Contents
Stefan Lastavica
Stefan Lastavica (Divoš, Serbia, 14 September 1908-Cleveland, U.S.A., 10 May 1966) was a Serbian musical writer of liturgical feasts and services, and Bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church's Eastern America and Canada Diocese. He is notable for publishing three extensive and important collections of Serbian Church Chant.
Biography
Born to a religious Serbian family in Vojvodina. His father was a Serbian Orthodox priest in Divos. He was educated in his hometown, Saint Arsenius Sremac Orthodox Seminary in Sremski Karlovci, Saint Sava Orthodox Seminary in Belgrade and the Faculty of Theology of the University of Belgrade. Upon graduation his natural talent and his academic learning caught the eye of the administration of the Serbian Orthodox Church at the Patriarchate in Belgrade.
Before taking his religious vows as a priest he married his high school sweetheart. Just prior to World War II, his son Milan was born (1940). Life became difficult during the war years and after the communist takeover even more so. During that period his wife became seriously ill and died. Lastavica then decided to become a monk. He was appointed secretary to the Holy Synod in Belgrade in 1951 for a short while until the post of rector of Liturgical Music at the Saint Sava Orthodox Seminary there became vacant. In 1956, before joining the community of Triestine Serbs as the parish priest of the Saint Spiridon Church, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest. After a short stay in Trieste he emigrated in 1960 to Windsor, Ontario, where he served as parish priest. In 1963 he was elected Bishop, and on the 13th of July (that same year) he was the first Serbian Orthodox Bishop to be consecrated in the United States of America (Aliquippa, Pennsylvania) by Bishop Hrizostom (Vojinović) of the Eparchy of Branićevo and Bishop Visarion (Kostić) of the Eparchy of Banat, who made the trip from Europe specifically for the occasion. He thus became the head of the newly organized Eastern America and Canada Diocese. Three years later, in 1966, he died and was buried at St. Elijah Serbian Cemetery in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.
Works
Bishop Stefan (Lastavica) of all the Serbian musicologists in Serbia and abroad was the first to introduce Serbian accents in his works which was a new creation in itself. In his setting of the "Oktoechos" and in two hefty volumes of "Feast Singing," Stefan Lastavica transferred the melodical fomulae from Russian accent into Serbian -- although keeping throughout the Church-Slavonic text of the Russian recension. This notable exception makes Bishop Stefan Lastavica a unique musicologist who introduced Serbian accents, a new creation in itself.
- Osmoglasnik (Oktoechos; 1951)
- Praznićno pojanje (Feast Chanting; two volumes, 1969)
- Liturgical Music of the Serbian Orthodox Church (2 volumes, 1969)
Legacy
He is the first Serbian Orthodox Bishop to be consecrated in the United States (Aliquippa, Pennsylvania) before being named Bishop of Eastern America and Canada Diocese. He was without a doubt, the most important Serbian musicologist and Church musician on the North American continent at the time.
His name in church music is celebrated along with the likes of Kornelije Stanković, Nikola Tajšanović, Gavrilo Boljarić, Jovan Kozobarić, Bishop Damaskin Grdanički, Branko Cvejić, Svetolik Paščan Kojanov, Kosta Manojlović, Nenad Barački and many more.
References
- Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%84%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%9B%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0
Mihailo Polit-Desančić
Mihailo Polit-Desančić (Novi Sad, 16 April 1833-Timișoara, 30 march 1920) was a Serbian writer, lawyer and politician.
Biography
Polit-Desančić studied law in Novi Sad and Vienna, as well as political science in Paris. He became a close collaborator of Svetozar Miletić, and together, along with the opposing party leader Jaša Tomić, were regarded as the most influential Serbs in Vojvodina, then integrated in the Habsburg Monarchy. He was the editor of Branik, a political newspaper. He entered politics and was elected deputy in the Croatian diet in 1861. At the same time, he was a member of the ecclesiastical and educational council of the Serbian Orthodox Church (Crkveno-školski sabor) in Sremski Karlovci.
After the dissolution of the Miletić's party, he was a member of the popular National Radical Party (Narodna radikalna stranka) and member of the National Liberal Party (Narodna liberalna stranka) and leader of the Liberals of Vojvodina.
He is buried in the Dormition cemetery at Novi Sad.
Works
Among his works, we can cite "Vernica Crnogorka" (The Montenegrin Fiancée, 1863), the historical drama "Branivoj knez Zahumski (Prince Branijoj of Zahumije, 1868), his travelogue "Putne uspomene (Voyage Memoirs), and memoirs such as "Kako sam svoj vek proveo (How I passed through my century), "Uspomene iz 1848-1849" (Remembrances of 1848-1849), "Pokojnici" (The Deceased) and four books entitled "Besede" (Words).
References
- Adapted and translated from Serbian Wkipedia
- Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts: http://www.sanu.ac.rs/Clanstvo/IstClan.aspx?arg=441,