regarding these events remained obscure.
Between 30,000 and 50,000 people attended their funeral, including singers Lepa Lukić and Hašim Kučuk Hoki (who himself died in a near-identical car crash on 26 November 2002).She and her sister were buried side by side in the cemeteryNovo groblje.
The singerLepa Lukićhas said that she was asked to perform at the concert that day but overslept for the first time in her career and did not make it to the concert;she later stated that she believes, had she gone with them, she would have lost her life in the crash with the sisters.In 2013, Lepa revealed in an interview that she hasn't driven a car since the sisters' deaths, out of fear that she would share their fate.
During thewar in Bosniaof the 1990s, Armenulić's mother Hajrija and sister Dina fled their home in Doboj to Denmark. In 2004, Hajrija (by then nearly 88 years old), filed a lawsuit against her former son-in-law and Armenulić's ex-husband Radmilo Armenulić, the suit alleged that the six-bedroom apartment in which he lived with his second wife, belonged to the Bajraktarević family. She said that Armenulić bought the apartment after she divorced Radmilo and planned on living there with her daughter Gordana, but shortly thereafter lost her life. Radmilo commented to the press, that he was still legally married to Armenulić up until her death and alleged that the apartment was left to their daughter Gordana. After Silvana's death, Radmilo got custody of the then twelve-year-old girl, and being her legal guardian, owned the apartment.
Silvana's mother Hajrija lived into her 90s, dying in 2008. Five years after their mother's death, Silvana's oldest sister Ševka died on 30 September 2013 inTrebinjeat the age of 79, leavingDinathe last living of the female Bajraktarević children.
In a 2013 interview, her former husband Radmilo stated he still visits her grave and always leaves fresh flowers. He also said that Silvana's friendPredrag Živković Tozovacvisited her grave frequently until his death in 2021.
Fellow Yugoslavian singerLepa Brenahas twice covered Armenulić's songs; in 1995 she covered "Šta će mi život" for her albumKazna Božija,and in 2013 she covered "Ciganine ti što sviraš" onIzvorne i novokomponovane narodne pesme.Although Silvana and Brena never met (Brena's career started a few years after Silvana's death), they did have a mutual acquaintance: their managerMilovan Ilić Minimaks.
On 10 October 2011, the 35th anniversary of her death,Exploziv, a show on Serbian television channelPrva Srpska Televizija, included a ten-minute segment in which they interviewed some of Armenulić's surviving friends and her daughter, Gordana. The segment also included a reenactment of the car crash.
Serb writer Dragan Marković released a biography about her life entitledKnjiga o Silvani(Book About Silvana) on 9 December 2011.Silvana's daughter Gordana was among the people interviewed for the book.
This is a list of songs recorded by Armenulić that were not released on any of her albums. They are mostly covers of centuries-old Bosniansevdalinkas.