Lazar "Laza" Lazarević ( sr-cyr, Лазаp Лаза Лазаревић, 13 May 1851 – 10 January 1891) was a Serbian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, psychiatrist, and

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

Medical career

Lazarević was born in Šabac in 1851. He studied medicine at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

Medical School. After graduating, he became a physician in Belgrade and in 1881, he was appointed Head Doctor and Chief of the Internal Department of the General State Hospital in Belgrade. Later, he became King

Milan Obrenović IV Milan Obrenović ( sr-cyr, Милан Обреновић, Milan Obrenović; 22 August 1854 – 11 February 1901) reigned as the prince of Serbia from 1868 to 1882 and subsequently as king from 1882 to 1889. Milan I unexpectedly abdicated in ...

's personal doctor. As a physician, he made significant contributions to the development of medicine in Serbia. He published 72 medical and scientific papers, particularly on diseases targeting the nervous system. The first cataracts operation in Serbia was performed by Lazarević and in 1884 he was the first doctor to be sent as an envoy to Austria to learn about animal lymphatic systems. He founded the first modern geriatric hospital. He participated as a field doctor in the Serbo-Turkish War of 1876 and 1878 and he was a major organizer of the Great Reserve Hospital in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

during the

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War ( bg, Сръбско-българска война, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', sr, Српско-бугарски рат, ''Srpsko-bugarski rat'') was a war between the Kingdom of Ser ...

of 1885, initially as medical major and then vice-

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Writing

In addition to his native Serbian, Lazarević was fluent in Russian, French and German. Although he was a doctor by profession, writing took up a great deal of his time. He published nine short stories. His early writings were influenced by the socialist ideals of

Svetozar Marković Svetozar Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Марковић, ; 9 September 1846 – 26 February 1875) was a Serbian political activist, literary critic and socialist philosopher. He developed an activistic anthropological philosophy wit ...

before shifting to a more conservative position. Despite the small body of work, his stories have been analyzed for their artistic and social contexts. His contributions to Serbian literature are significant. He was a member of several Serbian

Learned Societies A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...

, including SANU and his works were translated into numerous languages.

Legacy

He is included in

The 100 most prominent Serbs ''The 100 most prominent Serbs'' ( sr-Cyrl, 100 најзнаменитијих Срба) is a book containing the biographies of the hundred most important Serbs compiled by a committee of academicians at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. ...

and he was elected a member of Parnassos Literary Society.

Works

* ''Prvi put s ocem na jutrenje'', 1879 * ''Školska ikona'', 1880 * ''Na bunaru'', 1880 * ''U dobri čas hajduci'', 1880 * ''Verter'', 1881 * ''Švabica'', 1881 * ''Sve će to narod pozlatiti'', 1882 * ''Šest pripovedaka'', 1886 * ''Vetar'', 1888 * ''On zna sve'', 1890 * ''Pripovetke L. K. Lazarevića I'', 1898 * ''Pripovetke L. K. Lazarevića II'', 1899

References

Sources

Jovan Skerlić Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as one ...

, ''Istorija Nove Srpske Književnosti'' / History of New Serbian Literature (Belgrade, 1921), pp. 378–384.

External links

"New bibliography of scientific papers by Dr. Laza K. Lazarević"
Kanjuh Vladimir, Pavlović Budimir, ''Glas SANU – Medicinske nauke'', 2002, issue 46, pages 37–51 *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarevic, Laza 1851 births 1891 deaths Writers from Šabac Serbian psychiatrists Serbian translators Translators from Russian Belgrade Higher School alumni University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Tuberculosis deaths in Serbia 19th-century translators