Maja Perfiljeva ( 1 May 1941 Tivat, Montenegro â 8 July 2019 Zagreb) was a Croatian poet, professor of Croatian language and literature, and painter. She authored numerous lyrics for popular pop and rock songs àduring the 1970s. She collaborated most with Sarajevo rock group Indexi. One of her lyrics, "I Can't Forget", was covered by the British rock band The Shadows.
She was born in Tivat, Boka Kotor, Montenegro in 1941. Her father, Igor Perfiljev, was a Russian emigrant, born in Chita in Eastern Siberia. After escaping Russia after the Russian revolution, he was admitted to the Naval Academy in Dubrovnik. He sailed as a cadet on the school's sailing ship to the port of Tivat, in Boka Kotor, where he met his future wife. Maja Perfilje's mother is the daughter of an Italian woman and the then mayor of Tivat.
Maja Perfiljeva spent her early childhood in Tivat. She completed her primary and secondary school in Dubrovnik and Split. Her mother wanted her to study architecture or medicine, but Maja wanted to study literature. At her mother's insistence, she enrolled in architecture, completed her first year, and then enrolled in literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb.
After graduating, an unsuccessful job search led her to write poems. Finally, she got a job at a technical high school, where she taught Croatian language and literature, but she continued to write for various festivals.
Her song "Bokeljska noÃÂ ", performed by Vice Vukov won the Split Festival in 1966. The following year, at the "Intervizija" festival in Bratislava, this song won the "Golden Key" award. She found inspiration for this song in the festival, which has been held in Kotor since the early nineteenth century.
At the Opatija Festival, Kornelije KovaÃÂ introduced her to other members of Indexi. After Opatija, Indexi performed in Zagreb and invited Maja Perfiljeva to read her poems at the concert. This was around the time she published her first book of poems. She has been collaborating with Indexi since 1971 and has written many lyrics for them. The first song she wrote for them ,"Da sam ja netko", was a hit. ÃÂ This was followed by 14 more Indexi songs, including: "Sanjam", "Balada", "Hej ti", and "Moja hrana".
In addition to Indexi, Maja wrote lyrics for many others, including: Josipa Lisac , Duà ¡ko Lokin , Krunoslav Slabinac , Gabi Novak , Dalibor Brun , Vesna Pisarovià, Silente , Marina Perazià, Aleksandar Obradovià, Mià ¡o Kovaà, Boris Novkovià, Radojka à  verko , Ismeta Krvavac , Duà ¡anka Belada , Anita Popovià, Nikola Trtica , and Miro Ungar.
Some of her other well-known songs are: "My Crazy Heart" ( Mirko Cetinski ), "Nobody Like You" ( Josipa Lisac ), "Gazi, Dear, My Heart" ( Gabi Novak ), "Your Mother Has Laid Down to Sleep" ( Milo Hrnià), "à ½alit ÃÂemo duà ¡o, à ½alit ÃÂemo" ( Krunoslav Slabinac ), "Tuà ¾na je Anuà ¡ka" (Krunoslav Slabinac) and others.
She was married for ten years to the Croatian song-writer . She persuaded him to participate in the Split Festival in 1965, with the song "Riva u noÃÂi", performed by Zdenka VuÃÂkoviàand Ivo RobiÃÂ. The song did not make it to the finals. Hegeduà ¡iàdescribed their marriage as bohemian. She did not remarry.
Maja Perfiljeva was introduced to painting in childhood. While the family lived in Dubrovnik, she lived with Russian doctor Milnikov. Milnikov was often visited by the painter Aleksej VasiljeviÃÂ Hansen, who had taught descriptive geometry to Maja's father at the Naval Academy. Maja began painting in Vienna , where she stayed during the Homeland War , with her older sister Asja, who was also an artist. She painted on silk.
She lived in Medveà ¡ÃÂak , Zagreb , where she died on 8 July 2019.