Ivo Andrić (9 October, 1892 – 13 March, 1975) was a poet, novelist, and Noble Prize winning writer from Yugoslavia.
Fun Facts about Ivo Andrić:
1. Ivo Andrić was born in Travnik in Austria-Hungary (located today in Bosnia and Herzegovina). He was the only child of Antun, a silversmith and school janitor, and Katarina Andrić.
2. When Ivo Andrić was two years old his father died of tuberculosis leaving the family penniless. His widowed mother placed her only son in the car of his aunt and uncle in Višegrad. The couple were financially stable, but childless.
4. When he was six years old, the future writer started his schooling, he recalls that time as the happiest in his life. At the age of ten he earned a scholarship to study in Sarajevo. He lived with his mother who worked in a rug factory. He had a tough time in school, having to repeat sixth grade due to poor grades in math. Nevertheless, he was an excellent student of languages, natural sciences, and literature.
5. By the time he was in secondary school (high-school), Ivo Andrić knew he was going to be a writer, but received little encouragement from his mother (widowed and penniless – who could blame her?). He published his first poems in 1911 in the journal Bosnian Fairy (Bosanska vila). He was still in school when his writing, including poems, reviews and translation, were published in several other journals.
6. As a young men he was a member of the Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia) movement, an anti-Habsburg revolutionary group whose most famous member was Gavrilo Princip. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 he was arrested and spent almost three years in prison. He used his time as a “guest” of the Austro-Hungarian empire to write his first book Ex Ponto, a collection of poems, prose, and reflections on lonliness.
7. Between the two world wars, Mr. Andrić served as a Yugoslavian diplomat all over Europe. In 1939 he was appointed as an ambassador to Nazi Germany and was in the room when the Tripartite Pact was signed.
8. The Bridge on the Drina, Bosnian Chronicle (Travnik Chronicle), and The Woman from Sarajevo Ivo Andrić’s most famous works were published in 1945, during World War II, while living in Nazi-occupied Belgrade
9. Ivo Andrić was born in Bosnia to a Croat family, and later adopted a Serbian identity. Hence he is claimed by all three countries as part of their literary canon.
10. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961, among those that were shortlisted were giants such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Frost, John Steinbeck, and E.M. Forster. In 2012, Emir Kusturica built a town Andrićgrad (Andrić’s Town), located inin Višegrad, Bosnia, to honor Ivo Andrić’s legacy.
Zohar — Man of la Book
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Sources:
Ivo Andrić | Wikipedia
Ivo Andrić Facts For Kids | DIY
Ivo Andrić facts for kids | Kiddle
Ivo Andrić Serbo-Croatian author | Britannica
Ivo Andrić, the Nobel Prize winner who wrote in a language that no longer exists | El Pais
Remembering Ivo Andric: Here are a few interesting facts about the Nobel laureate | Hindustan Times
