Danko Popović | Origin of Street Names

Slobodan "Danko" Popović (1928 - 2009) was a Serbian writer, novelist, storyteller, and screenwriter, best known as the author of one of the most widely read domestic novels ever - "The Book about Milutin".

Born and raised in Aranđelovac, he studied and graduated from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, where he subsequently spent most of his life, engaging in writing short stories, novels, radio and television dramas.

By addressing predominantly the themes of recent Serbian history (after World War II) and Serbian suffering, constant new illusions and hopes, and the abandonment of villages and traditional values, Danko Popović found himself on the margins of the Serbian and Yugoslav literary "scene" of his time from the very beginning.

Although never directly criticizing the regime, he was marked as a writer whose works had an inconvenient political connotation and was sidelined from the public stage, writing almost his entire life without any media attention or support.

Although his literary opus only gained recognition and a larger number of readers in recent times, posthumously, one novel brought him eternal fame even during his lifetime.

It is "The Book about Milutin", a deep yet accessible, poignant and devastating, yet enlightening and proud story about the fate of Serbian peasants in the first half of the 20th century, written from the perspective of one of them - Milutin.

Through the poignant life story of the main character, Uncle Milutin, a virtuous and dignified host, a participant in liberation wars, and a man of impeccable reasoning, Danko Popović perfectly portrays the tragedy of Serbian peasants, the decline of traditional and moral values, and the hopelessness in the times to come.

First published in 1985, at a time when the Yugoslav socialist order had already begun to crumble, heralding a new crisis for our society as a whole, "The Book about Milutin" came as a bolt from the blue. The result is reflected in over 40 reprints and around 400,000 copies sold. With such circulation, Danko Popović's novel, despite public marginalization, became the best-selling post-war book in Serbia.

In addition to "The Book about Milutin," Popović's opus includes several novels with similar themes and sharpness of thought ("Svinjski ujed," "Kuća Lukića," "Udovice," "Čarapići,"...), and it is little known that Danko Popović was also the screenwriter of the famous TV drama "Karađorđeva smrt," later turned into an even more popular TV series "Vuk Karadžić."

Despite the immense popularity of "The Book about Milutin," Danko Popović remained unjustly isolated from the media and the public until the end of his life. However, over time, his works gain increasing significance, and it seems that Danko Popović's time, in a literary sense, is yet to come.

Danko Popović died at the age of 81 and was buried in the churchyard of the church in Bukovik, near Aranđelovac.

In the hope that things will be different, the name of the great writer is now carried only by one street in the Belgrade neighborhood of Krnjača, and a memorial plaque in memory of Danko Popović is located at Požeška 150 in Banovo Brdo, the building where the writer lived for a full 40 years.