Miljenko Smoje (14 February 1923 – 25 October 1995) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Biography

Smoje was born in Split, at the time in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, in a family of poor labourers. The neighbourhood where he grew up was known for its support for

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and other

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

ideologies. This would later influence Smoje's work and help him develop a strong dislike of authorities and the establishment. Smoje finished high school in Split in 1941, but his further education was interrupted by the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and Split being occupied by Italy. Smoje joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and took part in the local resistance movement. However, due to his rebellious nature, he was expelled from the Party, but he survived that, as well as a brief incarceration by Italian authorities. After the end of the war he finished college and worked as a teacher. In 1950 he took a job as a reporter for the Split daily newspaper '' Slobodna Dalmacija'', where he would write until his formal retirement in 1979. As a reporter, Smoje developed a specific style that included use of Čakavština dialect in his articles. His specialty was articles about ordinary people and through the decades he travelled over

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

chronicling many aspects of its life. Later he used many of those experiences as the basis for his short stories, plays and novels. He liked to inject all of his work with a strong dose of humour, laced with elements of every-day tragedy. All this helped Smoje become one of the most respected and more popular writers of former Yugoslavia, as well as arguably the greatest humourist of

Croatian literature Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia, and Croatian language, Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography were standardized in the late 19th centu ...

. It was the medium of television which helped Smoje become famous. In 1970 he wrote the script for '' Naše malo misto'' (also known as ''Malo misto''), a mini-series chronicling three decades of life in small Dalmatian coastal town. The series featured many memorable characters that would later become part of local culture. Smoje also showed ability to use broad comedy as a way to criticise aspects of

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. The series nevertheless became an instant hit and grew in popularity through the decades. In 1980 Smoje tried to repeat the success with '' Velo misto'', a more ambitious project chronicling life in Split between 1910 and 1947. ''Velo misto'' became very popular and developed cult status of its own. After his retirement Smoje continued to write for ''Slobodna Dalmacija'' and '' Nedjeljna Dalmacija'' weekly. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he opposed Croatian

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

and for that reason he was snubbed by the media controlled by

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

and his ruling Croatian Democratic Union. When Tuđman's supporter Miroslav Kutle took over ''Slobodna Dalmacija'' in 1993, Smoje began to write for the satirical weekly '' Feral Tribune''. Semi-official snub of Miljenko Smoje ended in late 1990s when his shows were allowed to be aired on Croatian Radiotelevision. Smoje was married twice. He is buried in Žrnovnica near Split.

Sources

Smoje, Miljenko
at enciklopedija.hr

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smoje, Miljenko 1923 births 1995 deaths Journalists from Split, Croatia Writers from Split, Croatia Croatian socialists Croatian screenwriters Deaths from lung cancer in Croatia Yugoslav screenwriters Yugoslav journalists