Rade Drainac ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Драинац; 26 August 1899 – 1 May 1943) was a Serbian poet.

Biography

He was born on 26 August 1899 as Radojko Jovanović in Trbunje, a village in the municipality of

Blace Blace ( sr-cyr, Блаце, ) is a town and municipality located in the Toplica District of the southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the population of the town is 4,865, while population of the municipality is 9,682. Settlements Aside fro ...

. He studied in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for a short period, where he played the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

during

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s projections. Drainac followed Serbian Army during the

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western F ...

. He started writing poetry as a young man, with first volume of poetry published in 1921. Besides writing poetry, Drainac worked as a journalist for several magazines, including ''Hipnos'', ''Novo čovečanstvo'', ''Front'', ''Slike aktuelnih događaja'' and ''Nova brazda''. As a reporter for ''Pravda'', Drainac traveled extensively across the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and other countries. He was well known as a

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

, and a frequent visitor of Hotel Moskva. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he enlisted to fight, holding the rank of

gefreiter Gefreiter (, abbr. Gefr.; plural ''Gefreite'') is a military rank used in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria since the 16th century. It is typically the second rank or grade to which an Enlisted rank, enlisted soldier, airman, or sailor can be prom ...

. He was caught by Bulgarian army in 1941 and had spent a month in Crveni Krst concentration camp. Drainac pretended to be a Bulgarian and managed to get a release. Upon returning home, he found that his personal library with more than one thousand volumes had been burned down. Severely sick, Drainac died in 1943 in a state hospital in Belgrade. Literary historian Jovan Deretić described Drainac as "poet of the city" and wrote affirmatively about his work. National library in

Prokuplje Prokuplje ( sr-Cyrl, Прокупље, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Toplica District in southern Serbia. As of 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 38,054 inhabitants. Prokuplje is one of the Roman sites of Serb ...

, several cultural institutions across country, a school in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and several streets in Serbia are named after him. In 1998 Rade Drainac Award for Poetry was established in his honour and his bust can be found in

Skadarlija Skadarlija ( sr-Cyrl, Скадарлија) is a vintage street, an urban neighborhood and former municipality of Belgrade, Serbia, located in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad (Old Town). Skadarlija partially preserves the ambience of tr ...

and Prokuplje. He was influenced by

Miloš Crnjanski Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, journalist and a diplomat. Biography Crnjanski was born in Cso ...

and Rastko Petrović.

Works

* ''Modri smeh'', Belgrade, 1921 * ''Afroditin vrt'', Prokuplje, 1921 * ''Erotikon'', Belgrade, 1923 * ''Voz odlazi'', Belgrade 1923 * ''Dve avanturističke poeme'', Belgrade, 1926 * ''Lirske minijature'', Skoplje, 1926 * ''Bandit ili pesnik'', Belgrade, 1928 * ''Srce na pazaru'', Belgrade, 1929 * ''Španski zid. Naša ljubav'', Belgrade, 1930 * ''Banket'', Belgrade, 1930 * ''Rasvetljenje'', Belgrade, 1934 * ''Dragoljub Jovanović ili seljački Napoleon'', Belgrade, 1935 * ''Uzurpatori (Uzunović, Jevtić i V. Popović)'', Belgrade, 1935 * ''Ulis'', Belgrade, 1938 * ''Osvrti'', Belgrade, 1938 * ''Čovek peva'', Belgrade, 1938 * ''Dah zemlje'', Belgrade, 1940 * ''Crni dani'', Belgrade, 1963 * ''Azil za beskućnike ili univerzalna radionica mrtvačkih sanduka Rusin a. d.'' * ''Ja ne žalim što sam voleo i patio'', 1987 * ''Plamen u pustinji'', Belgrade, 1993 * ''Works of Rade Drainac'', I–X, Belgrade, 1998–1999

Biography

Works

References

Further reading