Viktor Vida (October 2, 1913 – September 25, 1960) was a

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

ian writer.

Early life

Vida was born in

Kotor Kotor (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian language, Italian: ), is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has ...

. After completing his ''

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' in

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

in 1932, he moved with his parents to Zagreb, where he graduated from the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

in south Slav literature, Italian language and literature, and French and Russian. From 1939, he worked as a librarian in the Institute of Italian Culture () in Zagreb. In 1941 he taught at the I Gymnasium. His first poetry was published in ''Slobodna misao'' weekly in

Nikšić Nikšić (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Никшић, ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 32,046 (2023 census) located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa ...

Emigration

From 1943 he worked in Rome. He emigrated to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

with his family in 1948. In Argentina he contributed to the Croatian emigrant publication ''

Hrvatska revija ''Hrvatska revija'' ( or HR) is a Croatian quarterly published by Matica hrvatska (MH) based in Zagreb. History and profile The magazine's original run lasted between 1928 and 1945 when it was published by MH and during which it became a renowned ...

''. His

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

is in the bohemian tradition of

Antun Gustav Matoš Antun Gustav Matoš (; 13 June 1873 – 17 March 1914) was a Croatian poet, short story writer, journalist, essayist and travelogue writer. He is considered the champion of Croatian modernist literature, opening Croatia to the currents of E ...

and

Tin Ujević Augustin Josip "Tin" Ujević (; 5 July 1891 – 12 November 1955) was a Croatian poet, considered by many to be the greatest poet in 20th century Croatian literature. From 1921, he ceased to sign his name as Augustin, thereafter using the sig ...

, which he was inspired by after meeting the circle of writers around

Ljubo Wiesner Ljubo Wiesner (February 2, 1885 in Zagreb – July 3, 1951 in Rome) was a Croatian poet. He was a follower of Antun Gustav Matoš's work.

and Nikica Polić. He committed suicide in Buenos Aires on September 25, 1960. His tombstone in the

La Chacarita cemetery The La Chacarita Cemetery (, also known as "Cementerio del Oeste") is a cemetery located in the Chacarita neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Occupying an area of 95 hectare, it is the largest in the country.Ars longa, vita brevis is a Latin translation of an aphorism coming originally from Greek. It roughly translates to "skillfulness takes time and life is short". The aphorism quotes the first two lines of the Aphorisms by the ancient Greek Ancient Greek ( ...

Legacy

With Croatian independence in 1991, there was renewed availability and interest in his work. The Association of Croatian Writers held an academic conference on him in 1993.SVIBOR - Collecting Data on Projects in Croatia
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Works

Poetry collections: * ''Svemir osobe'' (Buenos Aires, 1951) * ''Sužanj vremena'' (Buenos Aires, 1956) * ''Sabrane pjesme'' (Buenos Aires, 1962) * ''Otrovane lokve'' (Zagreb, 1971) * ''Izabrane pjesme'' (Zagreb, 1994) Non-fiction: * ''Otključana škrinjica'' (Zagreb, 1997)

References

Bibliography