Dositej Obradović

Dositej Obradović Доситеј Обрадовић
Dositej Obradović on a 2007 Serbian stamp
Born	Dimitrije Obradović 17 February 1739 Tschakowa, Habsburg Empire
Died	7 April 1811 (1811-04-08) (aged 72) Belgrade, Principality of Serbia
Nationality	Serbian
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Dimitrije "Dositej" Obradović (Serbian: Димитрије Обрадовић, pronounced [dɔsǐtɛːj ɔbrǎːdɔʋitɕ]; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, philosopher, dramatist, librettist, linguist, traveler, polyglot and the first minister of education of Serbia. An influential protagonist of the Serbian national and cultural renaissance, he advocated Enlightenment and rationalist ideas while remaining a Serbian patriot and an adherent of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Founder of modern Serbian literature, he is commonly referred to by his mononym, first name alone. He became a monk in the Serb Orthodox monastery of Hopovo, in the Srem region, and acquired the name Dositej (Dositheus). He translated many European classics, including Aesop's Fables, into Serbian. He was a contemporary of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Johann Jakob Engel, Carlo Goldoni and others.

Dositej Obradović was born Dimitrije Obradović in 1739 to poor parents in the village of Tschakowa (Serbian: Čakovo; modern-day Ciacova, Timiş County, Romania), in the region of Banat, then part of the Habsburg Empire. His parents died when he was a boy and he began life as an apprentice in the town of Temesvar (now Timișoara), not too far from his own village. His passion for study was strong, and he spent his spare time reading as soon as the day's work in the shop was over. His reading was mainly restricted to lives of the saints and accounts of the miracles they performed. He became so engrossed in this literature that he considered living in the desert, becoming a saint, and working miracles himself. Once he tried to run away, but was dissuaded by a colleague. His desire for the saintly life was strong, however, and the next time he succeeded.