KOPER
First Panel: SLOVENIA, SLOVENIANS, AND THE SLOVENE LANGUAGE
Throughout his life, Ivo Andrić maintained close ties with Slovenia and its people. His interest in Slovenian culture began during his high school years when he met poets Oton Župančič and Josip Murn and started translating their poetry.
During the First World War, he was imprisoned in Maribor. Later, as a consular officer in Trieste, he personally witnessed the Italian oppression of Slovenians. Between the two world wars and after the liberation, he frequently visited Slovenia, travelled across the country, and, as the long-time president of the Writers’ Union of Yugoslavia, met with Slovenian writers. His works were translated into Slovene and were well received by readers even before he won the Nobel Prize.
In his essay On Holidays in Slovenia, Andrić highlighted the country’s natural beauty, the coolness of its mountain waters, and the kindness of its people. He emphasised that Slovenia was a place where one could both work well and rest well. He admired the many roads and paths, which reflected the hard work and diligence of the local people. His relationship with Slovenia was thus marked by literary interest, personal connections, and a deep appreciation of its culture and landscape.
MEMORIES OF TRIESTE (December 1922 – February 1923)
In Trieste, where he worked at the consulate of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the 30-year-old Andrić felt miserable. He arrived in winter, suffered from illness and loneliness. After a month and a half, he wrote to an acquaintance:
"I have long wanted to write to you and should have written sooner. But even the ink has frozen in this relentless bora wind and in my own bad mood. These past two months have been a real struggle. My doctor advised me to leave Trieste immediately. Fortunately, I have just been reassigned to Graz. Around February 1st, I
will be travelling there—though whether to the consulate or to a sanatorium, I do not yet know."
SLOVENIAN HOLIDAYS (Portorož, 1973)
Andrić used his winter retreat to explore Slovenian coast. He spent two weeks at the Hotel Metropol in Portorož, from where he took daily walks and excursions. He was captivated by the view from the popular lookout point Beli Križ, which offers a stunning panorama of the entire Bay of Piran, with the Savudrija Peninsula in the background, the Gulf of Trieste, and, in the distance, Nanos, Čaven, the Julian Alps, and the Dolomites. The Slovenian coast completely mesmerised him with its natural and cultural-historical beauty.
In addition to its landscapes and architecture, he also appreciated the mild climate. He felt calm and relaxed, though he was occasionally overcome by melancholy as he mourned his recently deceased wife Milica.
It is worth mentioning that he was fond of the local people—whether casual acquaintances, hotel staff, or journalists. They respected his desire for a peaceful retreat and honoured his privacy, refraining from reporting on his stay in Portorož until after he had returned to Belgrade.
Second Panel: EXHIBITION AT THE KOPER LIBRARY (24
December 1972 – 31 January 1973)
In collaboration with the National and University Library and the Slavic Library in Ljubljana, as well as libraries in Rijeka and Pula, Koper librarians Branka Vilhar and Borica Arko organised a special exhibition to mark Andrić’s 80th birthday. The writer agreed to visit on the condition that his visit would remain undisclosed to the public.
He learned about the exhibition through librarian Miša Šalamun, who was a friend of Ivan Bratko—Andrić’s Slovenian guide, a writer, journalist, and director of the State Publishing House of Slovenia (DZS). When he viewed the exhibition, Andrić praised the valuable work of the librarians. He spoke thoughtfully and calmly, leaving a strong impression on everyone present. As a memento, he left the library a precious dedication.
"Here, in this remote corner at the very edge of the country—such an exhibition!" he later told Bratko. "It would have been a sin not to come!"
ANDRIĆ, VILHAR, AND PRIMORSKE NOVICE
After the library visit, Srečko Vilhar, then director and founder of the Koper Library, wrote an article about Andrić’s visit for the newspaper Primorske novice, detailing the event. However, this inadvertently caused some resentment. Andrić, who had requested discretion, was displeased that his visit had been publicly reported. Even though the article was respectful and celebratory, it disturbed him enough that he returned to Belgrade with a heavy heart.
THE FIRST SLOVENIAN MOBILE LIBRARY ARRIVES IN KOPER (January
1973)
Srečko Vilhar:
"With our mobile library, we will put an end to the times when people in remote villages lived in great isolation. The travelling library will not only provide education but will also help foster a better atmosphere in rural communities and a greater enthusiasm for all meaningful work. In conversations with villagers, we have found that they are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the bookmobile, seeing it as a harbinger of a better and more fulfilling life in the countryside."
