Djordje Jovanović (writer)

After graduating from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology, Jovanović wrote poetry for avant-garde magazines and periodicals whose contributors were the Surrealist writers of the period. He also joined them and was one of the thirteen signatories of the group’s manifesto along with Aleksandar Vučo, Oskar Davičo, Milan Dedinac, Mladen Dimitrijević (nom de plume of Dimitrije Dedinac), Vane Živadinović, Radojica Živanović Noe, Đorđe Kostić, Dušan Matić, Koča Popović, Petar Popović, and Marko Ristić.[3]

Shortly before the Second World War, he was imprisoned as a communist in Sremska Mitrovica but was immediately released, and in 1941 he joined the partisans and was a fighter of the Kosmaj Partisan Detachment.

He wrote several critical studies on Serbian writers, including Mateja Nenadović, Radoje Domanović, Svetolik Ranković and Branislav Nušić. He authored "Studies and Criticisms", "Against Deception", "Realism as Artistic Truth", the novel "Pay, Then Carry".

The "Djordje Jovanović Award", which is awarded in Belgrade for the best critical-essay work in the previous year, was named after him. The award is traditionally presented in one of the libraries of the city of Belgrade. It was named after the writer, literary critic and revolutionary Đorđe Jovanović. The name of the award is not connected with the sculptor and academician Đorđe Jovanović in any way.

He was killed during the Second World War in Slatine in Čiovo on 23 July 1943.

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D0%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%92%D0%B5_%D0%88%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B