Милан Јовановић Морски : (1843–1896)

Abstract

Milan Jovanović-Morski was born in 1834, in the village of Jarkovac, the Banat region, Torontál county in the Kingdom of Hungary. He fi nished elementary school in Jarkovac, junior high school in Vršac and senior high school in Timișoara. His education was fi nanced by the landowner Petar Jagodić. Aft er graduating from high school, he went to Vienna, in 1854 or 1855, where he studied medicine, married Tereza Labor, founded the youth society Zora (Dawn) and started his career as a man of letters and a critic. From this period originated his fi rst dramatic piece of work, a historical drama, Kraljeva Seja (Th e Royal Nurse). It was premiered in Osijek, on November 23rd, 1864. Aft er that, it was performed about 20 times in Novi Sad, Belgrade and in almost every town in Vojvodina. Th e same year, 1984, his article Naša kritika (Our Critic), published in Letopis Matice srpske (Chronicle), attracted the attention of readers and introduced him to the world of Serbian literature. His critical analysis, reviews, essays and appraisal were published in the following magazines: Letopis Matice srpske (Chronicle), Jedinstvo (Unity), Pozorište (Th eatre), Srpske novine (Serbian Newspaper), Vila (Villa), Javor (Maple), Mlada Srbadija (Young Serbs), Srpska zora (Serbian Dawn), Otadžbina (Fatherland), Srpske ilustrovane novine (Serbian Illustrated Newspaper), Glas Crnogorca (Voice of Montenegrin). In the spring of 1865, Milan Jovanović arrived in Belgrade with his wife Tereza. He was appointed a professor of dietetics at the Seminary, professor of physics, chemistry and dietetics at the Women’s High School, and a year later a professor of dietetics at the Belgrade Lyceum (Realka). Not only did he teach at those schools, but he also wrote textbooks for their students. At the same time, he was appointed a lecturer in forensic medicine and dietetics at the Higher School (Velika škola). His reception lecture entitled Introduction to Public Hygiene given at the Faculty of Law of the Higher School was published in its entirety in Serbian Newspaper. Th e reception lecture on forensic medicine, Natural Sciences in the Service of Law and Justice, was published in the magazine Villa. He taught hygiene and forensic law to 4th-year students. He wrote a textbook for law students which was published in 1868 under the name Manual of Forensic Medicine for Lawyers. Meanwhile, in August 1867, Milan Jovanović defended his doctoral dissertation entitled Ueber die Wechselfi eber (About the Intermittent Fever) at Leipzig Medical Faculty! In November 1869, he was elected an honorary professor at the Higher School. Apart from teaching at the Faculty of Law, Milan Jovanović was actively involved in social, cultural and especially theatrical life in Belgrade. He was a dedicated contributor to Belgrade’s cultural progress. Glasnik Srpskog učenog društva (Th e Gazette of the Serbian Learned Society) published his article Opšta biostatika s pogledom na statistiku života i zdravlja u Srbiji (General Biostatistics with a View to Life and Health Statistics in Serbia) (1866, Book IV, Book XX, 102–131). Based on this and other previously published articles, he became a full member of the Serbian Learned Society, in February 1869. Milan Jovanović had been living and working in Belgrade for less than six years when, suddenly, in September 1871, he resigned from his post at the Higher School and went to Novi Sad. He had a private medical practice and immediately became involved in the cultural life of Novi Sad. He was elected vice-president of Matica Srpska and had his articles, on various topics, published in the Chronicle. At the same time, he was involved with the Serbian National Th eatre, in Novi Sad. Th is theatre produced his plays Th e Royal Nurse, Th e Demon, and Dream and Reality. He was also a theatre critic who wrote for newspaper Zastava (Flag) and magazine Pozorište (Th eatre). In 1871, Milan Jovanović was elected professor and manager of the Novi Sad Lyceum (Realka). He tried to have the school building repaired and wanted to procure teaching aids and improve teachers’ professional status. He failed and, having yielded to the Hungarian school administration, resigned from the post in December 1874. In early 1875, he arrived in Herceg Novi and accepted the position of Municipal Supervisory Physician. Th e village of Srbina, near Herceg Novi, had in those days a Serbian naval foundation school at which Jovanović started teaching the Serbian, French and German languages, drawing and calligraphy. During the Herzegovina Uprising, Milan Jovanović organized a hospital for the wounded, in Herceg Novi, and he worked in it. He also established the Committee for Suff ering Herzegovinians. Aft er receiving a personal invitation from Prince Nikola, Dr Jovanović went to Cetinje in June 1876, to serve as the court physician, teacher and educator of Prince Danilo. He spent the winter of 1877–1878 in Naples, accompanying Princess Milena and the heir to the throne, Danilo. Jovanović’s sojourn in Naples was described in