Ljubica Kolarovic

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Ljubica Kolarović (Serbian Cyrillic: Љубица Коларовић; Vranjevo, Principality of Serbia, 23 March 1836 - Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia, 25 February 1890) was one of the best actresses among Serbs in the second half of the 19th century and one of the first official prima donnas of the National Theater in Belgrade. She was a member of the famed Popović stage dynasty. Her maiden name was Ljubica Popović.

Childhood and family

Ljubica Popović was born as the third child of the priest Luka Popović, known and esteemed by all those who appreciate church chant in Sremski Karlovci and Vranjevo and his wife Milica. She finished elementary school in Vranjevo, and in her parents' house, like all of Luka's daughters, she received a somewhat broader education.

A large family of priest Luka Popović gave the Serbian theater seven famous names: five daughters and two sons of his brother Luka. Apart from Ljubica, Katica Popović, Draginja Ružić, Jelisaveta Dobrinović, Sofija Maksimović Vujić, Laza Popović also dedicated their lives to the theater, and Paja Popović, who died very young, at the age of 25. Together with daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, among whom were Dimitrije Ružić, Pera Dobrinović, Ljubica's husband Dimitrije Kolarović and Laza's wife Marija Adelsheim-Popovic this "artistic dynasty" once made up almost half of the troupe Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad and represented a powerful and very influential family circle, not only in the cast but also in the bodies of the Association for the Serbian National Theater. . The acting tradition was continued by the grandchildren of Priest Luka: Zorka Todosić, Emilija Popović , Milka Markovic , Luka Popović and his sisters Zorka Popović — Premović and Danica Popović. The last offspring of this dynasty were the great-grandchildren of Archpriest Luka Popović, Dimitrije Mitica Markovic and Ljubica Todosic, a talented actress who died very young.

Professional work in theater

Ljubica Kolarović began acting in 1861 at the amateur theater of Jovan Knežević's troupe, and after the second guest appearance of Knežević's traveling theater in Novi Sad, she left his troupe and on 17 August 1861, entered the newly founded Serbian National Theater. Today, her sister Draginja had already joined the newly established theater. Ljubica first performed in Novi Sad on 23 July 1861, in the play The Male Method and Women's Mastery, and became a regular member on 13 June 1862.

The following year, on 4 May 1863, Ljubica left the Serbian National Theater, following her husband Dimitrije Kolarović, who was also a member of this theater and was fired due to the conflict with Lazar Telečki. Until the end of August of the same year, together with her sisters Draginja and Sofija and son-in-law Dimitrije Ružić, she played in her husband's ad hoc traveling theater troupe. From 15 September 1863, until the end of April 1864, she and her husband were engaged in the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. On 1 May 1864, she became a member of the Serbian National Theater again, but due to another serious violation by her husband, the Board of Directors of the Theater dismissed them both on 19 September 1865. At the request of 63 citizens of Sombor, this decision was suspended in February 1865 until the first and smallest outburst of Kolarović. After that, she was in the SNP continuously until 26 September 1868, when she was relieved of her duties, due to the transfer to the National Theater in Belgrade.

At the competition for a regular member of the National Theater in Belgrade (which was then being founded), Ljubica was elected on 16 August 1868. She was a regular member of the National Theater from 1 October 1868, to mid-October 1881, with a break from 10 June 1873 to 7 March 1874, during which time she performed with her husband first in the company of George Peles, in the arena of Weifert Brewery, and in the winter of 1873/1874 they both spent in Šabac in the troupe of Miloš Cvetić and Đuro Rajković. She became a permanent member of the National Theater on 19 March 1879.

In mid-October 1881, Milorad Popović Šapčanin, the then manager of the Theater, was forced to dismiss both him and Ljubica due to all kinds of incidents and violence by Dimitrij Kolarović. The Kolarović couple then got an engagement in the Croatian National Theater again and from 27 October 1881 to 14 May 1882, they performed on the Zagreb stage. Returning to Belgrade at the beginning of June 1882, the management of the National Theater "could not receive her due to her suddenly deteriorating health." In that way, according to the theater rules, she was not entitled to a pension. But the administration, by a decision of 10 October 1882, determined 1,000 dinars of annual subsistence for her, more than she would have had pensions for years of service on the Belgrade stage. "This subsistence was given until death" (Milorad Popović Šapčanin, Report from 1890). The void created by her withdrawal from the stage was eventually filled by the extraordinary artist Vela Nigrinova.

Ljubica Kolarović was tall, well-built, with a distinct figure and regular features. She sang well, so in her youth she also performed in singing roles. In her first plays, she seemed to be afraid of the stage and the audience, but later, gaining experience and self-confidence, she affirmed herself as one of the best actresses among Serbs in the second half of the 19th century. From the roles of sentimental mistresses and spoiled girls, who did not "suit" her, she moved to a very wide repertoire in which she suggestively interpreted dramatic mothers, heroines, elegant women from high circles and dramatic character roles. In these roles, she showed a strong temperament, subtle sensibility, a sense of psychological deepening of the character and excellent diction. Together with the great stage artists Maria Jelenska and Milka Grgurova, she performed the most important dramatic repertoire at the National Theater in Belgrade. She was also remembered for starring in the first Serbian production of a play by Shakespeare at the Serbian National Theater, Richard the Third.

Private life

Ljubica met her husband Dimitrije Kolarović during a visit to the Serbian National Theater in Vukovar, when on 8 November 1861, he was hired as a member of this theater. They were married on St. George's Day in 1862 during a visit to the Serbian National Theater Company in Subotica. They had two children - a daughter Zorka and a son Timotije.

Her life was not easy at all. Married to a gifted and undoubtedly capable actor, but unrestrained by a man prone to conflicts and incidents, she shared with him with the dignity of a patient and loyal wife and exemplary mother all the troubles that, through his fault, constantly befell him. In the sixties of the 19th century, she, with the troupe of the Serbian National Theater, was constantly on the road and with her two small children wandered the roads of Banat, Bačka, Srem and Slavonia. In Veliki Beckerek, on 12 May 1867, she received the news that her two-year-old son Timotije died suddenly. Left with only one child, her older daughter Zorka, she did everything she could to make her an excellent actress, which she certainly succeeded in doing

Already during her engagement in Zagreb, Ljubica suddenly began to have poor eyesight, and after returning to Belgrade, the disease in her eyes significantly worsened. It is believed that she experienced the same fate as Aleksa Bačvanski and Toša Jovanović, that is, that her eye disease was also caused by gas lighting on the stage of the National Theater. Sudden loss of sight and unwanted removal from the stage was difficult for her to bear, which damaged her health, which had long been a difficult life and not very tidy family circumstances. Just before she died, she was almost blind. She died on 25 February 1890.

References

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%89%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B

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