Ivo Andrić | |
---|---|
Born |
Ivan Andrić 9 October 1892 Dolac, Travnik, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary |
Died | 13 March 1975 Belgrade, SR Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
(aged 82)
Resting place | New Cemetery, Belgrade |
Residence | Belgrade |
Citizenship | Yugoslav |
Occupation | Writer Diplomat Politician |
Years active | 1911–1974 |
Home town | Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Spouse(s) | Milica Babić (1958–68; her death) |
Awards |
Nobel Prize in Literature (1961) Legion of Honour (1933) |
Writing career | |
Language | Serbo-Croatian |
Subject | The history and folklore of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia |
Notable work | The Bridge on the Drina |
Ivo Andrić (Serbian Cyrillic: Иво Андрић, pronounced [ǐːʋɔ ǎːndritɕ]; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under Ottoman rule.
Born in Travnik in Austrian-occupied Bosnia, Andrić attended high school in Sarajevo, where he became an active member of several South Slav national youth organizations. Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, Andrić was arrested and imprisoned by the Austro-Hungarian police, who suspected his involvement in the plot. As the authorities were unable to build a strong case against him, he spent much of the war under house arrest, only being released following a general amnesty for such cases in July 1917. After the war, he studied South Slavic history and literature at universities in Zagreb and Graz, eventually attaining his Ph.D in Graz in 1924. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1920–23 and again from 1924–41. In 1939, he became Yugoslavia's ambassador to Germany, but his tenure ended in April 1941 with the German-led invasion of his country. Shortly after the invasion, Andrić returned to German-occupied Belgrade. He lived quietly in a friend's apartment for the duration of World War II, in conditions that some biographers liken to house arrest, and wrote some of his most important works, including Na Drini ćuprija (The Bridge on the Drina).