his travel letters that were published in the magazine Srpska zora (Serbian Dawn) in Vienna. In the autumn of 1878, in Trieste, he accepted the position of ship’s doctor on long-haul steamships. He spent 4 years on board various ships, travelling, observing and writing travel-logs. Th is is how he became Milan Jovanović-Morski1 – a well-known travel writer. His travel letters and stories were published as they came out, in literary magazines: Srpska zora (Serbian Dawn), Javor (Maple), Glas naroda (Voice of the People), Srpske ilustrovane novine (Serbian Illustrated Newspaper), Letopis Matice srpske (Chronicle) and Otadžbina (Fatherland). Following the foundation of the Serbian Literary Association, Jovanović’s texts were thematically arranged and published in four separate travelogue books: From the Sea and the Mainland (1892), Here and Th ere in the East, Book I (1894), Here and Th ere in the East, Book II (1895) and Up and Down in Naples (1898). In June 1879, Tereza gave birth to their son Mladen. Jovanović decided to live in Serbia with his family. He accepted the position of the resident physician in the village of Parcani, near the railway line under construction, during tunnelling works (between 1882 and 1884). In 1885, he was appointed doctor in charge of the district of Vračar, and in 1889 he became one of the 5 municipal doctors in the town of Belgrade. Aft er returning to Belgrade, he renewed his contacts with Matica srpska in Novi Sad, but this time as an associate member of Letopis (Th e Chronicle) which published one or two of his articles every year. Towards the end of 1884, Dr Milan Jovanović became a corresponding member of the Serbian Medical Society, its full member in January 1885, and the Secretary in February 1887. He was very active and extremely busy at work when he asked to be relieved of his duties. Milan Jovanović participated in the Serbo-Bulgarian war in 1885 as a captain and a sanitary physician attached to the Šumadija Cavalry Regiment in Niš. He left the unfi nished manuscript My Memories from the Serbo-Bulgarian War. In 1838, he was appointed professor at the Military Academy where he taught military hygiene, German and French. He also wrote the textbook Military Hygiene for Cadets of the Serbian Royal Military Academy, which was published posthumously, in 1896. Dr Milan Jovanović was a long-time associate, and the editor of the magazine Otadžbina (Fatherland), from December 1891 until the end of 1892, which was when the magazine ceased publication. His analysis of six stage plays, written by Serbian writers about the Battle of Kosovo, was published as the essay Point of View in the Dramatic Literature about Kosovo (by Glas Srpske Kraljevske akademije – Th e Voice of the Serbian Royal Academy, Belgrade, 1890). In January 1890, he was elected a corresponding member of the Serbian Royal Academy, Department of the Academy of Arts. Dr Milan Jovanović was one of the founders of the Serbian Literary Association, which was established in April 1892 and which published four collections of his short stories and travelogues: From the Sea and the Mainland (1892), Here and Th ere in the East, Book I (1894), Here and Th ere in the East, Book II (1895) and Up and Down in Naples (1898). He was elected as Academician by the Serbian Royal Academy in December 1892. His reception speech entitled View of the Indian Drama was held on October 2nd, 1894 and published in the Voice of the Serbian Royal Academy, Book XLV, 1894. Academician Milan Jovanović-Morski died suddenly on May 25, 1896, in his fl at, where he was living alone. His funeral was one of the most impressive processions in Belgrade at the time. Period of life and work of academician Jovanović belongs to the last decades of the 19th century. He was a physician, naturalist, educator, writer and world traveller. Jovanović was a highly educated and versatile person, of universal spirit, and fl uent in several European languages, had restless and curious nature, was always full of new ideas and ready for action. He was aware of the current problems of Serbia’s health and education systems and he undertook energetic actions to rectify the situation. He wrote numerous popular health instruction notes for the people and was the author of textbooks which presented the achievements of the modern medical science. He helped the development of health awareness and education in secondary schools and at the Higher School. His literary and artistic achievements followed the needs for the development of Serbian society to which he brought the spirit of European literary, theatre and music culture. In his lifetime, he was known as an outstanding travel writer who brought to undeveloped Serbia not only his impressions of the Far East but also of the history, religion, literature and the real life of the people who, in Europe, were still veiled in mystery. He was born an Austro-Hungarian subject but, being aware of his roots and knowing his potentials, he dedicated his entire life to the development of culture and health of his people, the people of Serbia.