Milka Markovic

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Milka Marković (Pančevo, Principality of Serbia, 17 April 1869 - Novi Sad, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 16 May 1930) was one of the best Serbian drama artists and the first woman director in our country. She acted in both the National Theater in Belgrade and the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad. She was part of the renowned Popović acting dynasty, and her tremendous popularity in Serbian society established her as a household name. She achieved stardom with her unique acting abilities by portraying the works of the best playwrights of Europe in her day. She also assisted in the translation of French, German and Hungarian plays with her knowledge of the three languages, which she first learned while growing up in the multi-national Austro-Hungarian state.

Childhood and family

Milka Marković was born in 1869 in Pančevo, in an acting and musical family. Her christened name was Milica Maksimović. Her mother's maiden name was Popović, part of the Popović acting dynasty.

She first appeared on the stage as a five-year-old girl, on 3 December 1874, in the role of Wilhelm in the play Wilhelm Tell (Friedrich Schiller). At the age of fifteen, after graduating from high school, she became an intern at the Belgrade National Theater, where, in two years, she played about twenty roles. She came to the Serbian National Theater in 1885 and remained there until the end of her artistic career.

Milka Marković was an educated actress. At the beginning of the 20th century, due to the improvement of acting and directing, she visited European theaters in Vienna, Munich, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, Cologne, Mainz, Paris, Milan, Rome, Naples, Venice, and other major cities in which she watched the most famous actors of the time, in order to perfect her undeniable acting and musical talent. The First World War, together with other members of the Serbian National Theater, found her in Stara Pazova, from where the Hungarian authorities, together with her family, interned her in Jasberenj, Hungary. After the war, she returned to her home theater, where she continued to play and direct.

She celebrated the 25th anniversary of her artistic work on 21 January 1910 with the title role in Tosca (Giacomo Puccini), and the 40th anniversary as Magda in Zavičaj

During the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, Milka Marković persistently sought retirement, but the Theater did not decide to lose its cooperation with its best actress yet. During the period of nationalization, in 1919, an agreement was reached between the Association for the Serbian National Theater and the representative of the Ministry of Education that the state immediately take over the obligations towards the pensioners of the Srpsko Narodno Pozorište (Serbian National Theatre), among whom Milka was already one of them at that time. This decision was implemented only at the end of April 1925. Therefore, the Society, with emptied funds and at that time without any permanent subsidy, struggled to regulate the financial situation of retired actors, so their cases had to be resolved by granting first one-time and later monthly financial aid in amounts insufficient for living. After retiring, Milka traveled with the Troupe of the Association for the Serbian National Theater in Vojvodina for some time, following plays with singing musical accompaniment on the piano. After the dissolution of the orchestra, because the Society was left without a state subsidy, it trained actors as singing accompanists for musicals.

At the beginning of her rich and successful career, she played the roles of naive girls, and later, through male and comic roles, she came to the most complex dramatic and psychological roles and thus eventually became a tragedian of the highest artistic level. Pleasant and elegant appearance, dark-colored voice with impeccable diction, and a developed sense of realistic character-building suggestively expressed all mental states and moods, which ranked her among the most prominent Serbian actresses of her time.

With a top acting gift and enviable musical talent, Milka Marković was comprehensively educated. She spoke French, German, and Hungarian and translated dramatic literature from those languages: "Mademoiselle Josette, ma famme" (Paul Gavault and Robert Charvey), "Les vacances d'été de Milo et Alevia" (Victorien Sardou), "Vie Nomade", "Barrière et Mirze", "Les Petites Mains" (Eugène Marin Labiche and Édouard Martin), "Unbedrucktes Papier" (Ernst von Wolzogen), "Le Juif polonais" (Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian).

The most important roles

Milka Marković played about 225 roles in the Serbian National Theater, and among the most important are:

• Greta ( Faust , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
• Cordelia ( King Lear , William Shakespeare)
• Ophelia ( Hamlet , W. Shakespeare)
• Julia ( Romeo and Juliet , W. Shakespeare)
• Nastasja ( At the bottom , (Maxim Gorky)
• Andjelija, Majka Jugović ( Death of Mother Jugović , Ivo Vojnović)

References

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B

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