Augustin Josip "Tin" Ujević (; 5 July 1891 – 12 November 1955) was a Croatian poet, considered by many to be the greatest poet in 20th-century Croatian literature.
From 1921, he ceased to sign his name as Augustin, thereafter using the signature Tin Ujević.
Biography
Ujević was born in Vrgorac, a small town in the Dalmatian hinterland, and attended school in Imotski, Makarska, Split and Zagreb.
In 1909, while studying literature, his first sonnet "Za novim vidicima" (Towards New Horizons) appeared in the journal Mlada Hrvatska (Young Croatia). After the assassination attempts on the ban Slavko Cuvaj in 1912, Ujević became active in the Nationalist youth movement and was repeatedly imprisoned.
During the years 1930–37, Ujević lived in Sarajevo, then 1937–1940 in Split, finally moving back to Zagreb, where he lived until his death in 1955. In the last days of 1950 a selection of his work was published in Zagreb, under the title "Rukovet" ("Handful").
Legacy
In addition to his poetry, Tin Ujević also wrote essays, short stories, serials (feuilletons), studies on foreign and domestic authors, and he translated philosophical discussions from many foreign languages.).
He wrote more than ten books of essays, poetry in prose and meditations — but his enduring strength lies chiefly in his poetic works. At first a follower of Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević and more especially A.G. Matoš, Ujević soon moved on and developed his own independent voice.
He preferred the French and American modernists such as Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Walt Whitman, whose work he translated. His first collections Lelek sebra, and Kolajna, inspired by his years in Paris, are considered the peak of modern Croatian lyrical poetry. In 2003, the Jadrolinija ferry, MV Tin Ujević was named for the poet. In 2005, Hrvatska Pošta issued a stamp in their series of Famous Croats: Tin Ujević on the 50th anniversary of his death. By 2008, a total of 122 streets in Croatia were named after Ujević, making him the ninth most common person for whom streets were named in Croatia. Six streets in Serbia are named after Ujević .
Works
thumb|Ujević on a 2016 Serbian stamp
- Lelek sebra (Cry of a slave), 1920, Belgrade (in Cyrillic, ekavian)
- Kolajna (Necklace), 1926, Belgrade (in Cyrillic, ekavian)
- Auto na korzu (Car on the promenade) 1932
- Ojađeno zvono (Heavy-hearted bell) 1933, Zagreb
- Skalpel kaosa (Scalpel of chaos) 1938, Zagreb
- Ljudi za vratima gostionice (People behind inn doors) 1938, Zagreb
- Žedan kamen na studencu (Thirsty stone at the wellspring), 1954, Zagreb
His collected works, Sabrana djela (1963–1967) were published in 17 volumes. Individually and within selected works, Izabrana djela, numerous editions of his poems, essays and studies were published.