Academician Miro Vuksanović passed away

It is with great regret that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts announces the passing of Academician Miro Vuksanović, who died at the age of 82, on 6 February 2026 in Novi Sad. Born on 4 May 1944 in Krnja Jela, he was one of our foremost writers. In addition to a prolific literary opus, his immeasurable contribution to Serbian culture is evident through his rich editorial work and notable literary series, which he launched. He also greatly contributed to the development of the librarian science in Serbia.

He completed primary school in his birthplace, while he finished Real Gymnasium in Nikšić. In 1969, He earned a degree from the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, Department of Yugoslav and General Literature.

In the period between 1970 and 1975, he worked as a professor of the Serbian Language and Literature at the Technical Education Centre in Sombor, where he also carried out the duties of the Centre’s assistant director for two years. Between 1975 and 1988, he was the director of the Karlo Bijelicki City Library. During this period, the library’s book holdings were expanded by 100,000 volumes. He initiated the Library’s publishing activities and served as its editor. He took on the role of the Dometi journal’s deputy editor-in-chief between 1974 and 1978, becoming its editor-in-chief for the period 1979-1988. He also headed publishing activities for ’Ravangrad’ between 1979 and 1988.

From 1988 until his retirement in 2014, M. Vuksanović served as Matica Srpska Library’s director. It is in this year that he was appointed the President of the Managing Board of this institution. He initiated several book series, most notably the multi-volume Catalogue of Serbian Books and Endowment collections. Vuksanović’s role as the director of the oldest Serbian library of national importance is best illustrated by the fact that its electronic catalogue, which today contains several million records, forms the backbone of Serbia’s virtual library (COBISS system) and has an arranged system of protection of cultural heritage. He reinstated the Annual Review of the Library, launched the ‘Tragovi’ series, as well as series on donors, etc. He was also the editor of the Vojvodina Book Bibliography in five languages. He edited the Catalogue of the Serbian Books in Vienna in the 18^th century, and more than 150 exhibition catalogues, alongside numerous volumes from the Library catalogue.

For his work in library science, he received the following republic awards: Milorad Panić Surep (in 1966), Zapis (in 2007), Đuro Daničić (2009) and Janko Šafarik (in 2014). In 1986, he was bestowed with the Octobar Prize of Sombor.

Vuksanović was a member of the Matica Srpska Managing Board from 1988 to 2008. He served as the Matica Srpska’s Vice-President from 2004 to 2008. He was the initiator of the Matica Srpska Publishing Centre concept and assumed the role of its Editor-in-Chief in 2008. He launched the anthology series ’Ten Centuries of Serbian Literature’, which received the Special Award at the International Book Fair in Belgrade in 2014, for ’the most far-reaching undertaking in Serbian publishing activities’. As the editor-in-chief of this unique edition, together with his associates, he significantly contributed to a clearer definition of the corpus of Serbian literature, spanning Saint Sava and oral literature to contemporary Serbian literature. He also edited the Matica Series, in which leading contemporary Serbian writers publish their books by invitation. He served as the editor of the Njegoš Collection of Matica Srpska.

He was elected a corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2009, and he became a full member in 2015. In 2011, he took on the duties of the SASA Library director. He was the editor of the SASA Library Book Forum, within which he launched the annual review of the eponymous name, containing the lectures delivered at book presentations and scientific proceedings. He edited the series Accession Speeches by SASA Academicians (1886–1947) (three volumes, 2019–2021), as well as Academy Accession Speeches (from 2016), Accession Speeches by SASA Corresponding Members (from 2019), and Bibliographies of SASA Members (from 2019).

Within the Academy, he served as the president of several boards, including the Academy Board for the History and Accession Speeches Publication (from 2019), Academy Board for Culture and Art (2018-2020), Board for the Study of the History of Literature (2014-2019), as well as a member of the Board for Etymological Dictionary of the Serbian Language and the Academy Board for the Serbian Question. He was a member of the Executive Board of the SASA Branch in Novi Sad (from 2011) and the president of the Managing Board of the Institute for the Serbian Language of SASA. Additionally, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Serbian Encyclopedia jointly published by SASA, Matica Srpska and the Public Institute for Textbooks.

From 2003, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Serbian Biographical Dictionary. He authored more than 150 lexical contributions and edited texts within his editorial jurisdiction.

He edited the books ‘Laza Kostić in Sombor’ (1980), ‘Ravangrad’ by Veljko Petrović (1984), the book of conversations ‘Characters of Milan Konjović’ (1991), ‘Chronicle’ by Stevan Raičković (2007), the anthological scientific publication ‘Petar II Petrović Njegoš’ (2010), ‘Serbian Dictionary or Alphabetical Novel: Literary Parts of the First and Second Editions (1818, 1852)’ by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (2012), the anthology ‘Milovan Đilas’ (2013), the anthology ‘Njegoš, Two Centuries’ (2013), ‘Digitized Njegoš, First Editions of Njegoš’s Works’ (a unique edition in 11 volumes on 1508 pages), the anthology ‘Miodrag Bulatović’ (2016) and other publications.

He served as the President of the Board of Directors of the Andrić Foundation from 2016 to 2025. He was the initiator and President of the Editorial Board of the ‘Critical Edition of the Works of Ivo Andrić’ (since 2016), the editor-in-chief of the ‘Bibliography of Ivo Andrić’ (2011–2021) and the journal ‘Sveske Zadužbina Ivo Andrića’ (2019–2025).

He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Miloš Crnjanski Foundation (2007–2012), Vice-President of the Vuk Endowment, and a member of the National Council for Culture (from 2011), serving as its President from 2014 to 2015.

His prolific literary output resulted in a rare opus in Serbian literature, with the following titles standing out: Kletva Peka Perkova (1977), Semolj Gora (2000), Semolj zemlja (2005), Semolj ljudi (2008), and Otvsjudu (2008), among others.

For his literary achievements, he received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Politika Award for a Short Story (1975); the Miroslavljevo jevanđelje Award for the best prose book in Yugoslavia (1997–2000); the Vuk Endowment’s Art Award (2000); the Prosveta Award for Prose (2000); the Borba Award for Book of the Year (2001); the Association of Writers of Vojvodina Award for Book of the Year (2002); the Laza Kostić Award for Narrative Prose (2005); the NIN Award for Best Novel (2005); the Meša Selimović Award for the best book in the Serbian language (2005); the Branko Radičević Statuette of Branko Kolo (2010); the Lifetime Achievement Charter of the Writers’ Association of Serbia (2012); the Stojan Novaković Award (2012); and the Veljkova golubica Award for overall narrative achievement (2015).

For exceptional contributions to the promotion of culture, education, and science in the Republic of Serbia, he was awarded the Vuk Award in 2004.

His passing represents a great loss for the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as for Serbian culture and society as a whole.