TRAVNIK
FirstPanel:
"Has it ever happened to you that they take everything from you – and what is there that cannot be taken from a man? – and that they lay a heavy, repulsive hand upon your soul, robbing you of joy and the serenity of a free spirit; even the courage, which remains as fate’s final, desperate gift, that too they take away, turning you into a mute, submissive slave?"
I. Andrić, Ex Ponto – Unrest, 1975.
"I grasp and understand the invisible logic of all events in a man’s life. Not just with words or thoughts, but with the very depth of my whole being, I feel the marvellous, relentless balance that governs all our relationships. There is an unknown formula that determines the ratio between joy and pain in our lives. Suffering and sin complement each other like a mould and its cast.
Life gives us back only what we give to others."
I. Andrić, Ex Ponto and Unrest, 1975.
"I often sit for hours, gazing at the cold autumn colours. The peace of a fate that can no longer be changed settles frozen upon my soul and face. Everything within me is dead; and yet, I feel at peace. No sound reaches me, my sight has perished. Everything has remained behind the great gate that closed with a hollow thud behind me. I have lost everything, and I am no longer a man but a restless, sleepless thought that has sunk and silenced itself at the deep bottom, while above me, like impenetrable green masses of water, lie peace, distance, and oblivion."
I.Andrić, Ex Ponto and Unrest, 1975.
Second Panel: (1)
Džemal Bijedić, President of the Federal Executive Council and patron of the "Month of the Book," with Ivo Andrić (2)
Ivo Andrić strolling through the city (Plava Voda) (3)
Ivo Andrić unveiling the commemorative plaque at the site where, in 1706, Elči hadži Ibrahim-paša founded the first public library in Bosnia (4)
Ceremony in Travnik on the occasion of the "Month of the Book," attended by Džemal Bijedić, Hamdija Pozderac, Đuro Pucar, Mićo Rakić, and other distinguished guests (5)
Ivo Andrić planting one of the eight Serbian spruces (6)
Džemal Bijedić, Ivo Andrić, and Ivica Blažević at the inauguration of the Children's Library (7)
Ceremony of the Yugoslav campaign "Month of the Book" in front of the National Library (9)
From left to right: Džemal Bijedić, Ivo Andrić, and Ivica Blažević
Ivo Andrić signing a book
ZAGREB
First Panel: ANDRIĆ AND ZAGREB
1912–1913
He began his studies at the Faculty of Humanities in Zagreb as a scholarship recipient of the Croatian Cultural and Educational Society Napredak. There, he met Antun Gustav Matoš and socialised with young intellectuals gathered around him. Later, he continued his studies in Vienna and then Krakow.
1914
He published six poems in Hrvatska mlada lirika (Croatian Young Lyric). Upon hearing about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, he travelled to Zagreb, then Rijeka and Split. He was arrested in Split as a member of the nationalistrevolutionary youth movement Mlada Bosna - Young Bosnia and transferred first to a prison in Šibenik and later to Maribor.
1915–1917
He was interned in Ovčarevo near Travnik, where he met several Bosnian Franciscans. In 1916, he was transferred to Zenica, and the following year he was pardoned. He fell ill and was treated at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Zagreb, where he met writer Ivo Vojnović. His literary work became more intense.
"What a noble, refined poetic soul," said Vojnović about Andrić.
1918
On 1st January, together with Niko Bartulović, Branko Mašić, and Vladimir Ćorović, he launched the literary magazine Književni jug (Literary South). He published his first book, Ex Ponto, and became friends with Miroslav Krleža and Jerolim Miše.
"Ivo Andrić, as he says of himself, came into this world already somewhat weary. He attributes this to atavism. …Delicate and frail in body, with dreamy and contemplative eyes, he truly feels the exhaustion of many generations within him. Otherwise, in no other way does he bear traces of the Bosnian environment. He believes that all inherited traits have concentrated in this traditional Bosnian inclination towards melancholy..."
Niko Bartulović, in the preface to Ex Ponto.
Second Panel: KRLEŽA AND ANDRIĆ
According to Miroslav Krleža’s account to Enes Čengić, he and Ivo Andrić first met in Zagreb in 1917. Deeply aware of their differences in sensibility, literary style, and worldviews, Krleža noted:
"Andrić and I have been crossing paths ever since we existed, yet we have no real connection – two completely separate worlds."
Krleža’s brief review of Ex Ponto, as well as his later reflections on Andrić in Čengić’s Conversations with Krleža, show that he appreciated Andrić’s literary craftsmanship.
Andrić, on the other hand, spoke of Krleža on various occasions—always respectfully and with a sense of fairness.
"It is distasteful, and frankly bothers me, that readers and even literary critics divide into camps and argue over who is the greater writer: Krleža or Andrić? … In our opinion, this is hardly a literary debate at all—it is merely the idle whims of the petty bourgeois intelligentsia. … Why only one of us? Why not both? … Let people think what they will, but instead of ‘Krleža or Andrić’, why not ‘Krleža and Andrić’?"
