Eustahia Arsic: First published Serbian female writer

Eustahia Arsic, first woman writer in Serbia

The first female Serbian writer after Jefimija and the first woman from Serbia who printed her literary works.

She was born into a family of Cinčić in Irig, on 14th March 1776, and died in Arad on 17th February 1843.

There are no documents available about her schooling, but it is known that she was well educated. She read Rajić, Obradović, Stojković, Kengelc and Julinc. She was subscribed to all the works of Dositej Obradovic early in the 19th century in Arad, where she lived with her parents. Otto Ferdinand Dubislav von Pirch, in his book "Traveling trough Serbia" mentions that she has translated Voltaire, Wieland and James Thomson.

As a young women she was married to Mr. Lacković, a merchant in Koprivnica. Her second husband was Toma Radovanović, a wealthy merchant in Karlovac (Croatia) who bought his title of nobility from the Viennese court. In the first years of the 19th century, she married her third husband, nobleman Sava Arsic who was a longtime senator and mayor of Arad, great benefactor of Arad's school for teachers, and a patron of Serbian writers of that time. It was after their marriage that Eustahia started her literary work.

"Совет матерњи" (Mother's advice), her first work as an author, was published anonymously in 1814, and it was dedicated to Uroš Nestorović. In this book Eustahia Arsić occurs as a propagator of the 18th century ideas of Enlightenment and as a supporter of understanding of the necessity for education of women. She published one other book after that: "Полезнаја размишлењу о четирех годишних, временех" (Useful thoughts about four seasons) and an essay "Морална поученија" (Lessons on morality).

Eustahia Arsic was a first female associate of the Chronicles of Matica srpska, working in the field where only men were allowed before her.

Eustahia Arsic

Due to long illness and duties with managing the estate after her husband passed away, she didn't write last 30 years of her life. Her contemporaries didn't write much about the first women among writers in Serbia, which is not surprising. Man at that time was not indifferent to whether his wife would take a pen or a wooden spoon in hand. Some of them, like Joakim Vujić, father of the Serbian Theatre, used to speak against her for her three marriages, but after he received finnacial support she and her husband were always willing to give to the struggling writers, he swore his eternal gratitude and he dedicated his book "Животоописаније"  to her. Eustahia's name appeared two or three times in some magazines and then disappeared. She died in 1843, almost forgotten. She had no children, so she left her property to friends, two churces in Arad and one church in Irig, her hometown. She also bequeathed a fund of 3,000 florins to the municipality of administration of the church Sava Tekelija, so that five Serbian poor widows could enjoy annual interest.

Source:
http://poesibad.wikidot.com/eustahija-arsic
http://knjizenstvo.etf.bg.ac.rs/en/authors/eustahija-arsic

http://srpskoblago.rs/eustahija-arsic/

Poetry:

ЧТО ПОЛЗУЈЕ

Что ползује, мили брате,
меланхолик бити?
Није ли лепше с твојом браћом
веселому бити?

Слушај славуј како поје
и пастире зове
да предводе стадо своје
у зелено поље.

Док је јоште цвеће, трава,
росом покривено
и јошт није творцу своме
главу подклонило.

Тихи зефир, тихи зефир
луге прохладава и разноси,
и разноси мирис љубичице.

Ливаде се, ливаде се
пољским цвећем красе
и привлаче, и привлаче
сваког очи на се.

ЗИМА

Возљубљењаја, нежнаја
сердца јуности,
певала сам вам радости весенија,
веселоје красно лето
и влату јесен,
сад воспевам сердцам вашим
грознују зиму.
Последњују пјесн моју
јегда умолкну.

Спешиш, спешиш,
бедна зимо,
жизни мојеја,
хладнејут нерви моја,
вјешчајут конец.

Скоро, скоро,
смерт грознаја
сразит ме косом.

Споменте мја со песни,
љубимци музи,
Се сушчество нам певала
пријатни песни,
ту ја жертву потребујем
благодарности.

СЛОВО НАДГРОБНОЈЕ
Надежда и шчастје, сад мње опрашчајте:
доста со мноју играли јесте,
од сад играјс другими;
покој души всјех даров јест
најлучши.

МАЈЦИ МАРТИ
(НА НАДГРОБНОЈ ПЛОЧИ)

Церна мрежа сен матере
миле моје покрива,
уцвељено сердце чадско
вековечно пленила.
Густо тавно теме земље
Груди нежне притисло
и од дштери матерња
век разставило
ох! Грозно!
Ево т' детски, нежна мати,
последњи моји уздисаји,
сердце, љубав,
воздвиже ти
на памјатник овај
Еустахија,
дшти верности.