Novi Bečej and Vranjevo had individuals who future generations, not just this one, can be proud of. Unfortunately, their names are not commemorated in today's Novi Bečej, nor are there gatherings dedicated to them and their work.
The only exception is the great Josif Marinković. He has become and remained unforgettable thanks to the efforts and care of Branislav-Bata Kiselički. The people of Vranjevo and Vranjevci honored Marinković by naming their elementary school after him, reminding generations (students) of the immortal giant, cradled in the Vranjevo cradle. Then, there is the main street of Vranjevo, which bears the name of Josif Marinković, as well as a memorial plaque on the house where his birth house once stood, and a beautiful collection of diplomas, articles, speeches, lectures, compositions, and personal items of Josif Marinković.
We also had the opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted with the work of Joca Savić on October 10, 1997. On that day, an international symposium on the work of this great man, who gained fame in German theaters, was held in Novi Bečej. It was a gathering of a high scientific level.
No less deserving of recognition for bringing fame to our two towns are Jovan Knežević-Caca, Draginja Rušić-Popović, Dr. Jene Sentklareji, Aleksandar Berić, and others, yet their names can hardly be noticed anywhere in Novi Bečej, except perhaps here and there in a book at the National Library, or with individuals.
I have written a modest book in which I presented the merits of the people of Vranjevo and Novi Bečej in the founding of Serbian theater. One meeting of our Homeland Club was also dedicated to this, and on my part, I published reviews on this role, with special emphasis on Jovan Knežević-Caca, as the founder of the first Serbian professional theater, in two issues of the journal for theater history and theater studies "TEATRON."
This is such a great achievement that even our largest cities, including Belgrade itself, would be proud of it. I consider it a significant oversight that our fellow citizens do not pay due attention to them and their work. I have no doubt that, given today's economic and political situation in our country and the world, they are overwhelmed with concerns about the difficult situation in which enterprises, institutions, and individuals find themselves. However, concern for remembering and mentioning our noble ancestors requires so little effort and even less material sacrifice, which can be separated without the risk of something more significant being missed from the tough daily grind.
The people of Novi Bečej may never again have the opportunity to achieve anything close to what they have done in the development of Serbian culture in the broadest sense.
It takes so little time and effort for the Municipal Assembly to decide to place memorial plaques on their birth houses, name streets after these noble deceased, and from time to time, at multi-year intervals, hold a gathering where the work of the great deceased is presented and introduced to young generations. With busts of individuals along the quay or in the park, the town would be beautified with a fitting recognition of the great deeds of the deceased. Perhaps in this way, younger citizens would be encouraged to research and gather data for further and broader illumination of their role and significance, not only for Novi Bečej and Vranjevo but also for our country.
The people of Novi Bečej, who have not had the opportunity to become acquainted with the role of their fellow citizens in the development of Serbian theater art, cannot even imagine how great that achievement is. Here, let me briefly list them:
In Novi Bečej in 1830, an amateur theater troupe was founded, led by Antonije Brežovski. It lasted for 18 years, unlike all previous and even later ones in Vojvodina, whose lifespan was one year, at most two. In this Novi Bečej troupe, women also performed, which was then a rarity and considered great courage in patriarchal morality.
Jovan Knežević-Caca founded the first Serbian professional theater in Vranjevo in 1860, from which the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad was formed in 1861. In the first generation of actors at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, almost half of the entire ensemble consisted of the sons, daughters, and sons-in-law of Priest-Luka Popović from Vranjevo.
In the history of Serbian theater, Aleksandar (Šandor) Popović from Vranje deserves a special place. Along with Kosta Živković from Great Bečkerek, he founded the first amateur theater troupe in Sombor. This Serbian Theater Society, as the first Sombor troupe was called, presented as many as 36 performances within six months of its existence, which was exceptionally high for that time. In the 1850s, Aleksandar founded an amateur theater troupe in Irig. He was involved in translating plays from German and Hungarian (Silera, Kocebua, etc.) and was among the first to respond to the Serbian National Theater's invitation to transfer the ownership rights of his translations to the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad. As early as April 1862, he created actor rules based on Goethe, which, in content, actually represented the first textbook for actors and directors in Serbian.
Stevan Čekić from Vranje formed the second theater troupe in Vojvodina, which performed in larger towns across Serbia.
The Theater of Laza Popović, the son of pop-Luka from Vranje, was the third troupe among Serbs overall. It performed in Vojvodina and Serbia, but also in Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, and Montenegro, visiting places and regions where no theater had performed before.
Laza Popović was the first director of the newly established National Theater in Belgrade in 1868.
Jefta Žikić from Novi Bečej belongs to a somewhat younger generation but has made significant contributions to the recent development of theater in Serbia. In addition to his prolific acting career, he also had his traveling theater troupe. This troupe evolved into the City Theater in Šabac in 1907, of which he was the first director.
