An uneducated boy with great ambition, who later in his life became a monk, only to finally establish himself as the first minister of education in Serbia. He was also a reformist and a teacher, before he became a minister. His path to becoming an educated man was long and exhausting, but his desire to learn and teach was stronger. It was his dedication and hard work that made Serbia closer to Europe and the world and that opened the way for enrichment of Serbian cultural heritage.
Dimitrije was born in 1739 in Banat and as the majority of children in those days, he was raised to become a craftsman. The thing that made Dimitrije different from other children was his passion for religious books and ascetic way of life. When his relatives, who were raising him, found out about this they sent him to become an apprentice. That’s when he decided to run away and become a monk.
At first Hopovo monastery seemed to be everything that Dimitrije wanted, his dream come true. There he acquired the name Dositej (Dositheus) and he started studying religious booksand was familiarized with the way of the life in the monastery. Spending the time and talking to other monks, he realized that his desires and stances differed from theirs. His religious aspirations slowly began to wane, after three years he decided to leave the monastery and travel the world.
Dositej Obradovic founded “Velika Škola” (Grande Ecoleor The Grand School) in 1808, which later became the University of Belgrade and a seminary in 1810. He was a member of “Praviteljstvujušči sovjet” (One of the main governing bodies in Serbia during the First Serbian Uprising) and the first Serbian minister of education.
Influenced by Dušan’s code (an advanced set of laws which regulated all aspects of life in Serbia, enacted by Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia in 1349), Aesop’s fables and other civic-engagement books, he became familiar with rationalistic utilitarian philosophy and his desire to travel and learn grew.
He traveled across the Balkan Peninsula, visited Asia Minor, Italy, Germany, France, England, Russia and many other countries. Working as a teacher, private tutor or just staying as a guest in a monstery, Dositej travelled for forty years. During that time he studied Greek and German language, philosophy, literature and cultures of many nations.
Dositej acquired valuable knowledge from other religions, cultures and languages and that’s what inspired him to start writing his own works. His main goal was to use the knowledge he gained and to educate Serbian people. At first his work consisted mainly of translations of didactic strories from Greek and italian language. He published his first book written in “simple Serbian language”(vernacular) in 1765, which marked the beginning of his prolific career as a writer.
In 1783 Dositej started publishing his more notable works. The first book that came out is called “Život i priključenija” (The Life and Adventures of Dimitrije Obradović), where he wrote about his life, or to be more precise, the period between his birth and his forty-third year of life. He reflected on the needs of schools and science and criticized the spiritual backwardness of the clergy.
The title of the book that followed was “Sovjeti zdravoga razuma”(Counsels of Common Sense). It was a collection of thoughts and advices, which he gathered from educated people and translated into Serbian. The title of his third bookwas “Sobranije”, it was a collection of didactic stories and philosophical views on patriotism, literature and moderation.
“Pismo Haralampiju” (Letter to Haralampije) was published in April 1783, it was an educational program in a form of a manifesto, where he presented his ideas.
His goal was to write a book in which he would translate quotes from wise and famous people into vernacular language, the language of ordinary people. He wanted every peasant in Serbia to understand his writing, which they could use to educate and enlighten themselves.
His mission in life was to make science and philosophy available to everyone, both the educated and uneducated people. He advocated religious tolerance, equality and superiority of reason. He raised Serbian culture and literature from the local, religious level to a new national level with pure vernacular language, which everyone could understand.
When he heard that the First Serbian Uprising was about to take place, he decided to help the rebellion. At first he raised money for the cause and conducted confidential missions between the rebels and Russia and later he came to Serbia where he became an adviser to Karađorđe (The leader of the First Serbian Uprising).
He did everything he could and used all the knowledge he had to organize the new country. He spent the last five years of his life in liberated areas of Serbia, providing tremendous contrubution to education and science.
Dositej Obradovic died on 28 March 1811 in Belgrade. He left behind a multitude of works, translations and advices. He will always be remembered as a man whorelentlessly fought for Serbian education and literature and as one of the most important educators and reformes in Serbia.[ultimate_spacer height=”30″][dt_fancy_title title=”Related Articles” title_align=”left” title_size=”normal” title_color=”accent” el_width=”100″ title_bg=”disabled” separator_color=”default”][ultimate_spacer height=”30″ height_on_tabs=”” height_on_tabs_portrait=”” height_on_mob_landscape=”” height_on_mob=””]
