Vasilije Jovanovic (writer)

Vasilije Jovanović (Zemun, 29 December 1792 — Belgrade, 1867) was a Serbian teacher and writer.
== Biography ==
He was born in Zemun and finished grammar school, after which he worked as a merchant. At that time, it was a very common way and engaging in trade was usually the first step after graduating from school. Some continued to deal with it, while others served as a starting point for further progress. However, Vasilije was not too interested in trade, he was more interested in books and literature. He decided to go to the Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije in Sremski Karlovci, but apparently did not finish it. We see this on the basis that he did not become a priest, nor did he become a monk, although he was a novice in the Grgeteg monastery, but he did not like it there.He returned to his native Zemun, where he became a teacher in 1812 and where his elder was Father Jeftimije Ivanović.He was of similar age and interest with Proto Lazar Savić and they were close friends.
== Literary work ==
In addition to his job as a teacher, he was also involved in literature, which he especially loved. He wrote a play published in Buda in 1831, Svetolik i Leposava, whose full title was Svetolik i Leposava, a romantic story from the time of Dušan the Mighty, the first and only Serbian emperor. The book had a very good response, so the second edition was printed at the expense of Antonije Zivanović in 1868, and the third was printed in 1891 in Novi Sad by the Popović brothers' bookstore. Jovan Đorđević, the later director of the Serbian National Theater, said that this work had a great influence on him and his sister.
Joakim Vujić was also one of the admirers of Vasilije Jovanović's work, who was even his assistant. Jovanović was the one who persuaded Vujić to organize theater performances in Zemun, which proved to be very useful.Vasilije also got the audience interested in the Serbian past, which first approached the general public through literary or theatrical works. He also portrayed Serbian history in a romantic manner.
Vasilije Jovanović recorded folk tales, and in addition he recorded in his songbook about a hundred folk songs of Vojvodina folk lyrics. His songbook from 1805 is one of the most important manuscripts in our collection of civic poetry.Some of the translated and original works are:
* The legend of Genevieve of Brabant and Siegfried of Treves, he translated from German language in 1830,
* History of Peter the Great, the first emperor and autocrat of Russia, translated in 1831,
* "Spiritual Sacrifice" translated from Russian in 1844,
* Parents' Council 1845,
* "Long-suffering Genevieve of Brabant," one sad theaterical drama in five acts, second edition 1851,
* Vojislav kralj srbski ili Razdor braće o kraljevini, a dramatic history in 1852,
* "History of the devastation of Troy" in 1852,
* The Boy of the Duke of the King of Dećani or a dramatic story of how Dušan the Mighty became king in 1853,
* "Milošijada or Liberation of Serbia from the unbearable Turkish yoke of 1833", 
* Translated Romeo and Juliet by the Austrian writer Weiss in 1829.
It should be noted that Vasilje Jovanović was the first Serb to write a primer for Serbian children in Vuk Karadžić.
Vasilije indisputably left a great mark on education and literature with his work
Category:1867 deaths
Category:1792 births
Category:Serbian educators
Category:Serbian writers