Lazar Kostià(; 12 February 1841 â 27 November 1910) was a Serbian poet, prose writer, lawyer, aesthetician, journalist, publicist, and politician. He is considered to be one of the greatest minds of Serbian literature. Kostiàwrote around 150 lyrics, 20 epic poems, three dramas, one monograph, several essays, short stories, and a number of articles. Kostiàpromoted the study of English literature and together with Jovan AndrejeviÃÂ-Joles was one of the first to begin the systematic translation of the works of William Shakespeare into the Serbian language. Kostiàalso wrote an introduction of Shakespeare's works to Serbian culture.
Laza Kostiàwas born in 1841 in Kovilj, VojvodinaâÂÂwhich was then part of the Austrian EmpireâÂÂto a military family. Kostiàgraduated from the Law School of the University of Budapest and received a Doctor of Philosophy in jurisprudence at the same university in 1866. A part of his thesis was about the Duà ¡an's Code. After completing his studies, Kostiàoccupied several positions and was active in cultural and political life in Novi Sad, Belgrade, and Montenegro. He was one of the leaders of Ujedinjena omladina srpska (United Serb Youth) and was elected a Serbian representative to the Hungarian parliament, thanks to his mentor Svetozar MiletiÃÂ. Because of his liberal and nationalistic views, Kostiàhad to leave Austria-Hungary. He returned home after several years in Belgrade and Montenegro.
From 1869 to 1872, KostiÃÂ was the president of Novi Sad's Court House and was virtually the leader of his party in his county. He was a delegate in the clerico-secular Sabor at Sremski Karlovci several times. He served as Lord Mayor of Novi Sad twice and also twice as Sajkasi delegate to the Parliament in Budapest.
After Svetozar MiletiÃÂ and Jovan JovanoviÃÂ Zmaj, Laza KostiÃÂ was the most active leader in Novi Sad; his politics were distinct from those of his associates but he was convinced his mission to save Serbia through art had been baulked by obscurantist courtiers. In 1867, the Austrian Empire became Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Hungary became one of two autonomous parts of the new state. This was followed by a policy of Hungarization of the non-Hungarian nationalities, most notably promotion of the Hungarian-language and suppression of Romanian and Slavic languages, including Serbian. As the chief defender of the United Serbian Youth movement, KostiÃÂ was especially active in securing the repeal of some laws imposed on his and other nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When Mihailo ObrenoviÃÂ III, Prince of Serbia, was assassinated, the Austro-Hungarian authorities sought to falsely implicate Laza, his mentor MiletiÃÂ, and other Serbian intellectuals in a murder plot. KostiÃÂ was arrested and incarcerated but like the rest of them he was later released. In 1868, the new Prince of Serbia was the fourteen-year-old Milan IV ObrenoviÃÂ, who had fallen in love with Laza's most recent work Maksim CrnojeviÃÂ, which had been released that year.
Kostiàmoved to Belgrade, where he became a popular figure as a poet. Through Milan's influence, Kostiàobtained the position of editor of Srpsku nezavisnost (Serbian Independence), an influential political and literary magazine. Milan chose him to be Jovan RistiÃÂ's principal assistant at the 1878 Congress of Berlin and in 1880 Kostiàwas sent to Saint Petersburg as a member of the Serbian delegation. Belgrade's opposition parties began taking issue with KostiÃÂ's writings; he had boasted of his power over the King in jest but had disdain to make influential friends at court so in 1883 King Milan ask him to leave Belgrade for a time. Despite his bizarreness, Kostiàwas ranked a great poet and writer. Soon after, he took up residence in Cetinje and became editor-in-chief of the official paper of the Kingdom of Montenegro Glas Crnogoraca (The Montenegrin Voice), where he met intellectuals Simo Matavulj, Pavel Rovinsky, and Valtazar Bogià ¡iÃÂ. In 1890, Kostiàmoved to Sombor where he married Julijana PalanaÃÂki in September 1895 and spent the rest of his life there. In Sombor he wrote a book which describes his dreams Dnevnik snova (Diary of Dreams), and the popular poem Santa Maria della Salute, which is considered the finest example of his love poems and elegies.
