Da je neko zapitao tvorce Jugoslavije u Parizu... da li bi pristali na drzavu koja bi onako dozivela izdaju na velikom delu svog fronta, i u prvom okusaju jugoslovenskog patriotizma; a zatim jos i pokolj pola miliona srpske nejači, ne verujem da bi se onda iko bio resio na takvu svirepu avanturu, kao sto je bio 1. decembar 1918.
The exact date of Dučić's date of birth is still undetermined; it is variously said to have been on 17 February (or 5 February according to the Julian calendar) of 1871, 1872, or 1874, with the latter date most often given. He died on 7 April 1943 at age 72.
He was born in Trebinje in today's Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he attended primary school. He moved on to a high school in Mostar and trained to become a teacher in Sombor. He worked as a teacher in several towns before returning to Mostar, where he founded (with Aleksa Šantić) a literary magazine Zora ("Dawn").
Dučić's openly expressed Serbian patriotism caused difficulties with the authorities—at that time Bosnia-Herzegovina was de facto incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire—and he moved abroad to pursue higher studies, mostly in Geneva and Paris. He was awarded a law degree by the University of Geneva
and, following his return from abroad, entered Serbian diplomatic service in 1907. Although he had previously expressed opposition to the idea of creating Yugoslavia, he became the new country's first ambassador to Romania (in 1937). He had a distinguished diplomatic career in this capacity, serving in Istanbul, Sofia, Rome, Athens, Cairo, Madrid and Lisbon. Dučić spoke several foreign languages and he is remembered as a distinguished diplomat. His Acta Diplomatica (Diplomatic Letters) was published posthumously in the United States (in 1952) and in former Yugoslavia (in 1991).
It was, however, as a poet that Dučić gained his greatest distinctions. He published his first book of poetry in Mostar in 1901 and his second in Belgrade, 1912. He wrote prose as well: several essays and studies about writers, Blago cara Radovana (Tsar Radovan's treasure) and poetry letters from Switzerland, Greece, Spain and other countries.
Like Šantić, Dučić's work was initially heavily influenced by that of Vojislav Ilić, the leading Serbian poet of the late 19th century. His travels abroad helped him to develop his own individual style, in which the Symbolist movement was perhaps the greatest single influence. In his poetry he explored quite new territory that was previously unknown in Serbian poetry. He restricted himself to only two verse styles, the symmetrical dodecasyllable (the Alexandrine) and hendecasyllable—both French in origin—in order to focus on the symbolic meaning of his work. He expressed a double fear, of vulgarity of thought, and vulgarity of expression. He saw the poet as an "office worker and educated craftsman in the hard work of rhyme and rhythm".
Dučić went into exile in the United States in 1941 following the German invasion and occupation of Yugoslavia, where he joined his relative Mihajlo (Michael) in Gary, Indiana. From then until his death two years later, he led an Illinois-based organization (founded by Mihailo Pupin in 1914) which represented the Serbian diaspora in the US. During these two years, he wrote many poems, historical books and newspaper articles espousing Serbian nationalist causes and protesting the mass murder of Serbs by the pro-Nazi Ustaše regime of Croatia. During this time he attracted some criticism from other Yugoslav exiles for his espousal of Greater Serbian ideas, a position which also attracted the attention of the US Government's Office of Strategic Services (the forerunner of the CIA).
He died on 7 April 1943 and was buried in the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Saint Sava in Libertyville, Illinois. He expressed a wish in his will to be buried in his home town of Trebinje, a goal which was finally realized when he was reburied there on 22 October 2000 in the newly built Gračanica church.
Zgrožen ustaškim zločinima počinjenim tokom Drugog svjetskog rata nad srpskom djecom, Dučić (koji se u to vrijeme nalazi kod brata u SAD-u) piše vrlo zanimljivu istorijsko-političku raspravu. Sam naslov mi moram priznati nije davao mnogo razloga za optimizam, ali sam se dobrano prevario! Glavna tema jesu uzroci kraha prvobitne jugoslovenske države, nastale na nerealnim osnovama preuranjenog jedinstva srpskog i hrvatskog naroda, za koji pisac okrivljuje naivnost tadašnjih srpskih političara. Dučić između ostalog analizira različite hrvatske društveno-političke ideologije (Štrosmajerovu ideju jugoslavizma, ilirski pokret Ljudevita Gaja, Starčevićevo teorijsko utemeljenje ustaštva...), pitanje Bosne, srpski centralizam i federalizam, kao i političku klimu predvečerja nadolazećeg rata završno sa kontroverznim sporazumom Cvetković-Maček. Autor pokušava istorijskim, ekonomskim i sociološkim činjenicama ukazati na suludost samoubilačkog ulaska pobjedonosne Srbije u savez sa Hrvatima 1918, savez koji joj je po njegovom sudu nanosio velike gubitke u svakom pogledu. Nije mu bilo ni na kraj pameti da će se sličan scenario još jednom odigrati i to samo tri godine nakon pisanja ove rasprave. Dučić taj deja-vu na njegovu sreću nije doživio, preminuo je 1943, a ova rasprava je iz dobro znanih razloga prvi put objavljena tek 1998. godine, dvije godine prije nego što će njegovi posmrtni ostaci konačno biti preneseni u rodno Trebinje. Rasprava je temeljna i prilično nepristrasna, posebno ako se imaju u vidu okolnosti u kojima je napisana. Potkrijepljena je i navodima iz sekundarne literature, tako da ima obilježja naučnog rada. S obzirom na to da je moja potkovanost na ovom području prilično skromna, nisam bio u stanju da na pravi način ispratim mnoge dijelove, pa je re-reading sa znatno širim predznanjem sasvim izvjestan. Imam utisak da se Dučić na nešto ograničenijem polunaučnom terenu puno bolje snalazi nego na brisanom prostoru, čak bih se usudio reći da je ovo najozbiljnije djelo od svih njegovih koje sam dosad čitao. Viševjekovni antagonizam između Srba i Hrvata me u posljednje vrijeme počinje ozbiljno zanimati, kako sa istorijske, tako i sa psihopatološke tačke gledišta, pa je svaka preporuka na tu temu dobrodošla!
Дучић је често претио својим противницима: "Удавићу их у капи мастила." И давио их је до последњег даха својом духовитошћу, оштроумношћу, отменошћу и богатом историјском грађом... Лука М. Пејовић је тако дао убедљиво најбољу препоруку за ово Дучићево дело.
Једна од оних књига која вам даје мноштво информација и одговора о томе како је настала Краљевина Југославија, какво је било расположење народа на територији Краљевине, какве су политичке струје дувале током њеног постојања и шта је довело до њеног распада. Драгомир Брајковић је између осталог о Дучићевим политичким студијама рекао: "Дучићеве студије истинске и дубоке забринутости за судбину српског народа и његове, скупо плаћене државне заједнице, писане у муци и очају, под туђим небом и у немирним околностима, чамиле су и чекале да се смилујемо и призовемо их. Нисмо ми недостајали Дучићу, он је нама недостајао! Али потпун, са свим што је написао. У свему што је радио, нарочито пред смрт, наглашено је истакнута брига за судбину српског народа".
Understanding local politics of resentment as a new hobby. Should probably instead just move to New Zealand. Reading books and protesting didn’t help any of my Russian friends at all, neither did it work out for those who ignored the political system that governed them. Thankfully, since they lived in Moscow, it didn’t cost them everything.