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Jovan Hadžić ( sr-cyr, Јован Хаџић, pseudonym Miloš Svetić; 8 September 1799 – 28 April 1869) was a Serbian writer, legislator and initiator, that is, the principal co-founder of the Serbian cultural society ''
Matica Srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Матица српска, Matica srpska, ) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national institution. It was founded on June 1, 1826, in Pest, ...
''. He signed his literary work as Miloš Cvetić and was an influential figure in the drafting of the
Civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...
and
Criminal Code A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
of
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 ...
in 1844. Serbia is the fourth modern-day European country after France, Austria and the Netherlands to have a codified legal system because of Hadžić's work. Jovan Hadžić is remembered as a founder of the ''Matica Srpska'' and as the most persistent opponent of
Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
's orthographic reform. However, Hadžić was also a poet and translator, a legislator in the
Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...
, as well as an active public figure. Having established a commendable reputation through his early poetry, many thought he could be a worthy successor to
Lukijan Mušicki Lukijan Mušicki ( sr-cyr, Лукијан Мушицки, ; 27 January 1777 – 15 March 1837) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop, writer and poet. From 1828 he was bishop of Karlovac, now in Croatia. References Further reading * * * Jovan Sk ...
.


Biography

Jovan Hadžić was born in
Sombor Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...
on the day of the Mala Gospojina in 1799 and comes from one of the wealthiest Serbian families of Hungary. His parents were, father Nikola, a rich Sombor merchant, and his mother Sofia, née Petrović. As he was left without parents at an early age, he was taken in 1812 by his uncle, Bishop
Gedeon Petrović Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Gideon was the ...
of
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
. He finished primary school in Serbian and after that, he enrolled in a German school in
Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-Cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka Districtautonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danube, from Novi Sad. According to the 202 ...
. He finished high school with great success and then his interest in writing and poetry began. Hadžić enrolled in philosophy in Pest, but after three years of study, he gave up and began studying law. While studying philosophy, he was interested in
antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
and the ancient
Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...
, and at the Faculty of Law, he distinguished himself as one of the best students of Roman law. This fact largely explains the influences of the original Roman law in the Serbian Civil Code. At that time, Hadžić also began writing poetry under the pseudonym Miloš Svetić. In 1822, he continued his education in Vienna, where he became acquainted with Austrian law. He completed his studies in 1824. During his stay in Vienna, he had the opportunity to meet many great personalities of that time who will have a direct impact on his further work, that is. forming his legal way of thinking. He acquired the title of Doctor of All Rights in 1826,"Нова искра", Београд 1899. године and in 1834 settled at Novi Sad, where he was appointed town
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
. He married Marija Desančić in 1829 in Novi Sad. Hadžić arrived in Serbia in 1837, as one of the leading lawyers he was a prominent figure in public life, a participant in political struggles, and an opponent of Prince
Miloš Obrenović Miloš Obrenović (; ; 18 March 1780 or 1783 – 26 September 1860) born Miloš Teodorović (; ), also known as Miloš the Great () was the Prince of Serbia twice, from 1815 to 1839, and from 1858 to 1860. He was an eminent figure of the Firs ...
. He remained in the Serbian principality until 1846, where he proved to be a "born" legislator. He drafted bills based on the Constitution of the
Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...
in 1838. His work is the Serbian Civil Code. He worked on the structure of the Supreme Court of the Principality of Serbia but did not manage to complete the Code of Judicial Procedure. He contributed to the improvement of the position of state and court officials. In Novi Sad, in 1847, he was elected a member of the
Hungarian Parliament The National Assembly ( ) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to four-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proportional representation: a mixed-member ...
in Požuna. He was twice summoned in 1848 as a ministerial adviser at the Ministry of Justice in Pest. After the revolution, judicial organizations in the Serbian Voivodeship had to be accepted. After resigning in 1850, he became president of the District Court in Novi Sad until 1854, when he retired. He was a free manager for 19 years and was the patron of the Great Serbian Gymnasium in Novi Sad until his death. He helped the then gifted high school student Svetozar Miletić to receive a scholarship of 100 pounds from Bishop
Josif Rajačić Josif Rajačić ( sr-Cyrl, Јосиф Рајачић; 20 July 1785 – 1 December 1861), also known as Josif Rajačić-Brinski, was the Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Archbishop and Metropolitanate of Karlovci, metropolitan of Sremski ...
."Србадија", Беч 1876. године He was also an important person in the cultural life of the Serbs. In 1826, he was the founder and the first president of
Matica Srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Матица српска, Matica srpska, ) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national institution. It was founded on June 1, 1826, in Pest, ...
, the editor of the
Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...
, and initially an associate of
Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
. However, in the mid-1930s, he came into conflict with Vuk over the understanding of literary language. Hadžić is considered to be Karadžić's greatest opponent, but in 1866 he allowed himself to be taught according to Vuk's and
Đura Daničić Đura ( sr-Cyrl, Ђура; also transliterated Djura) is a Serbian male given name derived from ''Đurađ'' (a Serbian variant of '' George''). It may refer to: People * Đura Dokić (1873–1946), a Serbian general, notable for being an Axis ...
's spelling, and
Old Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...
according to Miklošić, at the Great Serbian Gymnasium in
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
, where he was the school principal later in life.


