One of the greatest Bosnians in history: 128 years since the birth of Isak Samokovlija

On this day 128 years ago, one of the greatest Bosnian writers, Isak Samokovlija, author of works with Bosnian-Jewish themes, was born, reports the Patria agency.

He was a doctor by profession. He lived in Goražde, Fojnica, and Sarajevo. Isak Samokovlija was born in Goražde, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on September 3, 1889, into a family of Sephardic (Spanish) Jews.

His family immigrated from Samokov in Bulgaria, after which they got the surname Samokovlija. After spending his childhood in Goražde, he moved to Sarajevo and finished the First Gymnasium, and studied medicine in Vienna. After his studies, Samokovlija worked as a doctor in Goražde, Fojnica, and Sarajevo.

He published his first short story, "Rafina avlija," in 1927, and two years later, his first collection of short stories, "Od proljeća do proljeća" (From Spring to Spring), was published by the Group of Sarajevo Writers.

He was working at the Koševo hospital in Sarajevo, where he was the head of a department, at the beginning of World War II. He was soon fired and forced to wear a yellow armband with the Star of David, which the Nazis used to mark all Jews. After the declaration of the Independent State of Croatia, he was imprisoned by the Ustaše, and later transferred to a refugee camp at Alipašin Most in Sarajevo.

In the spring of 1945, he managed to escape from the Ustaše who were forcibly taking him with them, and he hid until the country was liberated. After the end of World War II, he held various positions in Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Yugoslav literary circles.

He edited the literary magazine "Brazda" from 1948 to 1951, and after that, he was an editor at the publishing house "Svjetlost" until his death. His upbringing by the Drina River in Goražde greatly influenced his literary work.

Ivo Andrić called him one of the best writers that Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced, and Meša Selimović said that Samokovlija, excluding Andrić, was the best Bosnian storyteller after Kočić.

Isak Samokovlija died on January 15, 1955, in Sarajevo. He was buried in the old Jewish cemetery on the steep slope of Trebević.

His most famous works include: "Od proljeća do proljeća" (From Spring to Spring) 1929; "Nosač Samuel" (Porter Samuel), 1946; "Solomunovo slovo" (Solomon's Word), 1949; "Hanka" (drama); "Plava Jevrejka" (Blue Jewess) (drama); "On je lud" (He is Crazy) (drama); "Fuzija" (Fusion) (drama); "Tragom života" (On the Trail of Life); "Đerdan" (Necklace); and "Priča o radostima" (A Story of Joys).