Critics were quick to compare Krleža and Andrić as literary opposites, often unfavourably towards Krleža. This kind of contrast was encouraged by Dragutin Prohaska’s article Among the Journals, in which he criticised Hrvatska književna laž (The Croatian Literary Lie) as a nihilistic venture and contrasted Krleža with Andrić.
"Krleža was my favourite poet before I met Ivo Andrić. Today, my admiration and respect are equally divided between them. Both are great talents, but with a significant difference: Andrić despises noise and excessive verbosity, whereas Krleža strikes the drums and composes entire orchestras just to express one or two thoughts."
Such comparisons, which would follow both writers throughout their lives, irritated Krleža and undoubtedly contributed to the cooling of their relationship.
In his obituary for Andrić, Krleža acknowledged that Andrić’s Nobel Prize not only drew international attention to his own work but also shone a light on all contemporary South Slavic.
"He played the role of a worthy representative of a largely unknown literary tradition —one which, since Fortis’s Hasanaginica, had remained invisible to the Western world."
As Andrić’s greatest quality, Krleža highlighted his style:
"A study should be written on the uniqueness of Andrić’s style—how his almost shy, overly gentle adagio rhythmically transitions into a livelier andante, only to soon settle into the lyrical cantilena of hopeless solitude. Will there be a critic who can strip this classical symbolist of his decorative folklore and illuminate him with the light of pure poetry, with which he orchestrated his novelistic themes?"
BEOGRAD
First Panel: ANDRIĆ. BELGRADE. LITERATURE.
"I have nothing to say about my literary work that has not already been said and is not already known. It is evident that Bosnia, its life and history, dominate my writing. However, Belgrade also holds a significant place in my works. For instance, in my novel Miss (Gospođica), and in many of my longer short stories, the action takes place entirely in Belgrade. And there is no doubt that both the history and the vibrant life of Belgrade offer a wealth of significant themes for literary exploration.
Belgrade, therefore, has been at least partly a direct subject of my writing. Moreover, it is certain that my many years of living in Belgrade have influenced my work, not only formally but also fundamentally. The extent and nature of that influence are not for me to determine, but that it exists is undeniable. I have remained firmly and inseparably tied to my homeland, Bosnia, yet my place of life and work has been Belgrade. (These two environments did not exclude each other within me; on the contrary, they complemented each other!) One could say that I have spent most of my conscious life in Belgrade; in any case, I have written the majority of my literary works here."
— Ivo Andrić, Beogradske novine, 1954
He was a great Yugoslav. During the war, he withdrew into his study on Prizrenska Street and wrote. I asked him what he was working on, and he replied: ‘Oh, my dear Aralica, when one is crucified, it is difficult to do anything at all.’
— Stojan Aralica (Foto)
After the liberation of Belgrade, Roćko, Zogović, and others immediately urged me to publish the books I had managed to write during the occupation. I was somewhat afraid and lacked confidence. I have never, in fact, had peace or certainty in my life. However, I eventually agreed to distribute what was in my bag: I handed over Bosnian Chronicle (Travnička kronika) to Marko Ristić, The Bridge on the Drina (Na Drini ćuprija) to Radovan Zogović, who was then the director of ‘Prosveta’ in
Belgrade, and the manuscript of Miss (Gospođica) to Marko Marković, director of ‘Svjetlost’ in Sarajevo. And so, I gave myself away..."
Ljubo Jandrić with Ivo Andrić: 1968-1975 (Foto)
Josip Broz congratulated Andrić on his Nobel Prize only by telegram and received him in person only a year later. Believing that Tito’s ‘ill temper’ towards Andrić could be politically harmful, Dobrica Ćosić initiated a meeting between Tito and Andrić. In his notes, Ćosić recalls Broz’s words: ‘How on earth am I supposed to do that? Krleža will be offended. He was the one who should have received the Nobel Prize, not Andrić. And now I’m supposed to congratulate Ivo Andrić.’ … The meeting lasted one hour – from eleven in the morning until noon, over coffee and lemonade, without an invitation to lunch. ‘A rather modest man, this Andrić,’ was how Tito summed up his impressions to Ćosić at the end of the reception.
