SASA Corresponding Member Dejan Mijač passed away

It is with great sorrow that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts announces that Dejan Mijač (b. Bijeljina, 17 May 1934), a corresponding member of the SASA Department of Arts and theatre director, whose plays have left an indelible mark on the theatrical art of Serbia and the region, died on 5 April 2022 in Belgrade, at the age of 88.

He graduated in directing from the Theatrical Arts Academy in Belgrade, in the class of Professor Vjekoslav Afrić in 1958. Afterwards, he worked as a permanent director at the National Theatre in Tuzla in the period between 1958 and 1961, as well as at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad between 1962–1974, followed by his work as a drama professor at the Studio of Drama of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad (1964–1972), a lecturer at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad (1978–1980) and a professor of Theatre directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts of the University of Arts in Belgrade (from 1974 until his retirement).

He was elected a SASA corresponding member at the last SASA Election Assembly on 4 November 2021.

Dejan Mijač directed as many as 135 theatre plays, starting with the play ‘The Plough and the Stars’ by Seán O’Casey in 1956, and the last ‘The Cherry Orchard’ by Anton P. Chekhov in 2010. He belonged to that particular group of extraordinary begetters, who while directing theatre plays, revealed to his actors, spectators and students the philosophy of life in different epochs. Using special methods, he managed to illustrate nuances leading to social upheavals, detect the most clandestine motifs of human behaviour, unveil unconceivable states of a soul and make visible the links between past and future, all in the elected genre of comedy and tragedy. As a great directing master, Mijač would put a mirror of the times in front of the theatre audience, and through his work, he would testify that the essence of theatre directing has been in the never-ending beauty of the passing moment.

There are memorable set-ups in his creative opus such as Chekhov, Shakespeare, Moliere, Jovan Sterija Popović Jovan Radulović. He received a series of recognitions and awards for his dedicated works, some of which are: six Sterija’s Awards for directing, two Sterija’s Awards for merits in theatrical arts, two ‘Bojan Stupica’ Awards in 1978 and 1986, October Prize of the City of Novi Sad (1969), October Prize of the City of Belgrade (1977) and the recognition of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for outstanding contribution to national culture (2007).

His passing represents a great loss for the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and Serbian society in general.