Jovan Rajić
| Jovan Rajić | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | September 21, 1726 Sremski Karlovci |
| Died | December 22, 1801 Kovilj |
| Occupation | Writer, poet, philosopher, theologian, historian |
| Nationality | Serb |
| Literary movement | Baroque |
|
Influences
|
|
|
|
|
Jovan Rajić (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Рајић) (September 21, 1726 – December 22, 1801) was a Serbian writer, historian, traveller, and pedagogue, considered one of the greatest Serbian academics of the 18th century. He was one of the most notable representatives of Serbian Baroque literature along with Zaharije Orfelin, Pavle Julinac, Vasilije III Petrović-Njegoš, Simeon Končarević, Simeon Piščević, and others (although he worked in the first half of 18th century, as Baroque trends in Serbian literature emerged in the late 17th century).
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Rajić was born on September 21, 1726 in Sremski Karlovci. He attended Novi Sad's Petrovaradinska roždestveno-bogorodičina škola latinosko-slovenska, the Latino-Slavonic Spiritual Academy for young theologians, founded by Russian-born Emanuel Kozačinski in 1731. In 1744 he moved to Komárom where he attended a Jesuit gymnasium for four years. Fearing to be converted, he became a student of Protestant lycee in Sopron in 1848. He graduated in 1752 and he was ostensibly headed for the church. But his tastes lead him in a different direction for the time being; not content with a knowledge of books only, he wished to know the world and people better. During a period of almost ten years he seized every opportunity for profitable travel whenever he could. He travelled on foot from Hungary to Russian Empire -- a distance of 800 miles -— where he enrolled as a student of the prestigious Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. He remained in Kiev until 1756 studying theology. He immediately formed a friendship with his professors, many of whom were desciples of Feofan Prokopovich, the great reformer of the Russian Orthodox Church and one of the founders of the Russian Academy of Sciences. After graduating from the Kiev academy he travelled to Moscow and Smolensk. For the next few months he led an unsettled life, attracting attention everywhere by his talents and boldness of his teaching. On his way home he also visited Poland and various parts of Hungary. In 1757 he returned to his native Sremski Karlovci and sought a teaching position at a seminary called Pokrovo-Bogorodičina škola, which was denied. Dejected and hurt, he decided to go back to Imperial Russia. He arrived in 1757 back in Kiev where he stayed only for a short time. That same year he travelled to Poland, Wallachia, Moldavia before taking a ship across the Black Sea to Constantinople, and from there to Mount Athos, where he spent a few months at the Serbian Monastery of Hilendar, doing research in the library. It wasn't until late 1759 that he became a professor of geography and rhetoric in Pokrovo-Bogorodičina škola in Sremski Karlovci. Entering a conflict with high representatives of Serbian Orthodox Church in Sremski Karlovci, he moved to Temesvar and then to Novi Sad, where he became a professor at a college (Duhovna kolegija). In 1772 he went to Kovilj monastery where, at the age of 46, Rajić became a monk and soon after he was elevated to the monastic rank of archimandrite, and made abbot of the same monastery. He spent the rest of his life in the monastery writing books, mostly with religious and theological themes. He died in the Sebian Kovilj monastery on December 22, 1801.
[edit] Works
He wrote in Serbian, Russian, Latin, German, Hungarian and Old Slavonic. He was one of the best educated Serbian ecclesiastical scholars who knew theology and history better than most in his day. He translated the works of Feofan Prokopovič, Peter Mohyla, Platon Levshin, Lazar Baranovych, Metropolitan Gedeon of Kiev, and various German and Hungarian authors. He wrote the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a Serbian catechesis for children which was first published in Vienna in 1774 and was consequently reprinted many times over for the next 89 years. He is best remembered for his history books.
All of Rajić's research work came from Russian and Serbian sources, particularly Đorđe Branković's then unpublished, 2,000-page manuscript. He was a most liberal-minded man, both in politics and religion, an enthusiastic supporter of popular education and a most inspiring teacher and speaker. Rajić was always stating that the business of the Eastern Orthodox Church as a whole is not polemic but irenic, operating toward peace, moderation and conciliation. He took great interest in the struggle of the Serbs for independence.
His claim on posterity, however, lies not on his irenical writings alone but in the quality of his literary translations and other writings, exhibited at its best in The History of Bulgars, Croats and Serbs.
[edit] Notable works
- Pesni različnina gospodskih prazniki (Vienna, 1790)
- Kant o vospominaniju smrti, cantata
- Boj zmaja s orlovi, (The Battle between Dragon and Eagles) epic poem
- Istorija raznih slovenskih narodov, najpače Bolgar, Horvatov i Serbov (The History of Various Slavic Peoples, especially of Bulgars, Croats and Serbs), the first systematic work on the history of Croats and Serbs.
- Serbian Catechesis (Katihisis mali)
- Uroš V (reworked drama by Emanuel Kozačinski, his teacher)
[edit] References
Jovan Skerlić, Istorija Nove Srpske Književnosti (Belgrade 1914, 1921), pages 50–60.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jovan Rajić |
