On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Aleksa Šantić, a commemoration of the great Mostar poet was held at the Serbian Orthodox cemetery Bjelušne in Mostar, organized by the Serbian Educational and Cultural Society (SPKD) Prosvjeta City Board Mostar and the Serbian Singing and Cultural Art Society “Gusle”.
The president of Prosvjeta in Mostar, Sanja Bjelica Šagovnović, said that Prosvjeta, together with SPKUD “Gusle” and the Crkvena municipality of Mostar, is trying to preserve the memory of the figure and work of Aleksa Šantić in a dignified way and return him to Mostar because, as she pointed out, there were no poets in this area that he resembles his city and town so much that he resembles a poet, as was the case with Šantić and Mostar.
“A century after the death of Aleksa Šantić, our greatest poet, he is very much alive in our Mostar and today, a hundred years after his death, he is the best and most faithful guardian of Serbian culture, history and tradition in Mostar,” she said.
She added that she hopes that the new Mostar generations will accept and love Šantić the way he loved all the citizens of Mostar, regardless of their name, surname, religion and nationality.
Journalist and publicist Šemsudin Zlatko Serdarević, a member of the Board of Directors of SPKD Mostar City Board Mostar, pointed out that Mostar has numerous symbols, but there is only one person among those symbols, and that is the poet Aleksa Šantić.
“Šantić was a man who was admitted to the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences in Zagreb, and then as a corresponding member to the Royal Academy in Belgrade. This tells us a lot about him. He charged Mostar and its citizens to study him, to affirm his image and act because he was a cosmopolitan. He knew that he was a Serb, Orthodox, but he stepped out of those frameworks and was a cosmopolitan, and precisely because of that he was accepted by all well-intentioned people,” emphasized Serdarević.
Honorary Vice President of SPKD Prosvjeta Ranko Čvoro pointed out that Aleksa Šantić is one of the greatest names that Mostar has given.
“A century has passed since Šantić was buried and he was sent off in a way that no one has ever been sent off before or after him. It is recorded that the funeral procession went through Mostar for six hours, and he was buried with torches. We came here humbly, in silence, to bow down, to be inspired, to refresh ourselves in front of the monument of a great man who long ago reached the vastness of the cosmos, and all those who are gentle, who are chaste, who are virtuous, come here to bow down the way they used to go and the way they go to the shrines of Gračanica, Dečane, Sopoćane,” said Čvoro.
Šantić was also remembered by the students of the Prosvjetina School, who arrived at the memorial service accompanied by the elder of the Cathedral Duško Kojić.
“Every day in Mostar, we remember our great poet Aleksa Šantić, he is remembered all over the world by the Serbian people, many schools and streets are dedicated to this great man, and it is important to note that here are children from Prosvjetina school, whose topic today was Aleksa Santic,” said Kojic, Fena news agency reports.
