Branislav Nušić
| Branislav Nušić | |
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Nušić in a 1904 photo taken by his godfather and photographer Milan Jovanović.
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| Born | Alkibijad Nuša 20 September 1864 Belgrade, Principality of Serbia |
| Died | 19 January 1938 (aged 73) Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Occupation | Playwright • satirist • essayist • novelist |
| Language | Serbian |
| Nationality | Serbia • Yugoslavia |
| Ethnicity | Aromanian, Serb |
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Branislav Nušić (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав Нушић, pronounced [brǎnislav̞ nûʃit͡ɕ]; 20 October 1864 – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant. He was often referred to as the Serbian and Balkan Gogol.
Branislav Nušić was born Alkibijad Nuša (Greek: Alcibiades Nousias) in Belgrade on 20 October 1864. His father, George Nousias, was a merchant from Macedonia, and his mother, Ljubica, was a homemaker from Brčko. Nušić's father was a Serbianized Aromanian. His mother was Serb. Nušić completed his primary education in Smederevo, a port town along the Danube, before returning to Belgrade to complete his secondary education. In 1884, he graduated from the Belgrade Higher School (later the University of Belgrade) with a degree in law. He attended the University of Graz for one year thereafter.
The 21-year-old Nušić was mobilized for the two-week-long Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 but did not see any combat. Afterwards, he published a controversial poem, "Two Servants" (Два раба), in Dnevni list for which he spent two years in prison. The poem ridiculed King Milan, namely his decision to attend the funeral of the Serbian general Dragutin Franasović's mother instead of that of war hero Mihailo Katanić who died from wounds sustained while saving his regiment's flag. Nušić had initially been sentenced to only two months, but the king pressured the judges into extending his sentence. Despite the harsh prison conditions, Nušić still managed to write the comedy Favoritism (Протекција). When he first asked the prison intendant, Ilija Vlah, for permission to write, Vlah told him that it was the writing that got him into prison, and denied his request. Knowing that the intendant read all outgoing mail, Nušić wrote a brief letter to his aunt's second husband (he was related to her first husband), who served as the Minister of Justice. Nušić addressed Gersić as "uncle" and told him how it would be much easier for him to serve two years if he could write. He noted that he had no interest in writing political texts, and signed the letter "...your nephew". The following day, Vlah allowed him to write.
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