On this day, March 3, 2010, Momo Kapor, a Serbian writer, painter, and journalist—a remarkably talented artist, senator, and academician of the Republic of Srpska—passed away.
Momčilo Momo Kapor was born in Sarajevo in 1937. His father, a royal soldier, was captured and sent to Germany, while his mother and grandmother tragically perished in Sarajevo during the German bombing.
During the war years, Momo stayed in Sarajevo with his grandmother’s sister, and a year after the war ended, his father brought him to Belgrade.
He graduated in painting in 1961 from the Belgrade Academy of Fine Arts in the class of Professor Nedeljko Gvozdenović, with an average grade of 9.9.
At the same time, Kapor wrote on his famous old Adler typewriter, which he remained loyal to throughout his life.
Kapor gained great popularity with his texts The Notes of One Ana, which later became a book.
This was followed by other well-known works by Kapor, including The Phonies, The Provincial, Ada, Zoe, Una, The Green Cloth of Montenegro, and The Last Flight from Sarajevo.
Kapor was the most widely read contemporary writer of the former Yugoslavia. He was also the author of numerous documentary films and television programs, and several feature films were made based on his scripts, including Almonds on the Other Side of Death, The Banquet, Walter Defends Sarajevo, Jolly Jockey, and The End of the Weekend.
His novels Una and The Book of Complaints were also adapted into films.
Kapor’s works have been translated into French, Russian, German, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Slovenian, and Swedish.
After his death, the “Momo Kapor Award” was established as an annual recognition presented by the “Momčilo Momo Kapor” Endowment, founded by Kapor’s wife, Ljiljana.
The award is alternately given for contributions to literature and fine arts on Kapor’s birthday, April 8, in the Grand Hall of the Belgrade City Assembly.
The award was first presented in 2011 for literature to the world-renowned film director Emir Kusturica for his novel Death Is an Unverified Rumor.
The second recipient of the award was the painter Vladimir Dunjić, for his lifetime artistic achievements.
Photo: Igor Pavićević/Pixabay