Work

Serbian Civil Code 1844, work of Jovan Hadžić: Hadžić's literary and scientific work is extensive. Apart from law, he also dealt with poetry, translation, history, and philology. Jovan Hadzić was a student of Lukijan Musicki and his successor. As a poet, he is at the crossroads of the old classicism of Lukijan Mušicki towards newer poetic aspirations whose stimuli came from
German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...
and our
folk poetry Folk poetry (sometimes referred to as ''poetry in action'') is poetry that is part of a society's folklore, usually part of their oral tradition. When sung, folk poetry becomes a folk song. Description Folk poetry in general has several characteri ...
. Following the example of his teacher, Hadžić wrote an ode to the glory of prominent contemporaries, patriotic, didactic songs, and showed great interest in political and epic poetry. In his political songs, there is a sense of appropriate, public, current, so that the songs get a distinctly personal tone. Since he was an active participant in the political scene, he speaks about everything openly and engaged. His famous epic poem written in hexameter is The First Crossing of Black George from Serbia to Srem. Karadjordje is also the subject of his main historiographical work, The Serbian Uprising, under Black George (1862). Jovan Hadžić also worked as a translator. He translated works of the ancient and modern classical tradition:
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
,
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
,
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
,
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...
,
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
, and many others. He translated parts from the Iliad in the ten, and he translated Horace's "Poetic Art" in two meters, in parallel, in the meter of the original, and in the epic ten. It is from this that we see that his interest was diverse and versatile. Hadzic was the editor of the first Serbian Civil Code, which was passed in 1844, and with him, he compiled several accompanying laws and legal acts.


Daničić's "War for the Serbian language and spelling"

Jovan Hadžić was one of the most prominent opponents of Vuk's language reform. He stood out the most after the death of Metropolitan
Stefan Stratimirović Stefan Stratimirović (; 27 December 1757 – 22 September 1836) was a Serbian bishop who served as the Metropolitan of Karlovci, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Austrian Empire, between 1790 and 1836. Having been appointed metropolit ...
in 1836. In 1837, Hadžić published his booklet ''Sitnice jezikoslovne''. Then, Vuk estimated that the right moment had come for a public showdown with Hadžić. Vuk and his supporters believed that Hadžić was not competent to speak the language and that the language in which he wrote could not serve as a model. That conflict existed until 1847 when Vuk succeeded in his idea of making the vernacular the literary language. The conflict between Vuk Karadžić and Jovan Hadžić finally ended with the intervention of
Đuro Daničić Đuro Daničić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђуро Даничић, ; 4 April 1825 – 17 November 1882), born Đorđe Popović ( sr-cyr, links=no, Ђорђе Поповић) and also known as Đura Daničić ( sr-Cyrl, links=no, Ђура Даничић), was a ...
(1825—1882), who in his work "War for the Serbian Language and Spelling" gave arguments against writing in the old alphabet and spelling, but he also pointed out Hadzic's incompetence in philology, saying that he was not able to talk about that issue. This work of Daničić was of crucial importance for the defeat of Jovan Hadžić. Although he and his followers were defeated, aversion to Vuk's reform still existed, so Vuk's opponents continued to use the old alphabet and spelling in their writing, but the young generation of Serbian intellectuals was on Vuk's side. Today, we find far more negative than positive criticism of Jovan Hadžić's work. The reason for that may be the failure in the conflict with Vuk Kradžić. However, the justification for such an attitude of Hadzic can be found in the influence that his schooling in
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
had on him, but that does not justify him on the philological level. His literary work is, of course, very important in the Serbian literature of the 19th century, but his conservative ideas, which disrupted the attempts to advance in the language at the time, were the ones that somewhat prevented his success in
philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
. Jovan Hadžić died in April 1869 and was buried in Novi Sad, in front of the gate of the St. John's Church, where his widow erected a monument to him."Serbian Zion",
Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...
, 29 August 1899


Selected works

* ''Sud u grammatiki Vekoslava Babukića,'' 1838 * ''Golubica s cvetom knižestva srbskog,'' 1839 * ''Vukov odgovor na Utuk,'' 1843 * ''Utuk 2 ili odgovor na Vukov odgovor,'' 1844 * ''Izstupleniia M. Svetića u Utuk II,'' 1845


See also

*
Serbian civil law The Serbian Civil Code (SCC for short) was the first and only complete Civil Code in Serbia. It was enacted on April 6, 6 April :sr:1844, 1844, modeled mostly after the Civil Code of Austria, during the reign of the Defenders of the Constitution and ...
*
Matica srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Матица српска, Matica srpska, ) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national institution. It was founded on June 1, 1826, in Pest, ...
*
Josif Milovuk Josif Milovuk (Trpinja, 10 April 1787 – Pest, 23 August 1850) was a successful merchant, book publisher, lithographer, and writer in the Austrian Empire. He was one of the founders of Matica srpska. Biography He was born in the village Trp ...


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 o ...
, Istrorija nove srpske knjizevnosti (Belgrade, 1914, 1921) pages 189-192. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hadzic, Jovan 1799 births 1869 deaths Writers from the Austrian Empire 19th-century Serbian people Writers from Sombor Habsburg Serbs Translators of Virgil