Zaim Imamović (; 26 August 1920 – 2 February 1994) was a Bosnian sevdalinka-

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

singer, accordionist and author.

Biography

Imamović was born into a Bosniak family in

Mrkonjić Grad Mrkonjić Grad ( sr-cyrl, Мркоњић Град, ) is a town and municipality located in the western part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the region of Bosanska Krajina, between Banja Luka and Jajce. A ...

and after a year his family moved to

Travnik Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 2 ...

and there he lived for fifteen years when, in 1936, he moved to Sarajevo. He lived in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

for the rest of his life occasionally vacationing in Počitelj where he had a cottage. In Sarajevo he attended

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

school and was discovered by a

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

leader Cvjetko Rihtman in the cultural society "Gajret" where his sister Đula and his brother Hadžo also sang. When

Radio Sarajevo Radio Sarajevo is a radio station and magazine that began airing 10 April 1945, four days after the liberation of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina near the end of World War II. It was Bosnia and Herzegovina's first radio station. The first words s ...

became operational following the liberation of Sarajevo in April 1945, he started performing on and became an employee of Radio Sarajevo, often sleeping under the piano overnight so not to miss the morning telecast. At that time he performed three sevdah songs: "Gledaj me draga", "Konja vodim, pješke hodim" and "Mujo kuje konja po mjesecu" and became very popular (the last of the three songs is one of the most popular sevdah songs ever). His popularity increased in time and he is said to be the best sevdalinka performer of his time and a reformer of the genre. Some of his most popular sevdalinkas are: "Haj, Moščanice vodo plemenita", "Od kako sam sevdah svezo", "Okreni se niz đul-bašču", "Haj, sadih almu na sred Atmejdana", "Ja zagrizoh šareniku jabuku", "Đul Fatima po đul-bašči šeće", "Kad puhnuše sabah-zorski vjetrovi"... Zaim Imamović was under influence of important sevdah singers of the time: Rešad Bešlagić, Sulejman Džakić, Ibrahim Ašćerić, and others. Together with them he developed an important new style of sevdah singing that was peculiar for radio performance. It was a sharp contrast to earlier singers influenced by bel canto traditions of the European discography market: Bora Janjić, Sofka Nikolić, and others... Zaim Imamović wrote some of the most popular sevdalinkas: "Sve behara i sve cvjeta", "O, jeseni, tugo moja", "Nesretan sam, majko moja mila", "Kono moja", "Što je lijepo vrelo Mošćanice", "Zašto si me majko rodila"... He was one of the founders of the

Ilidža Folk Music Festival The Ilidža Folk Music Festival ( bs, Festival narodne muzike Ilidža / Фестивал народне музике Илиџa) is the oldest living and premier folk music festival in the Former Yugoslavia. It is held annually in Ilidža, Sarajevo, ...

in Sarajevo. After initial success of the festival, intending to stir up new trends in traditional music, Zaim Imamović retreated from the festival at the beginning of 1970s. Zaim Imamović died in Sarajevo during the

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then be ...

, on 2 February 1994.

References

''* Farah Tahirbegović and Damir Imamović'', ''eds''. ''Pjesma srca moga: stotinu najljepših pjesama Zaima Imamovića.'' ''Annotated songs and CD''. ''Sarajevo: Buybook publishing house'', ''2004''.

External links

Biography in Bosnian
1920 births 1994 deaths Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina People from Mrkonjić Grad 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina male singers Sevdalinka Yugoslav male singers {{BosniaHerzegovina-singer-stub