Hundred years since the birth of Mesa Selimovic

Belgrade, April 26. 2010 (Serbia Today) - On Tuesday, April 27th, Serbia, marks 100th anniversary since the birth of the great Serbian writer Mehmed Mesa Selimovic. As the part of the celebration of hundred years since the birth of writer Mese Selimovića Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) will hold special conference in the on April 27 and 28. The conference will be open by the president of Academy Nikola Hajdin. Writings of the Mesa Selimovic will be read by actor Gojko Santic, and after that the lecture about famous writer will be given by Dobrica Cosic and Matija Beckovic. Svetozar Koljevic, Predrag Palavestra, Milan Đurčinov, Radovan Vuckovic Slavko Gordić, Marko Krstic, Miro Vuksanovic, Ivan Majic, Miroslav Egerić, Ranko Risojević, Staniša Tutnjević, Milos Djordjevic, Svetlana Velmar Jankovic, will be talking during this conference as well. About Mesa Selimović’s work and life will also speak Jasmina Ahmetagić, Aleksandar Gatalica, Vladimir Pistalo, Vladimir Kecmanović, Marko Nedic, Aleksandar Jerkov, Milan Radulovic, Nebojsa Bradic, Radomir Ivanovic, Milorad Radovanovic and Predrag Piper. Mesa Selimovic was born on April 26, 1910 in Tuzla. He graduated at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, Department of Serbo-Croatian language and Yugoslav literature. His first book, a collection of short stories "Prva ceta" was publish in 1950., and then the novel "Tisina" (1961), a collection of short stories "Tudja zemlja" (1962) and poetic novel "Magla I mesecina" (1965). His most famous work is a novel "Dervis I smrt", published in 1966 , and was written as a reaction to the regime in the former Yugoslavia, which persecuted the political prisoners. Mesa Selimovic also wrote the novels "Za I protiv Vuka", "Tvrdjava", "Ostrvo", "Krug". Mesa Selimovic was the President of the Asociation of the Writers of Yugoslavia, Honorary Doctor of the University of Sarajevo and the regular member of the Academy of Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received NIN award for the novel "Dervis i smrt" in 1967. He died on July 11, 1982 in Belgrade.