Janos Mesaros entered the stage of naïve art in the early 1960s. As a young and talented painter, he became a member of the group of naïve artists “Selo” founded in Novi Bečej by Dragiša Bunjevački. Alongside Bunjevački, one of the most remarkable representatives of naïve art in Serbia, the group also included Milica and Milivoj Mirić, Svetozar Kiselički, Tivadar Košut, and Janos Mesaros.

How This Booklet Came to Be

When my article titled “Kumane” appeared in the Yugoslav Daily on August 2, 1931 (issue no. 202), my parishioners received it with great enthusiasm. It was read aloud in gatherings and on street corners before groups of listeners. Soon, many expressed the wish that it be printed as a small booklet and distributed among the people of my parish.

The theatrical work of Jovan Knežević is mostly known in fragments, particularly from the time he founded his renowned theatre troupe in the autumn of 1860. At that time, with the political climate shifting in Hungary and greater political freedoms and autonomy being granted (the so-called October Diploma of 1860), an active theatrical life among Serbs was revived after a decade of Bach’s absolutist repression.

Pavle Janković - Šole, born on January 19, 1939, in Novi Bečej, was one of the most respected Serbian poets, whose poetry, although primarily intended for children, carried deep messages for adults as well. His name in literature is associated with an authentic and gentle approach to childhood, making him an expert in understanding children's thoughts and dreams.

Hajnalka Zerebelji is the first female lawyer in Novi Bečej. After several decades of professional work, she has gained extensive experience, which she gladly shares with younger colleagues.

During the summer, the occupying authorities made sure that every resident over the age of 18 was supplied with an identity card. Without such a document, no one could leave the village, and often, it was impossible to move freely even within the town. This measure by the occupiers was a novelty for the population. In the pre-war period, very few villagers possessed identity cards, so the introduction of this new regulation sparked various reactions. However, it was clear that the primary purpose of these identity cards was to help the occupiers implement more effective control over the movement of the population, as well as to identify suspicious individuals, of whom there were more and more, causing the enemy increasing concern.

The renowned teacher from Kumanovo, Aleksandar "Šandor" Popović, was born in Bačko Petrovo Selo, where his father worked as a municipal official. Later, he lived in Belgrade, where he pursued his teaching career. His wife was Cveta Horvatova, the sister of the well-known pharmacist Dušan Horvat, and their father was a teacher, Radislav.

Fifty years have passed since the day when seven hundred Jews from northern Banat, including one hundred and sixty of our fellow citizens, vanished forever from the banks of the Tisa River near Novi Bečej. They were carried away by the black ships of death into the abyss of annihilation.

...On March 27, 1941, communists stood with the masses, explaining the essence of the events and leading all protests and revolts against the shameful and treacherous betrayal of the country by the pro-fascist government.
Throughout the day, communists and members of the Communist Youth League (SKOJ) conducted extensive agitation, aiming to initiate democratization and organize a protest meeting. All social organizations, schools, and the entire village were mobilized.

After World War I, the parents of Gligorije and Jovanka Popov left Dragutinovo and moved to Rusko Selo in search of a piece of land as part of a “colonization” effort. That small plot of fertile soil, coupled with debt to the Agrarian Bank for building a house and other hardships, made life difficult and impoverished.

Milorad “Mića” Josimović (born in 1949) is a versatile artist and designer, a man whose creativity and craftsmanship have left a lasting mark on the artistic life of Novi Bečej and beyond.

Responsibility, ambition, and dedication marked the life and career of Dr. Milorad Drobac, Doctor of Economic Sciences.
He was born on February 11, 1948, in Bočar, where he completed elementary school as the top student of his class.

Novi Bečej is a small town that, before liberation, was considered a town with about 7,000 inhabitants. And when you consider that many of its residents engaged in literature over a period of just about 30 years, and most of them wrote poetry, it can be boldly said that there was a real poetic school in Novi Bečej. Especially when you take into account that a group of the local youth at the time, part of its young intelligentsia, wrote poems as if by some mutual agreement, and some even by an explicit agreement — so much so that they almost literally formed a genuine poetic school.

Northeast of the settlement of Novi Bečej lies Arača, a significant monument of past centuries and one of the oldest examples of medieval architecture in the region.

In 2008, Novi Bečej's Elementary School "Miloje Čiplić" will mark its centenary. Few of today's students, as well as older ones, even know who the person after whom our school is named was, and who it was named after following World War II.

