Wikipedia

Abdulah Sidran

Abdulah Sidran (2 October 1944 – 23 March 2024), often referred to by his hypocoristic nickname Avdo, was a Bosnian poet and screenwriter.[1][2] He is considered to be one of the most influential writers in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia.[3]

Abdulah Sidran
Born(1944-10-02)2 October 1944
Sarajevo, DF Yugoslavia
Died23 March 2024(2024-03-23) (aged 79)
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pen nameAvdo
OccupationPoet and screenwriter
GenrePoetry, prose, script

Sidran is best known for writing the 1993 poetry book Sarajevski tabut ("The Coffin of Sarajevo"), as well as the scripts for Emir Kusturica's films Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981) and the Academy Award nominated When Father Was Away on Business (1985).[4] He was a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Early life and family

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Abdulah Sidran, the second of four children, was born in Sarajevo during World War II, on 2 October 1944, although several sources inaccurately give his date of birth as 29 September 1944.[citation needed] He was born to Bosniak parents; father Mehmed Sidran (1915–1965) was born in Kiseljak and worked as a locksmith at a railway workshop, while his mother Behija (née Jukić) was a housewife.[5][6][7] Sidran had three siblings Ekrem (born 1942; deceased), Nedim (born 4 February 1947) and Edina (born 1953).[8] He was named after his paternal uncle, a typographer and compositor, who perished in 1943 at the Jasenovac concentration camp. The Sidran family roots trace back to the hamlet Biograd near Nevesinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Abdulah's paternal grandfather Hasan Sidran relocated to Sarajevo from Belgrade in 1903.[9]

Personal life

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After spending most of his life in Sarajevo, Sidran lived in Goražde before moving to a small village near Tešanj.[10]

In 2019, Sidran, together with some thirty world intellectuals met with French president Emmanuel Macron. A meeting of world intellectuals with Macron was initiated by the prominent French philosopher, writer and journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy.[11]

Sidran died in Sarajevo on 23 March 2024, at the age of 79 following a period of poor health.[12] Shortly after, many prominent Bosnian politicians and public figures reacted to his death and offered their condolences.[13] He was buried in the courtyard of the Ferhadija Mosque in Sarajevo on 27 March.[14]

Works

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Major works of Sidran include Šahbaza, Bone and Meat, The Sarajevo Tomb (Sarajevski tabut),[15] Why is Venice Sinking (Zašto tone Venecija),[16] several books of poetry, and screenplays for films from the former Yugoslavia, such as Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981) and When Father Was Away on Business (1985), directed by Emir Kusturica,[17] and Kuduz (1989), directed by Ademir Kenović.[18] When Father Was Away on Business was awarded a Palme d'Or at Cannes, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 58th Academy Awards.[19]

Selected works

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  • Šahbaza (Sarajevo, 1970)
  • Potukač (Zagreb, 1971)
  • Kost i meso (Sarajevo, 1976)
  • Dječija bolest: Otac na službenom putu: theater piece (Sarajevo, 1983),
  • Otac na službenom putu: screenplay (Belgrade, 1985)
  • Bolest od duše (Nikšić, 1988)
  • Sarajevska zbirka, izabrane pjesme (Sarajevo, 1991)
  • Sarajevski tabut (Sarajevo, 1993)
  • Planeta Sarajevo (Stockholm, 1995)
  • Zdravo Bosno, stižem iz Sarajeva: travelogue (Tuzla, 1996)
  • Zašto tone Venecija (Sarajevo, 1996)
  • Sarajevska zbirka i druge pjesme (Sarajevo, 1997)
  • Sarajevska zbirka (Sarajevo, 1999)
  • U Zvorniku ja sam ostavio svoje srce: theater piece (Tuzla, 2002)
  • Kuduz, screenplay (Zenica, 2003)
  • Sjećaš li se Doli Bel (Sarajevo, 2003)
  • Tvrđava Meše Selimovića: dramatization and screenplay (Sarajevo, 2004)
  • Izabrana djela 1-5 (Tuzla, 2004)
  • Morija (Sarajevo, 2006),
  • Pjesme poslije rata (Sarajevo, 2006),
  • Izabrane pjesme (Belgrade, 2007),
  • Dobročinitelj (with Mersad Berber, Sarajevo, 2008)
  • Suze majki Srebrenice (Sarajevo, 2009),
  • Otkup sirove kože (Belgrade, 2011),
  • Oranje mora: journalistic texts (Sarajevo-Zagreb, 2016),
  • A Nurija veli: journalistic texts (Sarajevo, 2021)[20]