Among the four original singers from the Serbian ranks in the Belgrade opera, three are from Vranje: Teodora - Toda Arsenović - Boberić, Vojislav Turinski, and Aleksandar Nešić - Tucaković.
After World War I, the first director of the Belgrade Opera was Vojislav Turinski from Novi Bečej. He also organized the first children's theater in Belgrade.
Actors from Belgrade theaters in the 1930s include: Milorad Majin - Krka, Radivoj Ranisavljević - Ćaća, and Đura Dragić, all from Novi Bečej.
By coincidence, one of the main figures in the founding of the opera in Novi Sad was our fellow citizen Bogdan Čiplić, a writer and at that time the director of the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad.
From one family in Vranje (five daughters, two sons, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren of the priest Luka Popović), more than 20 prominent actors in the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad and the National Theater in Belgrade emerged, a case unmatched to this day.
Today, there are still prominent actors in Belgrade theaters who were born in or are originally from Novi Bečej: Slavko and Nikola Simić, Vlasta Velisavljević, and others.
The greatest achievement by a Serb in renowned foreign theaters is by Joca Savić from Novi Bečej. He is considered an exceptional figure not only in European but also in world theater. He was an actor, director, and theater pedagogue. As a writer, he was distinguished for his essays on theater theory and dramaturgy. His greatest contribution was his original interpretation of Shakespeare. He achieved successes and honors in Germany as a member of major theaters. Although his contribution to Serbian culture is modest since he went to Vienna with his parents at the age of 6 or 7, he nonetheless brought Serbian names and his people to the attention of Europe. Savić emphasized his Serbian identity and provided guidance and training to our distinguished actors Dobrica Milutinović and Vitomir Bogić. He took pride in his Serbian origin and the ability to help, even in this modest way, Serbian culture. For his continuous patriotic attitude towards all Serbs who sought his advice and assistance, the Serbian government awarded him the Order of Saint Sava III class in 1903, and at the suggestion of the Belgrade National Theater, he was appointed an honorary member of the theater in 1904.
One might wonder why so many well-known individuals and groups have emerged from Novi Bečej and Vranjevo, relatively small places, and made such significant contributions to a particular field of social creativity.
During the period of Romanticism and the rise of national fervor among Serbs in Vojvodina, Novi Bečej, though small in population, was the main grain market for all of Hungary. Thanks to this trade, wealth was generated, creating conditions for broad societal support for culture and education.
Additionally, Vranjevo, which was included in the Velikokikindski District in 1776, experienced very rapid economic development, also due to the grain trade. It had the main grain warehouses for the entire District (including the ten largest Serbian villages, such as Kikinda, in Northern Banat). In a relatively short time, Vranjevo became, after Kikinda, the second largest town in the District.
The economic prosperity of our two places influenced both the economic strengthening of the population and the creation of increased interest in the arrival of various specialists. Among these immigrants were many families from which notable names would emerge: Josif Marinković, Ognjeslav Kostović, Dr. Jena Sentkaraji (Evgenije Nedić), Aleksandar Berić, and others.
All of this created the basic conditions for Antonio Brežovski's endeavor to establish an amateur theater troupe, as the beginning of this activity, to be widely accepted by the Novi Bečej-Vranjevo community. The societal support was evident as the most prominent citizens not only provided material and moral support but also directly participated in the troupe's activities, sometimes with their spouses. The troupe became something akin to a school, church, or similar institution, embraced by the entire population. No celebration or major holiday could be imagined without the theater troupe performing a play.
Before the appearance of this Novi Bečej troupe, there had been no recorded case of an amateur troupe lasting so long and having such a wide repertoire. There were, besides translations of foreign works, plays by domestic authors, and the troupe was among the first in Vojvodina to present the latest plays by Jovan Sterija Popović.
At the time of the formation of the theater troupe, Jovan Knežević - Caca was 12 years old. It remained in his memory as something special, and he eagerly awaited growing up to become an actor. He wished to become a national hero, even if only on stage. He carried this love for theater and actors from his parental home, as his father, being a merchant from Vranjevo, must have been a theater enthusiast.
His further education in Kecskemét gave him the opportunity to meet real theater artists, albeit foreign ones, and to further love theater. There, he attended performances by professional Hungarian actors, which later helped him succeed as an actor, director, and eventually as the manager of the first professional theater among Serbs.
He returned to Novi Bečej with acquired theater experience and found it difficult to accept the level of the Novi Bečej amateur troupe. Therefore, in Vranjevo, he founded a new troupe, including the best actors from the Novi Bečej troupe. With this newly formed group, he performed in Novi Bečej and Vranjevo, but his desire for further improvement took him to Zagreb and then to Velika Kikinda, where he also directed several plays. However, he was not satisfied. As soon as he learned that Nikola Đurković from Pančevo was performing with his amateur theater troupe in Belgrade, he joined his troupe and performed in Belgrade.
