Branko Miljković

Branko Miljković
Branko Miljković
Born	29 January 1934; Niš, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Died	12 February 1961 (aged 27); Zagreb, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
Resting place	New Cemetery, Belgrade
Alma mater	University of Belgrade
Occupation	Poet
Years active	1952–1961

Branko Miljković (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Миљковић; 29 January 1934 – 12 February 1961) was a Serbian poet.^[1]

Biography

Miljković was born in Niš to a Serb father Gligorije Miljković, who hails from Gadžin Han, and a Croat mother Marija Brailo, who hails from Trbounje near Drniš.^[2]^[3]^[4]

He was best known throughout Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern Bloc for his influential writings. At a time when no one could have foreseen anything but a bright future for the poet, he died prematurely in 1961 at the age of 27. He was found hanging from a tree in Zagreb, today's Croatia. This controversial incident was officially recorded as a suicide.^[5]

In his one-line poem "Epitaph", he writes "Ubi me prejaka reč" ("I was killed by a word too strong") almost sensing his premature end of life. During the last years of his life, he published five books of poetry (I Wake Her in Vain, Death against Death, The Origin of Hope, Fire and Nothing, The Shining Blood, criticism, and translations of the French Symbolists and Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. He continues to influence poets to this day.

Legacy

A biopic about Miljković's life and poetry Vatra i ništa ('Fire and Nothing') was produced in 1995. It was written and directed by Marislav Radisavljević [sr], and produced by Ivan Zdravković. Goran Milev played the role of Branko Miljković.^[6]

He is sometimes called "the Serbian prince of poetry".^[7]