Awards

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Literary awards and recognitions

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  • Annual Award of the Writers' Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1979)
  • Annual Award of the Svjetlost publishing company (1979)
  • Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Award – Matica srpska (Novi Sad, 1980)
  • Sixth of April Sarajevo Award (1986)
  • Award for Freedom of Speech and Expression of the Foundation for Freedom of Speech and Expression, (US, 1993)
  • Freedom Prize of the PEN Center of France (1994)
  • Premio letterario della Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo 1996.
  • Skender Kulenović Award, 2002
  • BZK Preporod Annual Award, 2002
  • Bosanski stećak – Award of the Society of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for life's work (2004)
  • Premio letterario dedicato a Umberto Saba (Trieste 2005)
  • Big Plaque of the Sarajevo Canton (2006)[21]
  • Muradif Ćato Award (2016)[22]
  • Ali Podrimja Award (2021)[23]

Film awards and recognitions

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References

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  1. ^ Teeuwen, Mariken (2002). Harmony and the music of the spheres: the ars musica in ninth-century commentaries on Martianus Capella. Brill. p. 28. ISBN 978-90-04-12525-4.
  2. ^ Gocić, Goran (2001). Notes from the underground: the cinema of Emir Kusturica. Wallflower Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-903364-14-7.
  3. ^ Bedrudin Brljavac (23 November 2018). "Abdulah Sidran dobitnik nagrade "25. novembar" za životno djelo". aa.com.tr (in Bosnian). Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Sve sam znao kad sam bio mlad". Blic. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Godina u kojoj je zapečaćena sudbina braće Sidran". Lupiga. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Pokatkad mi se činilo da Kusturica nije ni pročitao to što sam mu nudio". Sutra. 4 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Potraga za istinom o ocu u autobiografskom vodiču kroz vlastitu umjetnost". Jutarnji. 2 December 2011. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  8. ^ "U njegovoj duši nikad nije prestao posmrtni plač". Lupiga. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  9. ^ "Kako su nastala sjećanja na Doli Bel". Nezavisne. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  10. ^ Video on YouTube
  11. ^ "BiH's Academician Abdulah Sidran met with French President Emmanuel Macron". Sarajevo Times. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  12. ^ "The legendary BH Poet and screenwriter Abdulah Sidran passed away". Sarajevo Times. 23 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Kolege i prijatelji opraštaju se od velikana Sidrana". tntportal.ba (in Bosnian). 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  14. ^ N.C. (27 March 2024). "Mnogobrojni građani klanjali dženazu Abdulahu Sidranu, velikan ukopan u haremu Ferhadija džamije" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  15. ^ Segel, Harold B. (2008). The Columbia literary history of Eastern Europe since 1945. Columbia University Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-231-13306-7.
  16. ^ Agee, Chris (1998). Scar on the stone: contemporary poetry from Bosnia. Bloodaxe Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-85224-415-6.
  17. ^ Goulding, Daniel J. (1989). Post new wave cinema in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. Indiana University Press. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-253-34559-2.
  18. ^ Chansel, Dominique (2001). Europe on-screen: cinema and the teaching of history. Council of Europe. p. 69. ISBN 978-92-871-4531-4.
  19. ^ "The 58th Academy Awards". oscars.org. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Abdulah Sidran". ANUBiH. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  21. ^ "Abdulah Sidran". ANUBiH. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  22. ^ "Dobitnici nagrade Merhameta Abdulah Sidran i "Žene u crnom"". nap.ba. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Abdulah Sidran dobitnik međunarodne nagrade "Ali Podrimja"". biserje.ba. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  24. ^ "Abdulah Sidran". ANUBiH. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
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