KostiÃÂ has been following two lines in his work and research: theoretical mind cannot reach absolute, not having the richness of fascination and life necessary to its universality. He was opposed to the anthropological philosophy of Svetozar MarkoviÃÂ and the views of revolutionist and materialist Nikolay Chernyshevsky.
He died on 27 November 1910 in Vienna.
In his poetry, KostiÃÂ often touched upon universal themes and human concerns, especially the relationships between man and God, society, and fellow humans. He contributed stylistic and linguistic innovations, experimenting freely, often at the expense of clarity. His work is closer to European Romanticism than that of any other Serbian poet of his time. KostiÃÂ attempted unsuccessfully in numerous, incomplete theoretical essays to combine the elements of the native folk song with those of European Romanticism. The lack of success can be attributed to the advanced nature of his poetry, the ideas of his time, and his eccentricity.
Of KostiÃÂ's plays. Maksim CrnojeviÃÂ (1863) represents the first attempt to dramatize an epic poem. Pera Segedinac (1875) deals with the struggle of the Serbs for their rights in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his play Gordana (1890) did not receive much praise.
At the age of eighteen, in 1859, KostiÃÂ undertook the task of translating the works of William Shakespeare. KostiÃÂ researched and published works on Shakespeare for around 50 years.
The cultural ideals that motivated KostiÃÂ to translate Romeo and Juliet into Serbian were part of the Serbian literary revival that originated with Dositej ObradoviÃÂ in the eighteenth century. At the time, theatre emerged following the Serbian people's campaign for national independence in the late eighteenth century. During the 1850s and inter-war years, KostiÃÂ and his collaborator AndrejeviÃÂ made efforts to introduce Shakespeare to the Serbian public.
He tried to bring closer the Balkan cultures and the Antiquity, experimenting with the translation of Homer into the Serbian-epic decametre. He translated the works of many other foreign authors, notably Heinrich Heine, Heinrich Dernburg, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton's The Last Days of Pompeii, and Hungarian poet József Kiss.
All Serbian intellectuals of the period believed the existence of their country was bound to the fate of their native tongue, then spoken widely throughout the two foreign empires. This premise provided for KostiÃÂ's translation of Romeo and Juliet. The Serbian translation of Richard III was the joint effort of KostiÃÂ and his friend, the physician and author Jovan AndrejeviÃÂ-Joles. AndrejeviÃÂ also participated in the founding of Novi Sad's Serbian National Theatre in 1861. The year of the appearance of Richard III (1864) in Novi Sad coincided with the 300-year anniversary of Shakespeare's birth; for that occasion, KostiÃÂ adapted two scenes from Richard III using the iambic verse for the first time. Richard III was staged in Serbia and directed by KostiÃÂ himself. Later, he translated Hamlet but his work was met with criticism by notable literary critic Bogdan PopoviÃÂ.
KostiÃÂ's translation of the fourteenth stanza from Byron's Canto III of Don Juan expresses Byron's advice to the Greek insurgents:
Laza KostiÃÂ may be characterized as an eccentric but had a spark of genius. He was the first to introduce iambic meter into dramatic poetry and the first translator of Shakespeare into Serbian. At a European authors' convention at the turn of the 20th century he tried to explain the relationship between the culture of Serbia and those of major Western European cultures.
KostiÃÂ was friends with Lazar DunÃÂerski, the patriarch of one of the most important Serbian noble families in Austria-Hungary. He was in love with Jelena Lenka DunÃÂerski, Lazar's younger daughter, who was 29 years his junior. Although Lenka returned his love, Lazar DunÃÂerski did not approve of their relationship and would not allow them to marry. He arranged a marriage between KostiÃÂ and Juliana PalanaÃÂki. KostiÃÂ attempted to arrange a marriage between Lenka and the Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla but Tesla rejected the offer.
Lenka died, probably from an infection, on her 25th birthday but some authors believe she committed suicide. After her death, KostiÃÂ wrote Santa Maria della Salute, one of his most important works and what is said to be one of the most beautiful love poems written in the Serbian language.
A major poet of Serbian Romanticism, KostiÃÂ linked the era of Romantic enthusiasm with the modern age of individualism.
Laza KostiÃÂ is included in The 100 most prominent Serbs.
Schools in Kovilj and New Belgrade are named after him.