Dr Ljubomir Pavlović was born in Novi Bečej on June 18, 1868, into the family of Nikita Pavlović, a gingerbread maker, and his wife Marica. He received his elementary education in his hometown and completed his secondary education in Sremski Karlovci and Hódmezővásárhely. He studied medicine in Vienna and Budapest, graduating in 1892.

Dragiša Bunjevački, a painter from Novi Bečej and the founder of the group “Selo,” was born in 1925 in Pančevo.
He was an artist who lived to paint, but never lived from painting nor painted merely to survive.

The medieval settlement of Arača is located on the southern shore of Crna Bara, a watercourse within the alluvial plain of the Tisza River, about 13 kilometers east of its riverbed. The name of this settlement, also referred to in sources as Potiska Arača, is associated with the ruins of a basilica and monastery.

The two-story building of the former Tursko-Bečejska Savings Bank is located at 3 Marshal Tito Street, extending from the Schlesinger Palace, at the corner with Gimnazijska Street. According to documentation from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Zrenjanin, written by art historian Vesna Majstorović, the following details about the building are known:

Perhaps the reason must be invented

Perhaps the relation between the idea and its conventional realization in traditional painting techniques, as well as the relation between such an image and its photocopy (which contains additions from photographs and objects), can be measured—perhaps even considered identical.

Last night, at half past seven, a member of the Serbian National Theatre, Serbian actor and writer, the most outstanding theatrical character artist in the Slavic South—Laza Telečki—passed away at the age of 33. Tuberculosis, which has become a common ailment among the youth, and in his case, almost a family curse—having already claimed two of his brothers and a sister—has taken his life.

Telečki was an unusual, curious, lively, inquisitive, multifaceted, and, above all, restless personality. At the dawn of our first professional theaters, he quickly emerged in the spotlight and became our first acting star.

Drinking in front of stores in Serbia is not just a custom – it’s an institution! It dates back to the first store and the first bottle of rakija – essentially, since the dawn of time. Even the old craftsmen in the Ottoman period would take a “merak break,” drinking in front of shops while debating if it would rain.

This image shows the appearance of Novi Bečej in the late 1910s, with a focus on its Main Street — at the time, the central axis of everyday life, trade, education, and religion. On the left side, we see the prominent building of the state school, one of the cornerstones of the town’s modernization. This institution served not only as a place of learning but also as a space for shaping the collective identity of a diverse population.

Since the great storm of 1931 toppled the slender tower of the Orthodox Church in Novi Bečej, only a few photographs and postcards remain as documents of that never-forgotten, much-talked-about ornament of our church. When a new tower with a wider structure and a considerably shorter height was erected later that same year, the citizens, especially the faithful, did not look upon it with much affection.

Ivan Jovanović, an only child of Dragomir Jovanović, a merchant, and Zlata Jovanović, née Aranka Stanišić, a teacher, was born in Novi Bečej on February 13, 1928. The Jovanović family house was located in the heart of the town on Žarka Zrenjanina Street, number 1. While his father Dragomir was busy with the family business, Ivan mostly grew up alongside his mother and his aunt Leposava Jovanović, a teacher, who were known not only for their strictness but also for their versatility and fair pedagogical approach toward children.

Tibor Nađ was born in 1952 in Novi Bečej. He graduated from the School of Applied Arts in Novi Sad in 1973. His work spans painting, industrial design, and unique ceramics.

Sava Baračkov was born in 1929 in Kumane, Banat, where he completed elementary school. He attended construction and architectural secondary schools in Novi Bečej, Petrovgrad, and Novi Sad. In 1955, he graduated from the Department of Scenography at the Academy of Applied Arts in Belgrade, under the mentorship of Professor Milenko Šerban.

Tivadar Košut, a world-renowned naïve painter, was born in 1947 in Novi Bečej. He inherited his love for painting from his mother, who painted icons. Although his parents wanted him to become a carpenter or a ceramicist, art ultimately became his true calling.

In the photographs that tell a story of the past, we see Boško Maksić, known as "Šeboj," once a symbol of hard work and prosperity. Born in Kuman, he was a wealthy farmer and a respected member of his community. However, after World War II, his life took a tragic turn. The forced expropriation of his property by the regime completely shattered his life and stability.