Although he worked as a clerk in the Vranjevo Municipality from the time of the Great Rebellion until 1857, Knežević's love for theater never waned. In 1857, he founded a theater troupe in Vranjevo and participated as a guest in other troupes wherever invited.
His love for theater is illustrated by his move to Srpski Čanad in 1860. There, at the invitation of the Čanad theater troupe, which had only given one performance up to then, he left his job and family (wife and two children) in Vranjevo to respond to this call.
The theater was his obsession. In Čanad, there were several talented young men who, along with those he brought from Vranjevo and Velika Kikinda, formed a theater troupe that performed in Veliki Semikluš and Velika Kikinda. After that, he returned with the troupe to Vranjevo, including the remaining adult children of the priest Luka Popović, and fulfilled his long-standing dream - founding the first Serbian professional theater. Unlike amateur troupes, the members of this theater had specific roles, the theater became their permanent workplace, they received monthly salaries, and the troupe had its modest wardrobe, stage decorations, and library.
With this theater, he successfully toured all the major towns in Vojvodina, and achieved particular success when performing in Novi Sad at the end of 1860.
The successes achieved by Knežević's theater prompted Svetozar Miletić, as president of the Serbian Reading Room in Novi Sad, Jovan Đorđević, Jovan Jovanović - Zmaj, and others, to accelerate preparations for the establishment of a permanent Serbian theater in Novi Sad.
They used the return of Knežević's theater to Novi Sad in June 1861 to recruit 14 out of 17 actors from Knežević's theater to join the newly established theater. On July 16, 1861, the Serbian Reading Room officially founded the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, marking the beginning of its work. Knežević, on July 16 of the same year, bade farewell to the Novi Sad audience with his final performance, and just the following week, on July 23, 1861, the Serbian National Theater held its first performance.
Thus ended the great cultural endeavor of a man who dedicated all his strength to creating the first Serbian professional theater.
In addition to our fellow citizens who made Novi Bečej and Vranjevo famous in the field of theater, there are many others who continued this tradition but did not gain fame outside Novi Bečej. These were enthusiasts who strove to make life for their fellow citizens more beautiful, content-rich, and cultural through their talent, work, and achieved skill. They were amateur theater enthusiasts.
Among the broad mosaic of amateur theater troupes in Novi Bečej and Vranjevo, it is worth highlighting the theater troupe "Napredak," which operated from 1901 to 1941, with a break during World War I. It was a genuine Vranjevo acting school through which many young teachers, farmers, artisans, traders, and others passed, and its constant and always high-quality work represented the finest continuation of Jovan Knežević's great work. The Vranjevo audience valued its amateur theater enthusiasts, and the troupe lasted for a long time, but at the same time, it demanded high quality from its members.
In the last 20 years, the true artistic leader and driving force behind this troupe was Arsen Pecarski, a restaurateur from Vranjevo. Successfully playing many leading roles and directing dramas, comedies, and musical plays that were current in theater and life in these regions at the time, he invested relentlessly and selflessly not only his free time but also sacrificed material resources for stage equipment, theatrical plays, wardrobe, and other theatrical props. Until World War II, "Napredak" could not be imagined without Arsen Pecarski and his most prominent actors. Thus, in the third decade of this century, besides Arsen, names such as Joce Vlajovanov, Joce Rakić, Kosta Stankov, Sosa Veselinov-Pecarski, and others are remembered.
Arsen Pecarski was a theater art enthusiast to the point of fanaticism. In this regard, he was similar to his esteemed predecessor and fellow citizen Jovan Knežević - Caca. He repeatedly exhausted his creative abilities and great work energy to achieve major premieres. He maintained connections with professional theater troupes in Belgrade, took his best actors to current premieres, especially those written by Branislav Nušić, and quickly brought them to the stage of "Napredak." In this way, the relevance of this amateur theater's work was constantly reflected, and the acting talent was renewed. Thus, well-known acting personalities emerged in the fourth decade: Boža Dujin, Dobrivoje-Bata Ćurčić, Marjan Jovanović-Frence, Mita Ćurčić, Anđa Dujin, and many others. Already before World War II, a new generation of actors appeared: Mile Dujin, Bogdan Baškov, Kasijan Malešev, Ljubica Sudarski, Milka Lalić, and others.
This brief overview of the theater and cultural activities of the people of Novi Bečej and Vranjevo aims to stimulate the interest of our fellow citizens to learn about the work of their esteemed ancestors and to nurture respect for them, thus preserving them from oblivion.
In researching data on the participation of Vranjevo and Novi Bečej residents in the creation and development of Serbian theater, I noticed that some biographical details were missing, such as place and year of birth or information about their parents, so I have made additions or corrections to incorrectly provided data.
In this book, I will list the great works of our theater builders, and for individuals whom I believe I did not sufficiently highlight in my mentioned book and articles, I will provide more details here.
