Radoje Domanovic(1873-1908)

Famous Serbian satirist Radoje Domanovic was born in the village of Ovsiste on 16 February 1873. He attended a gymnasium in Kragujevac and Grande École (university) in Belgrade, where he studied history and philology. He started his writing career with realist prose, which idealised the Serbian countryside. In 1895, he got his first tenure as teacher in a gymnasium in Pirot. This period coincided with the decline of the Obrenovic dynasty, and the bourgeois tyranny of bureaucracy and police. At this time, Domanovic, himself a supporter and member of an opposition party, started writing satirical stories, critical of the current state of the society. Some of his most famous works were created during this period of struggle: "Stradija", "Leader", "Branding iron", "Reasoning of an ordinary Serbian ox" etc. After the coup d'état in 1903, Domanovic was greatly disappointed with the fact that nothing has actually changed in the society, and he became more and more disillusioned and isolated, and his creativity also waned. He died of tuberculosis, aged 35 in Belgrade, on 17 August 1908.

During the second half of the XX century, some of his works have been adapted to movies or TV shows.