Alija Isaković

Alija Isaković (15 January 1932 – 14 March 1997) was a Bosnian writer, essayist, publicist, playwright, and lexicographer of the Bosnian language.[1]

Alija Isaković
Born(1932-01-15)15 January 1932
Stolac, Littoral Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Died14 March 1997(1997-03-14) (aged 65)
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Resting placeFerhadija Mosque, Sarajevo

Isaković studied Slavic languages and literature and was a graduate of the University of Sarajevo. Isaković was also notable for his works treating Bosnian literary history; asserting the special character and identity of Bosniaks.

Early life

Isaković was born to a Bosniak family in Stolac in January 1932, while modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina was a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[2] He was raised a Muslim and, as a child, lived in Bitunja, a village located in his birth city.[3][4]

He attended schools in his native Stolac, as well as Zagreb, Crikvenica, Pančevo, Belgrade, and Sarajevo.

Career

He wrote the screenplay for a 1983 film version of the Bosniak folk ballad Hasanaginica. The film's script was turned into a play, directed by Sulejman Kupusović, that premiered in 1988.[5]

In 1972, he released an anthology of Bosniak literature called Biserje (Pearls). Isaković's Pearls, it was said, was a pioneering project in establishing the delicate ethnic Bosniak literature.

Bosnian War

During the Bosnian War of the 1990s, Isaković was one of the speakers at the First Assembly of Bosniaks (Prvi Bošnjački sabor), one of the most important events in modern political history of Bosniaks, held in the besieged city of Sarajevo between 27–28 September 1993.[6][7]

Personal life

Isaković was a friend of the first Bosnian president, Alija Izetbegović, painter Mersad Berber and he knew the Yugoslavia prime minister Branko Mikulić.[8][9][10]

He had two children: Adni and Faris.

Isaković died 14 March 1997, at the age of 65 in Sarajevo and was buried in the graveyard of a mosque there.

Legacy

An elementary school bearing Isaković's name has been opened in Prozor, Bosnia and Herzegovina.[11]

Works
  • Sunce o desno rame (Sun on the Right Shoulder, 1963)[12]
  • Semafor (Stoplight, 1966)
  • Avdo Karabegović Hasanbegov: Izabrane pjesme (1967)
  • Prednost imaju koji ulaze (Priority is Given to Those Who Enter, 1971)
  • Građa za bibliografiju Muslimanske književnosti 1883-1971 (1972)
  • Biserje (Pearls, 1972)
  • Hodoljublje (1973)
  • Građa za bibliografiju bosansko-hercegovačkog (1842-1970) (1973)
  • Edhem Mulabdić: Izabrana djela (1974)
  • Hasanaginica, 1774-1974 (1975)
  • Bibliografija radova o Hasanaginici 1774-1974 (1975)
  • Taj čovjek (That Man, 1975)
  • Osman - Aziz (Osman Nuri Hadžić i Ivan Miličević): Izabrana djela (1980)
  • Krajnosti (Extremes, 1981)
  • Hasanaginica (1982)
  • Pobuna materije (Rebellion Matters, 1985)
  • Nasrudin Hodža (1986)
  • Jednom (Once, 1987)
  • Neminovnosti (Inevitability, 1987)
  • Ahmed Muradbegović: Izabrana djela (1987)
  • Lijeve priče (Left Stories, 1990)
  • O »nacionaliziranju« muslimana. 101 godina afirmiranje i negiranja nacionalnog identiteta Muslimana (1990)
  • Biserje. Izbor iz muslimanske književnosti. Drugo, prošireno, izdanje (1992)
  • Rječnik karakteristične leksike u Bosanskome jeziku[13] (Dictionary of Characteristic Lexicon of the Bosnian Language, 1992)
Screenplays
  • Hasanaginica (1983)

References
  1. Busch, Birgitta; Kelly-Holmes, Helen (2004). Language, Discourse, and Borders in the Yugoslav Successor States; Page 81. ISBN 9781853597329. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  2. "Bosnians Seem Likely to Demand Peace Plan Changes". NYTimes. 29 September 1993. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  3. "Alija Isaković o Bošnjacima". Rijaset. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  4. "Bosna iz tri dela". Novosti. 21 April 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  5. "Balada o prkosu i stidu". Novosti. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  6. "Ovozemaljski obraz Alije Isakovića". Balkans.AlJazeera. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  7. Bougarel, Xavier; Helms, Elissa; Duijzings, Gerlachlus (2007). The New Bosnian Mosaic; Page 177. ISBN 9780754645634. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  8. "Intervista con Alija Izetbegovic". Balcanicaucaso. 13 March 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  9. "Branko Mikulic - socialist emperor manqué". Bosnia. 28 October 2005. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  10. "Sjećanje na Berbera: Gdje god putovao, Bosna me ranjava". SlobodnaEvropa. 4 December 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  11. "Pod istim krovom uče i povest i istoriju". Politika. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  12. "ISAKOVIĆ, Alija". Bosnjaci. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  13. "Balkan Conflicts Are Uncoupling Serbo-Croatian". NYTimes. 26 December 1993. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
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