tions, Dear Children; Funny Words; Vuk’s Alphabet; Captain John Peo - plefox etc. His works live on and remain relevant to this day, which is why Duško is still among Serbia’s most quoted and best-selling authors. He dedicated a special part of his crea - tivity, and perhaps the best part, to children. His works hold a prominent place in all Serbian language text - books intended for first-year pupils and other schoolchildren. Duško bequeathed his grandi - ose literary (and media) oeuvre to Serbian culture, part of which still re - mains popular among a broad read - ership base. However, in the book 100 Years of Duško Radović, you will also discover how he was as a com - rade, son, brother, colleague, friend, husband and father, how his child - hood looked etc. “Of what I heard from him, his most vivid recollec - tions of his childhood and youth were linked to Košutnjak. It was there that his father lived in a build - ing that lives on today, and which belonged to the railway. Somewhere around there, the famous Blue Train is also parked,” says Matija Bećković. You will discover that Duško sup - ported Red Star for as long as foot - baller Rajko Mitić lived in his neigh - bourhood, only later becoming a fan of Partizan – and a passionate one at that! In the book, Bećković looks back on that period with an endear - ing episode describing a conversa - tion he had with his mother... “I told him that I’d told my moth - er that he supports Partizan, and that she said: How can such an in - telligent and honourable man sup - port Partizan?” When I recounted that to him, he uttered that famous Radović sen - tence: “I support Partizan, but I’m objective”. This book will reveal to you that, hidden behind the black-and-white photos that represent the majority of those showing Duško, is an inter - esting, witty, unkempt, multitalent - ed personality who used the power of his linguistic genius to mark an entire era, and whose tracks will re - main long into the future.
100 years of Duško Radović Belgrade’s good spirit remains forever among us
For all those who desire to take a part of Belgrade with them, wherever they come from and wherever they’re going Belgrade is this year commemorating the cen- tenary of the birth of Duško Radović , one of the most important authors of Yugoslav and Serbian literature. This great jubilee will be marked, among other things, by a monograph entitled 100 years of Duško Radović, released by Mas- com Publishing. This major edition, dedicated to the life and works of this liter - ary great, includes over 500 pages of personal correspondences, draw - ings, comments, critiques and oth - er material that’s largely previously unpublished. The rich legacy of this writer has been curated by Zorica Hadžić, while special contributions to the edition have also been pro - vided by Matija Bećković, as Duško’s personal friend and narrator, and Duško’s son Miloš Radović, who is himself a significant figure on the Serbian cultural scene. The book’s specific and unusual look was en - trusted to Slavimir Stojanović Futro and Boris Miljković. Thanks to this jubilee mono - graph, everyone will have an oppor - tunity to familiarise themselves with Duško Radović from a new, more in - timate perspective: as a great cre - ator, free thinker and man of in - tegrity, but also as a caring friend, husband and father, who can serve as a role model to all of us with his life and work. Duško was born in 1922 in Niš. His father, Uglješa, a native of Čačak, was a railway worker. His mother, Sofija, had her origins in Niš. He inherited his father’s tenacity and dedication, but also his mother’s
warmth and diligence. He adored his father, despite him being strict, and dedicated his first poem to him. We learn from the testimony of Mat - ija Bećković that the Radović broth - ers knew how to spend an entire day stacking wood, only for their Father Uglješa to turn up, take a look at their work and pull out one stick, caus - ing everything to collapse. He had the gift “to spot every shortcoming”. It was in 1928 that the family relocated to Subotica, where Duško completed primary school and six years of secondary school. He con - tinued his schooling in Belgrade, where he enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy. Those three cities deter - mined Duško’s geographical biogra - phy, both privately and profession - ally. Following the end of World War II, he became a “performer of liter - ary works”, writing sketches, open - ing and closing announcements for radio and television, aphorisms, sto - ries, poems, plot scenarios, paro - dies etc. He created quickly and with ease, which is why his oeuvre is so extensive and diverse. He worked as an editor of the most popular children’s publica - tions, editor of the Radio Belgrade Children’s Programme, editor of the Television Belgrade Children’s Programme and editor of Poleta - rac – one of Europe’s most prom - inent newspapers for children. He was also a journalist of daily Borba, and served as editor of Belgrade tel - evision station Studio B from 1975 to 1983, which was then a cult media house. He gained his greatest popu - larity with the show “Belgrade, good morning”, during which time, from 1976 to 1983, he entertained the audience with aphorisms that would later be published in three books. The most popular titles among his collective works include: Belgrade, Good Morning; Women’s Conversa -
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