Safet Isović "Sajo Veličanstveni"
Ova verzija je rađena za englesko tržište. Izašla je
1969. na 7-inčnom tzv. "split" izdanju - na jednoj strani "
Mujo kuje
...", na drugoj "Himna čoveku" Olivere Vučo a.k.a. Olivere Katarine. (
PGP EP 51006)
Safet Isović (6
January 1936 --
2 September 2007) was a
Bosnian singer and one of the most prominent and popular performers of the Bosnian traditional music sevdalinka.
Isović was born to an ethnic
Bosniak family in the town of
Bileća located in the
Herzegovina region of
Bosnia and Herzegovina in January 1936 while Bosnia and Herzegovina was a part of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Safet was one of three children of Emina and
Ahmet Isović; his brothers name was Fehim and his sister was Fehma. Safet's father Ahmet was the son of
Zaim Isović, whose first wife, Derviša (née Baraković), died during childbirth on 19 June
1900.
Safet became a war refugee at the age of five in
1941 when
Yugoslavia was invaded by
Nazi Germany. His family escaped to
Banja Luka where he attended elementary school.
After the war ended, the Isović family returned to Bileća. In his youth, Safet's family moved around Yugoslavia and lived in a few cities such as Bileća, Banja Luka,
Trebinje and
Slavonski Brod.
Upon graduating high school, Isović wanted to enroll in college in
Zagreb, but under pressure from his parents he moved to
Sarajevo in
1955 and began attending law school.
While studying in Sarajevo, he was convinced by college friends to audition for the student ensemble "
Slobodan Princip Seljo," where he impressed the panel and shortly after joining the group, was urged by friends to audition for
Radio Sarajevo, which he did. He failed the first time, but passed his second audition and spent the following year with music teachers singing and learning to play the piano. After a year of learning, he was offered the opportunity to record two songs, which were released in April
1957.
Isović held his first solo concert on 19
March 1963 in
Belgrade and was the only singer from the former Yugoslavia to ever perform at the
Sydney Opera House in
Australia.
During his 50+ year-long career, he covered many sevdalinka and Bosnian folk songs like
Moj dilbere.
Throughout his career, Isović won a large number of awards and performed at some of the largest festivals throughout the former Yugoslavia, which largely contributed to the subsequent rebirth of the sevdalinka. He won the
Golden Microphone award in Yugoslavia as well as 35 other regional silver and gold record awards.
In a radio interview, fellow Bosniak sevdalinka singer
Silvana Armenulić stated she was a fan of his music and called Isović her "darling."
Although a self-described anti-Communist, Isović spent time with communist politicians
Avdo Humo and
Džemal Bijedić, and even Yugoslav president
Josip Broz Tito and his wife
Jovanka Broz.
Isović was also a
SDA delegate in the
Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He had a son named
Benjamin.
In the summer of
1992, Safet was injured in the midst of a bombing during the
Bosnian War, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia. During the
Yugoslav wars of the
1990s, Isović became a war refugee for the second time in his life, residing in
Zagreb, Croatia until the end of the Bosnian War. He spent the final decade of his life in Sarajevo.
He died on 2 September 2007 in Sarajevo and was buried the next day at
Ali Pasha's Mosque.[9] His death sparked a massive outpouring of grief around the country. At a memorial service held at the
National Theatre of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he was called the "
Father of the Sevdalinka" by
Beba Selimović.
The Minister of
Culture and
Sport,
Emir Hadžihafizbegović said that Safet Isović did great deeds both when he spoke and when he sang.
Ivica Šarić, of the Sarajevo
Opera, said that the world was left now without the best interpreter of sevdalinka. Many would agree that he had one of the best voices in Yugoslavia.
- published: 29 Mar 2014
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