Milovan Ilić (; 5 November 1938 – 10 February 2005), better known under his nickname Minimaks ( sr-Cyrl, Минимакс), was a Serbian radio and television host.

Early life

He was born on 5 November 1938 in the village of Lipnica near Kragujevac,

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. He completed primary and secondary school in Kragujevac, and studied law in Belgrade. He started in the satirical magazine ''Jež'', and in 1960 he moved to

Radio Belgrade Radio Belgrade ( sr, Радио Београд, ) is a state-owned and operated radio station in Belgrade, Serbia. It has four different programs (Radio Belgrade 1, Radio Belgrade 2, Radio Belgrade 3, and Radio Belgrade 202), a precious archive ...

Career

He became known as the leader of the radio program ''Minimaks''. This program was broadcast on Radio Belgrade in the seventies. "Minimaks" was one of the first programmes in which there was a lot of popular music and its motto was "minimum talk maximum music". He is one of the first unconventional journalists in

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

who inserted jokes, witty remarks and jingles between the standard radio host notices. With shows ''Sutra je petak'' (It's Friday Tomorrow) and ''Tačno u podne'' (Exactly at noon), better known as ''Tup-Tup'', which he hosted for 22 years, he achieved great success. After cutting of his radio show, he continued career on the Radio Television of Serbia, where he led the program ''Od glave do pete'' (From head to toe). However, the show was taken off air in the 1990. He moved to

RTV Politika RTV Politika ( sr, РТВ Политика) was a major Serbian TV station, owned by Politika AD, that was on the air from June 28, 1990 until December 31, 2010. It was founded on June 28, 1990 and it was a majority-owned subsidiary of the afor ...

where he hosted show ''Minimaksovizija''. He later led shows ''Minimaksovizija'', ''Maksovizija'', ''Sunday with Minimaks'' and ''Fonto'' at

TV Pink Pink is a privately owned, national radio station and TV channel in Serbia. Pink is the leading commercial station in the Serbian television broadcast market. Pink's parent company is the Belgrade-based Pink International Company Pink Internat ...

and TV Palma. Throughout his time on radio and television he promoted numerous up-and-coming folk singers, most notably

Lepa Brena Fahreta Živojinović (; ; born 20 October 1960), known by her stage name Lepa Brena (), is a folk singer, actress, and businesswoman. She is the best-selling female recording artist from the former Yugoslavia. Lepa Brena grew up in Brčko, Bosni ...

, even giving her the stage name. Through his programs passed a large number of Serbian singers, musicians, actors, politicians and other public figures. For each guest Minimaks was thoroughly prepared using comprehensive documentation and news. He is the author of several books

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by ...

s and songs, as well as many columns in various newspapers. With his wife Biljana he had a daughter Hannah and son Vladimir, and from the first marriage, son Igor. He worked with and knew many Balkan singers, including being manager to

Silvana Armenulić Silvana Bajraktarević (born Zilha Bajraktarević; 18 February 1939 – 10 October 1976), known professionally as Silvana Armenulić (), was a Bosnian singer-songwriter and actress and one of the most prominent commercial folk music and traditi ...

, until her death in a car crash in 1976.

Ksenija Pajčin Ksenija Pajčin (, 3 December 1977 – 16 March 2010) was a Serbian singer, dancer and model popular in Serbia and the other former Yugoslav republics. Sometimes referred to as Xenia or Ksenia, she was known for her sometimes sexually appealing i ...

worked as his assistant while trying to make a name for herself in the 1990s.

Death

At the end of 2004, Minimaks received a

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, al ...

at the clinic of the University of Padova, where he died on 10 February 2005 at age 66.

References

External links

Interviews

Interviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minimaks 1938 births 2005 deaths People from Kragujevac Yugoslav journalists Serbian television personalities Serbian journalists Liver transplant recipients 20th-century journalists