Žaneta Đukić Perišić, The Sky Over Belgrade (Foto)
Ivo Andrić's last public appearance was on October 13, 1974, at the National Theatre in Belgrade, where, during a literary matinee alongside Crnjanski, Selimović, Matić, Vuča, Ćopić, Popa, Raičković, and Dždažić, he read part from the short story Zeko. (Foto)
The sky over Belgrade is vast and high, ever-changing yet always beautiful; in the winter’s clear days with their cold splendor; during summer storms when it transforms into a single dark cloud, driven by a raging wind that carries rain mixed with the dust of the Pannonian flatland; in spring, when it seems to bloom alongside the earth; and in autumn, when it grows heavy with swarms of autumn stars. Always beautiful and rich, as if to compensate this strange town for everything it lacks and to offer confort for all that should not be.
Ivo Andrić, Miss
Second Panel: ANDRIĆ. BELGRADE. LIFE.
"I am, in a way, an old Belgrader... I first came to Belgrade before the First World War, as a student, almost illegally. I still remember Belgrade in those first months after the war. One would arrive via Zemun... then take a boat to Belgrade, as there were no bridges yet. We travelled almost like the old Serbian priest Matija Nenadović."
— Ivo Andrić
Andrić’s love for Belgrade seems to have been love at first sight—and love for a lifetime. After the harsh days of imprisonment in Maribor, internment in Zenica and Ovčarevo, and his stay at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Zagreb, in early October 1919, the young writer arrived in the city that would become the stronghold of his mature years, the place where he would fully realise his artistic personality, establish solid social connections, and shape his parallel diplomatic career.
— Žaneta Đukić Perišić
I don’t think it was a coincidence that Andrić became a true Belgrader. Some people are born here, yet feel no strong connection to the city. But he chose Belgrade precisely when it was in ruins, bleak, just after the First World War.
— Dušan Matić
Somewhere after the First World War, in Belgrade, in some office, I first saw Ivo Andrić. And my first impression was: what a handsome man! Dignified. He seemed very stern. Today, I would call it being withdrawn into himself.
— Desanka Maksimović
He loved Bosnia immensely. But he often said: ‘I love Belgrade, it is my city.’
— Rodoljub Čolaković
ANDRIĆ’S BELGRADE ADDRESSES
Andrić arrived in Belgrade in 1919 and, aside from a long period spent abroad as a diplomat, remained there for the rest of his life. For many years, he lived as a tenant at various addresses, and for a time even stayed in the Excelsior Hotel. It was not until he turned 66 that he finally received his own apartment.
Upon arriving in Belgrade, he lived in Terazije. “I’ve settled here, and it’s not bad. I’m feeling a bit weak and caught a cold from the journey. Life is very noisy, the climate is harsh, and the cost of living is beyond description. But it’s possible to get by. Work isn’t troubling me for now,” he wrote to his friend Zdenka Marković in Zagreb.
By mid-February 1920, he began working at the embassy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes at the Vatican, later moving to Trieste, then Bucharest, and finally Graz, where he stayed from 1923 to 1924. Upon returning from Graz, he spent the next two years living in Belgrade at 44 Kralja Milana Street.
From the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s, Andrić lived in various European cities as a diplomat, and during his short stays in Belgrade, he resided at the Excelsior Hotel. After returning from his diplomatic post in 1934, until April 1939 when he departed for Berlin, he changed several addresses: 56 Kraljice Natalije Street, 21a Čubrina Street, 52 Miloša Velikog Street, and 30 Deligradska Street.
After returning to Belgrade in 1941, he lived as a tenant in the home of his friend Brana Milenković at 9/I Prizrenska Street, where he remained until late 1958. Following his marriage to Milica Babić, he finally moved into his own apartment at 2a Proleterskih Brigada Street (now 8 Andrićev Venac). This would remain his permanent Belgrade address for the rest of his life.
— Marija Crnobori
Andrić loved the theatre very much. He must have developed that fondness in his youth in Zagreb. He mostly attended dress rehearsals and rarely premiere performances. The Yugoslav Drama Theatre had a classical orientation – it
selected works anthologically, and he wholeheartedly supported the theatre’s policy and its programming direction.
Velibor Gligorić
"I love sports. Usually on Sundays, or whenever I have time, I go to watch the matches of small Belgrade clubs and observe... What a milieu! I think that sport has captured the soul of modern man in its net, and this is something that should be written about."
— Ivo Andrić
The writer was a supporter of Crvena Zvezda, a member of both its basketball and football clubs, holding membership card No. 4. From 1952 onwards, he was also the honorary president of Zvezda’s basketball club. He frequently attended football matches as well as games of both the men's and women's basketball teams. As already mentioned, he had been a pre-war member of the Belgrade Rowing Club, which after the war was renamed the Crvena Zvezda Rowing Club.
Žaneta Đukić Perišić
"We cannot truly appreciate the preciousness of those buildings, often modest in our circumstances, that we call libraries..."
Ivo Andrić
