Branko Ćopić

Branko Ćopić
Born	January 1, 1915 Hašani, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary
Died	March 26, 1984 (aged 69) Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Resting place	Novo groblje, Belgrade
Occupation	Novelist, short story writer
Nationality	Yugoslav

Branko Ćopić (pronounced [brǎːnkɔ t͡ɕɔ̂pit͡ɕ]; Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Ћопић; January 1, 1915 – March 26, 1984) was a Yugoslav writer.

Biography

Ćopić was a Bosnian Serb born in the village of Hašani near Bosanska Krupa. He attended schools in Bihać, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Karlovac before moving to Belgrade to study at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy until his graduation in 1940.

Upon the uprising in the Bosanska Krajina in 1941, he joined the Partisans and remained in their ranks until the end of World War II. That period of his life influenced much of his literary work as can be seen by the themes he later writes about. At the end of the war he returned to Belgrade where he was, until 1949, the director of a children's magazine called "Pioniri". From 1951 until his death he was a professional writer.

His books have been translated into Albanian, Czech, English, Dutch, Italian, Macedonian, Chinese, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Slovak, German, French, and Russian, and some of them have been turned into TV series. He was featured on the 0.50 Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark bill, which has been withdrawn from circulation and replaced with coins.

Ćopić committed suicide, jumping off Branko's Bridge in central Belgrade. He is buried in the city's New Cemetery.

Works

Novels

• Prolom – The Break-out (1952)
• Gluvi barut – Silent Gunpowder (1957)
• Ne tuguj, bronzana stražo – Bronze Guards, Don't Mourn (1958)
• Osma ofanziva – The Eight Offensive (1966)

Novels for children

• Orlovi rano lete – Eagles Start Flying Early (1957),
• Slavno vojevanje – Glorious Combat (1960) and
• Bitka u Zlatnoj dolini – The Battle of Golden Valley

– these three are known as „Pionirska trilogija“ – The Pioneer Trilogy,

• Magareće godine – "Donkey" Years (meaning: The Tough Teens);
• Balada o ribaru i mačku – Ballad of the Fisherman and the Cat
• Glava u klancu noge na vrancu – Head in the Col Legs on the Horse
• Ježeva kućica – Hedgehog's House
• Doživljaji mačka Toše – Experiences of Toscho the Cat
• Bašta sljezove boje – The Marshmallow Color Gardenas

Films and television series made after Ćopić's writings

• "Živjeće ovaj narod" (1947)
• "Major Bauk" (1951)
• "Grob u žitu" (1951)
• "Nikoletina Bursać (1964)
• "Orlovi rano lete" (1966)
• "Četrdeset prva" (1971)
• "Hajdučka vremena" (1977)
• "Mala moja iz Bosanske Krupe" (1978)
• "Osma ofanziva", TV-series (1979)
• "Bježaćemo čak u Liku" (1979)
• "Odumiranje međeda" (1982)
• "Smiješne i druge priče" TV-series (1986)
• "Razgovori stari" (1986)
• "Gluvi barut" (1990)
• "Magareće godine" (1994)

See also

• Bosnian culture
• Serbian literature